# My apologies to Sweet Willy and MEBuckner **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [April 9, 2002, 12:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-apologies-to-sweet-willy-and-mebuckner/102652 "2002-04-09T12:48:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Kat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b19c9b/32.png) [@Kat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kat)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2002, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-apologies-to-sweet-willy-and-mebuckner/102652/41 "2002-04-09T23:08:45Z")
> [@](#): > > Just like everyone on this board does But, _Moooooom_, everyone _else_ does it! :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![GaWd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/f08c70/32.png) [@GaWd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GaWd)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2002, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-apologies-to-sweet-willy-and-mebuckner/102652/42 "2002-04-09T23:10:30Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by SuaSponte \* > \*_ **Sweet Willy** , I do believe that you are a scheisskopf_. Does that make me an Atheist German? > > Sua \*\* LoL Sua! I was gonna call him “putzkopf”, but not only do I not think that’s the correct way to link the words, I thought it was terribly cliche to use it on him. Sam ---
**Author:** ![ChoosyChipsAndCeilingWhacks](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c77e96/32.png) [@ChoosyChipsAndCeilingWhacks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ChoosyChipsAndCeilingWhacks)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2002, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-apologies-to-sweet-willy-and-mebuckner/102652/43 "2002-04-09T23:19:31Z")
Oh! Oh! Here’s one for you, Willy (and anyone else who cares). I made myself a little thread on the boards when this happened, but it seems completely pertinent to this conversation. I was raised on a farm in the midwest by protestant parents and grandparents. Everyone I knew was white and either catholic or protestant. I met my first Jew when I went away to college. Then one day, my mom got results of her adoption search back and found out that she was Jewish. Does that make me Jewish too? Yes! I’m an agnostic, farm-girl, never-had-a-seder-or-a-menorrah, Italian/English, hayseed JEW! Wheeeeeee… Wow, I feel better now. L ---
**Author:** ![Hodge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Hodge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hodge)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2002, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-apologies-to-sweet-willy-and-mebuckner/102652/44 "2002-04-09T23:20:38Z")
**Sweet Willy:** Gayn Cacken Ofn yam. Yutz. Love, Hodge ---
**Author:** ![Largo62](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/45deac/32.png) [@Largo62](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Largo62)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2002, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-apologies-to-sweet-willy-and-mebuckner/102652/45 "2002-04-09T23:26:36Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by december \* > \*\ ***Willy** , “putz” is Yiddish for “estimable, stand-up gentleman.” You should take it as a compliment. \*\* Stand-up, indeed! I certainly hope so. (And if not, that’s what Viagra is for.)😉 Buddy Hackett did a standup 😃 routine in which he used the word putz. Then he asked a beautiful lady in the first row, "Do you know what means “putz”? When she shook her head he was off and running. (The quotes are from memory, so probably not verbatim.)“It’s a Yiddish term,” he said, "meaning the male member. (then to the beautiful lady) You know what “member means?” She very softly responded, “Penis?” “That’s right. Then we have schmuck, which is a _really **big** _ one!” Ol’ Buddy knew his putzes! :wally Now back to the OP. **Zev,** your apology was dignified and sincere. You’re my kinda Doper. ---
**Author:** ![GaWd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/f08c70/32.png) [@GaWd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GaWd)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2002, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-apologies-to-sweet-willy-and-mebuckner/102652/46 "2002-04-09T23:30:32Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by SexyWriter \* > \*\*Oh! Oh! Here’s one for you, Willy (and anyone else who cares). I made myself a little thread on the boards when this happened, but it seems completely pertinent to this conversation. > > I was raised on a farm in the midwest by protestant parents and grandparents. Everyone I knew was white and either catholic or protestant. I met my first Jew when I went away to college. > > Then one day, my mom got results of her adoption search back and found out that she was Jewish. Does that make me Jewish too? > > Yes! I’m an agnostic, farm-girl, never-had-a-seder-or-a-menorrah, Italian/English, hayseed JEW! Wheeeeeee… > > Wow, I feel better now. > > L \*\* Sexy, I’m a Porta-Jew-anian. Dad was Portugese and Lithuanian. Mom was Russian Jew/Lithuanian. I know lots of mixed up Jewish people around here(bay area, Nor Cal). Italian Jews, Mexican Jews, Japanese Jews. It truly is a beautiful thing–no matter what Sweet Schmuck thinks. Sam ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2002, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-apologies-to-sweet-willy-and-mebuckner/102652/47 "2002-04-09T23:30:36Z")
Well, as long as we’ve shifted to the proper forum: Willy, if you became a Jew, you’d be the stupidest Jew in history. It’s a safe bet your father didn’t swear a covenant with God that you would learn to read and learn a trade. He was probably too drunk at the time. Incidentally, I declare you to be an asshole. You obviously have the qualifications. And guess what? _That’s_ permanent, too! Schmuck. ---
