The Yiddish wisdom of Tim Walz
In declaring ‘We’ll sleep when we’re dead,’ VP candidate Walz was invoking a particularly Yiddish philosophy and work ethic
Tim Walz and Kamala Harris during a campaign event in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, US, on Tuesday, Aug. 6, 2024. Harris tapped Walz as her running mate, enlisting him to build an electoral coalition of coastal progressives and Midwest moderates to block Donald Trump from the White House. Photographer: Hannah Beier/Bloomberg via Getty Images Photo by Getty Images
By Chana Pollack August 7, 2024
When vice-presidential candidate Tim Walz declared, “We’ll sleep when we’re dead”after his formal introduction in Philadelphia, he was not only quoting rocker Warren Zevon or referencing American revolution tummler Benjamin Franklin who famously declared, “Up, Sluggard, and waste not life; in the grave will be sleeping enough.”
Turns out, Walz was also invoking a well-known Yiddish theme.
The Forverts was writing about shlofn and the science of sleep as early as 1905. And in 1907, in a testimonial for Carmel Wine, Dr. Charles Rayevsky suggested that the sweet ‘n’ ’kosher libation made for a great sleeping aid. Rayevsky noted that the wine was especially helpful for those suffering from lung infections, a common side effect of long hours in the sweatshops no doubt followed by shlof in a crowded tenement.
In 1914, Consolidated Gas of NY, the forerunner of Con Edison, ran a Yiddish ad that might have appealed to our cold weather and climate policy-friendly Minnesota nominee. While today, gas may no longer be sustainable, at the time, we strongly advised to switch from coal, purchase a gas heater, and enjoy the chance to sleep in, seeing as there would no longer be a need to rise early and shovel coal.
For those who cannot rise to Walz’s ultimate marathon challenge of all work and no sleep, and would prefer to take to your bed, Yiddish is not sympathetic. You’d be encouraged to shlof gikher, men darft di kishins! meaning, “sleep faster, we need the pillows.” And we wouldn’t wish that on the newest nominee whose satiric bursts recall a cartoon published in a 1941 Forverts by Latvian Jewish refugee and noted political illustrator Ezekiel Schloss depicting American President Roosevelt haunting Hitler’s fascist sleep.
Shloflozikayt or sleeplessness is another thing the Forverts has known about for ages. Given the trauma-based tossing and turning of the post-Holocaust era, we even featured an ad for Postum, an early coffee substitute made from roasted grains as a shlofmitl. “NERVOUS?” the ad asked in Yiddish. “Too much coffee? Unable to sleep?”’ Results, the ad promised, would be felt within one week.
Given this highly fraught election, sandwiched between ongoing wars, and the threat of a new one looming any minute in Israel, it may be hard to fall asleep these days. All of which calls to mind another phrase that every political candidate should take to heart: Dos lebn iz nit mer vi a kholem; ober vek mikh nit oyf. Life is nothing more than a dream — but don’t wake me up.
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