DER YIDDISH-VINKL November 21, 2003
Once again, Der Vinkl is pleased and proud to present another of Stanley Siegelman’s ever-entertaining and enchanting poems. This time, his work was inspired by the announcement that Han Sung-Joo, a professor at the University of California at Berkeley, was named as South Korea’s ambassador to the United States.
Homonym, Shmononym: A Joo-Ish Mayse
A voyler man iz Han Sung-Joo!
Mer voyl a man es iz nishtu!
Farvos, ir fregt, kumt er yetst for?
Tsu zayn zayn land’s “ambassador.”
Er davent in a goyish “pew”,
Er iz a Joo, nor nit a Jew.
A modne zakh, s’iz ot azoy:
A “Joo” ken oykhit zayn a goy.
Er shpilt a diplomatish role
Un zukht parnose far zayn Seoul
Er arbet shver far “hearth and home”
Un zogt tsu alemen “shalom.”
Anti-semitn — ir hert zikh tsu
Un tshepe nit Profesor Joo!
A guter, fayner man er iz
Nur kaynmol hot gehat a bris!
* * *|
A Homonym Named Joo
Terrific guy, that Han Sang-Joo!
Politico and scholar too.
Now why’s he coming to the fore?
To be his land’s ambassador
He prays, we guess, inside a pew.
He is a Joo, but not a Jew.
It’s not a trick, it’s not a ploy.
A Joo can truly be a goy
He plays a diplomatic role
And only tries to save his Seoul.
Dedicated anti-brutish
“Peace” is the most ardent Joo-wish
So, antisemites, please eschew
Assailing our Professor Joo.
A good and worthy man he is,
But never, ever had a bris!
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