**Author:** ![Helen\_s\_Eidolon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/8edcca/32.png) [@Helen\_s\_Eidolon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Helen_s_Eidolon)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2002, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-apologies-to-sweet-willy-and-mebuckner/102652/48 "2002-04-09T23:32:20Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Sweet Willy \* > \*\* > They do don’t they? Are you telling me that Judaism doesn’t recognize Frenchmen either? I don’t get your point, or you don’t get mine. What do you mean by “french Jews do exist”? I assume that Jewish law does acknowledge, or at least does not deny the existence of French Jews. Okay, I am going to clear this up, and then I will not respond to you again in this thread, in accordance with **Zev** ’s wishes. I will follow you to another thread if you start one, though. What I meant was that being French has about as much relevance on Judaism as being an atheist is. Neither being French nor atheist negates your Jewishness. Judaism isn’t only about religion, it’s also about cultural identity. ---
**Author:** ![GaWd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/f08c70/32.png) [@GaWd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GaWd)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2002, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-apologies-to-sweet-willy-and-mebuckner/102652/49 "2002-04-09T23:32:34Z")
Almost forgot… Much to Sweet Willster’s ire, I am also agnostic…and **still** a Jew! Sam ---
**Author:** ![ChoosyChipsAndCeilingWhacks](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c77e96/32.png) [@ChoosyChipsAndCeilingWhacks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ChoosyChipsAndCeilingWhacks)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2002, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-apologies-to-sweet-willy-and-mebuckner/102652/50 "2002-04-09T23:35:14Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Bryan Ekers \* > \*\*It’s a safe bet your father didn’t swear a covenant with God that you would learn to read and learn a trade. \*\* Do Jews do that? That’s so cool! I had no idea. Everyone should do that. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2002, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-apologies-to-sweet-willy-and-mebuckner/102652/51 "2002-04-10T00:53:28Z")
Exact forms vary, but I managed to find these excerpts from a typical oath sworn by the _mohel_ [Rabbi performing the actual circumcision, occasionally the child’s father but most likely hired for the ceremony]: > [@](#): > > may [the child] become great. As he has been entered into the covenant, so may he be introduced to the study of Torah, to the nuptial canopy [i.e. marriage], and to good deeds… May his heart be wide open to comprehend Your holy Law, that he may learn and teach, keep and fulfill Your laws. The “study” part is significant, since by the age of 13 the boy is required to read from the Torah at his _bar mitzvah_ ceremony. Hence, literacy is _required_ by Jewish law. There are always exceptions, of course (in his autobiography, Kirk Douglas describes his illiterate father as “the toughest Jew” in Amsterdam, New York). As for the “trade” thing, I’m going on the word of my mother because I couldn’t find a specific reference, but I believe it’s well understood that failing to provide a useful education for your children is heavy-duty shameful. I’m guessing **Sweet Willy’s** parents were too busy chewing their cud to care one way or the other. Though I’m an admitted atheist, I thank God I was born in a relaxed Jewish household in a peaceful country like Canada. ---
**Author:** ![MEBuckner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mebuckner/32/2896_2.png) [@MEBuckner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MEBuckner)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2002, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-apologies-to-sweet-willy-and-mebuckner/102652/52 "2002-04-10T00:54:25Z")
Zev (and SexyWriter): Sometimes things get a little heated in Great Debats/ (In a forum dedicated to the discussion of religion, politics, and the meaning of life? Whodathunkit?) That’s when the Mods have to step in and separate the combatants and try to cool things down a bit. Thanks for opening this thread, and for being a level-headed and civil poster in GD. ---
**Author:** ![Helen\_s\_Eidolon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/8edcca/32.png) [@Helen\_s\_Eidolon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Helen_s_Eidolon)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2002, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-apologies-to-sweet-willy-and-mebuckner/102652/53 "2002-04-10T00:57:24Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Bryan Ekers \* > \*\*Though I’m an admitted atheist, I thank God I was born in a relaxed Jewish household in a peaceful country like Canada. \*\* Hey, I didn’t know you and I have so much in common. If we’re both in the Montreal Jewish community, I bet I know someone you do, too! