Words Like Arrows: A Collection of Yiddish Folk Sayings

Joan McGrath is a Toronto Board of Education library consultant.

“A word and an arrow are the same — both deliver with speedy aim.” Thus one of the sayings that make up this fascinating collection of folk wisdom and lore. Written in Hebrew, in transcription for the sound of Yiddish, and in English translation, this rich melange relates to love, marriage, birth, death, business and barter, and all that comes together to make a way of life. The Yiddish maxims, of Eastern European and immigrant New World origin, are proverbs and folk sayings drawn from the oral tradition, from casual writings and recollections, and from the work of such celebrated authors as Sholem Aleichem and Bialik. They are classified by subject headings (e.g., Happiness, Haste, Health, Heart, Heaven and Hell...), and the author has attempted to preserve the characteristics of the original — “that is, the brevity, rhyme, playfulness, contrasts, mood and the occasional peculiarities of speech.” Her work is richly embellished by Frank Newfield’s witty illustrations; he could make a cat laugh.

Some of these sayings have already found their way into “multicultural” North American speech. Many more deserve to do so, for any living language is the better for the judicious addition of salt and spice. A handsome book for browsing, it includes an impressive and scholarly bibliography for those who would wish to continue their investigations in Yiddish, English, or Hebrew.