# When Jews Sneeze........... **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [September 5, 2002, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-jews-sneeze/127063 "2002-09-05T01:46:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Cartooniverse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cartooniverse/32/3084_2.png) [@Cartooniverse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cartooniverse)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2002, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-jews-sneeze/127063/1 "2002-09-05T01:46:21Z")
I was speaking with my best friend today, and I sneezed. She said, " God Bless You !! "- and then exclaimed that she was sorry to have said such, that she wasn’t sure what to say. I said, I grew up with Gedzundheit (sp?), since I’m 1/2 German. She laughed and said, “That means ‘God Bless You’ in German”. I pondered this a bit, and said with great surety, " Well then, before Yiddish was invented, when a Jew sneezed…nobody said ANYTHING ! " Is there a better Yiddish or Hebrew equivalent? I’m putting this here instead of in G.Q. because the companion issue is , of course, what do YOU say to people when they sneeze??? Cartooniverse ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2002, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-jews-sneeze/127063/2 "2002-09-05T01:50:06Z")
In Hebrew it’s (phonetically) Labreyoot. I don’t know what it means though. Haj ---
**Author:** ![capybara](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/capybara/32/202_2.png) [@capybara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/capybara)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2002, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-jews-sneeze/127063/3 "2002-09-05T01:54:11Z")
Well, Gesundheit actually means “Health” so I think you’re in the clear. ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2002, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-jews-sneeze/127063/4 "2002-09-05T02:00:17Z")
I say _gesundheit_ for similar reasons, besides having grown up in a community heavily populated by German immigrants. A friend of mine will occasionally say “Satan welcomes you!” with a lovely smile, in certain company and with humorous intent. ---
**Author:** ![Sivalensis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c4cdca/32.png) [@Sivalensis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sivalensis)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2002, 4:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-jews-sneeze/127063/5 "2002-09-05T04:07:17Z")
If you say “A vos souhaits” ( A (as in ahhh) VO (long o) SOO-AY (sue + long a) It’s french for (literally translated) “to your wishes” though it’s prolly fluid in what you can make it mean Just out of curiosity…why can’t a Jewish person say “God bless you”? Jews do believe in God last I checked, I thought? I didn’t think that “God bless you” was a strictly christian thing. ---
**Author:** ![Michele\_in\_SoCal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Michele\_in\_SoCal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Michele_in_SoCal)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2002, 4:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-jews-sneeze/127063/6 "2002-09-05T04:18:17Z")
I don’t speak or read Yiddish or German, so I do not know the correct spelling of the Yiddish word my grandparents (Bubby and Zaydie) and parents said and still say when someone sneezes. This is it phonetically: Si-Guh-Zint (it’s a short i in “si”, like “sit”) In fact, that’s just part of it. For further emphasis on the part of the well-wisher, it was common to get, “Si-Guh-Zint, Si-Lay-Bin, Si-Nock-uss, Si-Glick” (side note: I always thought Gesundheit meant “go in health”) ---
**Author:** ![zev\_steinhardt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/97f17d/32.png) [@zev\_steinhardt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zev_steinhardt)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2002, 4:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-jews-sneeze/127063/7 "2002-09-05T04:21:50Z")
I use Gezundheit. An alternative to use is “a be gezunt” Zev Steinhardt ---
**Author:** ![Genseric](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Genseric](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Genseric)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2002, 5:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-jews-sneeze/127063/8 "2002-09-05T05:16:04Z")
To answer the latter question, I don’t say anything at all. I’ve never understood the reason for saying some “special” phrase when someone sneezes. I think _they_ should say something. Maybe, “Hey, I didn’t get any snot on you did I?”. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2002, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-jews-sneeze/127063/9 "2002-09-05T13:13:34Z")
I have to go with “Did you get any on you?”. ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2002, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-jews-sneeze/127063/10 "2002-09-05T13:30:00Z")
When Jews Sneeze The lamest Fox special ever! ---