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2002, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-apologies-to-sweet-willy-and-mebuckner/102652/54 "2002-04-10T01:13:25Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by LaurAnge \* > \*\* > > Hey, I didn’t know you and I have so much in common. If we’re both in the Montreal Jewish community, I bet I know someone you do, too! 🙂 \*\* Well, I’m in Montreal (I’m actually sitting in a computer lab in Dawson College as I write this) but neither I nor my family was ever really active in the Jewish Community at large. My father occasionally drags me to one of those Jewish street festivals up near the Sayde Bronfman Centre, and we used to eat at the Brown Derby a lot, but that’s about it. ---
**Author:** ![Sweet\_Willy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e95f7d/32.png) [@Sweet\_Willy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sweet_Willy)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2002, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-apologies-to-sweet-willy-and-mebuckner/102652/55 "2002-04-10T01:54:53Z")
Awww…come on guys. All this attention for Sweet Willy ! Really? You shouldn’t have. You must be the most sophisticated group I have ever run across. ;j ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2002, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-apologies-to-sweet-willy-and-mebuckner/102652/56 "2002-04-10T02:16:39Z")
Willy: I know you’re in hog heaven, getting to spew your bile anonymously and having attention paid to you (the latter probably seldom happens when you’re not online), but depending on how deeply you’re into your anti-Semitic shtick, the following might give you pause: If you want to establish solidarity among Jews and even draw in the non-observant kinds you appear fixated on, the very best thing to do is launch ignorant anti-Semitic attacks. Bigoted, clearly unbalanced tirades tend to bring their intended targets closer together and establish commonality of feeling and purpose. From your standpoint, isn’t this terribly counterproductive? To avoid this effect and lessen the ostracism you’ve encountered, take a tip from some of your subtler brethren on the SDMB and tone down the rhetoric. A few casual asides about Jewish Media Dominance will set a different tone and mark you as a man of measured bigotry, rather than a low-rent twit. And a salute to Zev for his patience and tolerance. ---
**Author:** ![Silentgoldfish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@Silentgoldfish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Silentgoldfish)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2002, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-apologies-to-sweet-willy-and-mebuckner/102652/57 "2002-04-10T02:55:48Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Sweet Willy \* > \*\*Awww…come on guys. All this attention for Sweet Willy ! Really? You shouldn’t have. You must be the most sophisticated group I have ever run across. ;j \*\* Isn’t this pretty much a troll gloating over a mission accomplished? ---
**Author:** ![DocCathode](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doccathode/32/18773_2.png) [@DocCathode](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DocCathode)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2002, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-apologies-to-sweet-willy-and-mebuckner/102652/58 "2002-04-10T03:06:46Z")
SweetNLow Willy was the one to give the most workable, logical, comprehensive plan for peace in the Middle East I’ve ever seen on these boards. All we Jews have to do is give up every aspect of our culture and religion that makes us different. But is SweetAndSour Willy praised for this? No, you call him racist and an anti-semite. Zev, just because you’ve spent a lifetime studing Judaism, you’re more of an expert than Sweet16 Willy? Fenris, just because you have a massive number of posts on numerous topics and SweetDreamsAreMadeOfTheseWhoAmIToDisagree Willy has a much smaller number all on the same topic, you’re a _real_ Doper and he isn’t? Just Because SweetChariotComingForToCarryMeHome Willy starts a thread with a misleading Title and OP, you call him a troll. Just because he ignores your completely innapropriate attempts to introduce logic, and reality into his threads, you call SweeTouchNeeTea Willy a troll. Well, let me ask you something- Have any of you actually seen SweetTarts Willy sitting under a bridge, eating goats? I thought not. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2002, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-apologies-to-sweet-willy-and-mebuckner/102652/59 "2002-04-10T04:10:11Z")
Oh, is Willy still here? I was looking forward to discussing Jewish rituals and philosophy. Willy: you’d never make it as a Jew. Our secret handshake requires opposable thumbs. ---
**Author:** ![Silentgoldfish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@Silentgoldfish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Silentgoldfish)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2002, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-apologies-to-sweet-willy-and-mebuckner/102652/60 "2002-04-10T04:17:16Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Bryan Ekers \* > \*\*Oh, is Willy still here? I was looking forward to discussing Jewish rituals and philosophy. > > Willy: you’d never make it as a Jew. Our secret handshake requires opposable thumbs. \*\* Funniest riposte I’ve heard for a while! I can’t believe you wasted it like that! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-apologies-to-sweet-willy-and-mebuckner/102652.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-apologies-to-sweet-willy-and-mebuckner/102652.md?page=4)