A beautiful tradition. I didn’t know about it and I’ve been to more than a few Jewish weddings. Of course this would escape my notice since, as at most ceremonies, my eyes were roving, checking who I might most enjoy dancing with among the brides maids and other women.
The bodkin fool as one description of Charles Bodkinbote, is quite apt as a contrast with Shade who, for all I can tell, is pure WASP. Being a WASP myself gives me the right to joke about them. At least this is how I handle the always tricky matter of who has a right to, or at least who can most easily be forgiven for, crack/cracking jokes at the expense of whom.
Predictably,
Andrew Brown
On 1/21/07 10:53 PM, "Nabokv-L" <nabokv-l@UTK.EDU> wrote:
-----Original Message-----
From: Jerry Katsell [mailto:jerry3@roadrunner.com]
Sent: Saturday, January 20, 2007 2:22 PM
To: 'NABOKV-L@LISTSERV.UCSB.EDU' <mailto:%27NABOKV-L@LISTSERV.UCSB.EDU%27>
Cc: 'Stanislav A. Shvabrin'
Subject: "Bodkin"
Dear List,
I came upon this in an interview of Paul Magid, member of The Flying Karamzaov Brothers vaudeville troupe (Door Interview: By Tamara Jaffe-Notier, #190,
Nov/Dec 2003):
„There‚s a lot of juggling going on in Judaism. There‚s a tradition called the „bodkin.‰ The bodkin is a fool who breaks up a solemn ceremony,
like a wedding. The bodkin is supposed to make the bride laugh. I‚ve been a bodkin a few times. It‚s a great job, and juggling is part of that job. There‚s
a strong tradition in Judaism of letting go of seriousness and enjoying being the fool sometimes. It‚s important to be able to enjoy life. People have somehow mixed up morality with the lack of joy. We should enjoy people and have a fun time, but instead we make all these lines you can‚t step across.‰
Is this a tradition Charles Bodkinovich Kinbote, aka VN, might have known about? What about all them Danish stiletto fun times in PF, from ashen fluff and
waxwing slain and a final trundle of that empty barrow up the lane?
Best wishes,
Jerry Katsell
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