Eat Kike’s Treyf (pron. "Keekay")

Graphic by Angelie Zaslavsky
There’s something about street food and the word “kike.”
On November 19, 2009 I blogged about San Francisco’s “Kike on a Bike” and now, not to be outdone, Los Angeles has offered us “Kike’s Tacos.”
Though often an antisemitic slur KUOR assures us that, in this case, Kike is pronounced “Keekay” and is a regular abbreviation for Enrique. Plus, by all accounts, the menu offers a mouthwatering selection of pig-oriented treyf so the kosher clientele would be keeping away before they even reached the ambiguous welcome sign.
Although the number of Enriques in America is growing, the starting point is fairly low, with the 1990 census only ranking Enrique 298 out of 1219 new boys names. With relatively few Enriques and a little encouragement to standardize the rendering of the abbreviation as Quique or Keekay, the gentle sensibilities of our compatriots need not be disturbed too much in future.
Hat tip to Dan Polsby.
Why I became the Forward’s Editor-in-Chief
You are surely a friend of the Forward if you’re reading this. And so it’s with excitement and awe — of all that the Forward is, was, and will be — that I introduce myself to you as the Forward’s newest editor-in-chief.
And what a time to step into the leadership of this storied Jewish institution! For 129 years, the Forward has shaped and told the American Jewish story. I’m stepping in at an intense time for Jews the world over. We urgently need the Forward’s courageous, unflinching journalism — not only as a source of reliable information, but to provide inspiration, healing and hope.