**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/21906_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2002, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-jews-sneeze/127063/11 "2002-09-05T13:30:49Z")
I’ll usually say “Oh, excuse me!” - I tend to sneeze loudly and enthusiastically. No sneeze suppression for me, by golly. To another, I may say “Bless you” or “Cover your damn mouth when you sneeze” depending upon the person and cicrumstances. I try not to hang around sneezing Jews - no offense, **'Toons**! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![RedNaxela](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ad7895/32.png) [@RedNaxela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RedNaxela)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2002, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-jews-sneeze/127063/12 "2002-09-05T15:45:38Z")
**Cartooniverse** : The Talmud (Berachot 53a) states that in the time of Rabban Gamliel (1st century) it was the practice to say “Marpeh” (Hebrew for “healing”) to someone who sneezed. The commentary of Rashi (11th century) adds that the equivalent Aramaic word, “Asuta,” was also used, and the 16th-century Code of Jewish Law (Orach Chaim 170:1) cites this as the normative practice. (None of these sources say that one should say this; they just mention incidentally in the course of discussion that this was done.) **Hajario** : “Labreyoot” means “to health,” so it’s a fairly literal equivalent of Gesundheit. **Sivalensis** : I don’t think the OP’s friend’s point was so much that a Jew shouldn’t say “G-d bless you,” just that the “typical” Jewish response is “Gesundheit” or some variation thereof. That said, it is true that there are halachic authorities that frown on saying “G-d bless you,” considering it a violation of the commandment about taking G-d’s name in vain. **Michelle** : The phrase your grandparents used also means “to health” - it derives from the German “zu gesund”; some dialects of Yiddish, particularly from southeastern Europe, consistently convert /u/ to /i/. The longer phrase means, roughly, “to health, to life, to spiritual satisfaction, to luck.” ---
**Author:** ![malaka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecc23a/32.png) [@malaka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/malaka)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2002, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-jews-sneeze/127063/13 "2002-09-05T16:25:34Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Zebra \* > \*\*When Jews Sneeze > > The lamest Fox special ever! \*\* Damn you **Zebra**! I’m at work and I can’t stop laughing! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![dantheman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dantheman/32/9421_2.png) [@dantheman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dantheman)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2002, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-jews-sneeze/127063/14 "2002-09-05T16:33:58Z")
Jew sneeze? No, Jew? ---
**Author:** ![UrbanChic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/9dc877/32.png) [@UrbanChic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UrbanChic)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2002, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-jews-sneeze/127063/15 "2002-09-05T16:36:52Z")
When you sneeze, that’s your soul trying to escape. Saying God Bless You crams it back in. Ah, the world according to Milhouse. ---
**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:** [September 5, 2002, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-jews-sneeze/127063/16 "2002-09-05T17:03:32Z")
I’m with the iconoclastic bunch that doesn’t say a damn thing. If your soul’s trying to escape, let it. ---
**Author:** ![Cartooniverse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cartooniverse/32/3084_2.png) [@Cartooniverse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cartooniverse)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2002, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-jews-sneeze/127063/17 "2002-09-05T20:11:37Z")
\<-----Tears of laughter here. Well, this IS the **Straight Dope**. 😃 carry on, by all means !!! ---
**Author:** ![h.sapiens](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e0b2c6/32.png) [@h.sapiens](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/h.sapiens)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2002, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-jews-sneeze/127063/18 "2002-09-05T21:07:26Z")
Isn’t that a Prince song? “This is what it sounds like when Jews sneeze.” ---
**Author:** ![whiterabbit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/cab0a1/32.png) [@whiterabbit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whiterabbit)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2002, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-jews-sneeze/127063/19 "2002-09-05T22:15:39Z")
My Jewish fiance says “bless you,” while I grew up (Jewish father)with “gesundheit.” I wonder if it has anything to do with family history; I know my dad’s family were fairly recent arrivals in the US (about 1905) but I know nothing about his. Maybe they’ve been here longer? ---
**Author:** ![DMark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@DMark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMark)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2002, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-jews-sneeze/127063/20 "2002-09-06T17:30:04Z")
I have nothing to add…I just think Zebra’s post is hysterical and wanted to give other Dopers the chance to read it for the first time! Ah Choo -z this as the best post of the month! [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-jews-sneeze/127063.md?page=2)