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Goyim!

I'm always amazed as Jews who use the term "goy" in a derogatory manner.

Don't they read the Torah? Don't they understand simple Hebrew?

G-d promises Avram in Lech Lecha (Genesis 12:2/'בראשית י"ב ב ) that "I will make (of) you a great nation, a "goy gadol" (גוי גדול).

The term always is used in the Torah to mean "nation"; it is inclusive to us and to non-Jews as well. Yes, Rahel, we, too, are "goyim."

There IS a term for non-Jews, and no, it's not "ger" - that word, like many in Hebrew, has been applied to too many related instances (e.g., ger as a temporary resident; ger as a non-Jewish resident, and, followed by "tzdek" as a convert to Judaism). The word is nok-re (נוכרי) which my Megiddo translates as "foreigner, alien."

A follower of Jesus is a nokri, but specifically a notz-re (נוצרי).

When I hear a Jew mutter - or scream - "GOY" at someone who offended the Jew, I know the Jew isn't thinking about the Torah or even Hebrew.

OK, I know the meaning of words can change over time, but for a Jew who is shomer Shabat, knows a smattering of Hebrew sufficient to follow along with the Shaliach Tzbur (hazen/cantor) - assuming the professional Jew speaks clearly as should be demanded by the congregation (after all, the hazen is the congregation's "representative" before HaShem for at least the duration of the service) - then that Jew will read or hear the term used several times a year as it was used when we received the Torah.

That perfectly good word - nokri/nokreah - also pops up in the Torah. Not as often as "goy" or "ger," but it's there none-the-less. It's not something like "transistor" that was transliterated into difficult to decipher Hebrew characters (trust me, I have too much experience with foreign words being transliterated - versus translated - into Hebrew; boggles the mind).

Quick quiz: What is the very first commandment (mitzvah) in the Torah? I'll give you a hint: it is NOT one of The Big 10.

I love English, my native language. It has served me well as a journalist, marketing practitioner, PR flack, and technical writer. I grew up with books and even now sit in front of a black tv, preferring the printed word to some of the tube's insulting fare.

I had to work to learn Hebrew, and I'm still far from being ready to write a paper in that language, but I enjoy what I know and I try to use it correctly.

There are enough ambiguous words in Hebrew without adding more ambiguity by making a specific word - goy = nation - into something it isn't (a singular derogatory).

If a person offends by lack of tarbut (culture) there are words to describe that person. Depending on your command of Hebrew, a person who eats/behaves like a pig could be called a "ha-zeer-ron" which, funny enough, means "piggish" or "pig-like."

A Jew who behaves like a non-believer is an "epikuros." Hardly Hebrew, but a borrowed word with sting. Behaving like a nokri need not necessarily be offensive; some behave very nicely and appropriately.

Of course there always is oy-yev - enemy. We have more than enough of them - both within our ranks and without.

In English there is a difference between a shovel and a spade. If you need a spade, a shovel probably won't do the job. Same with Hebrew. If you mean goy, as in "goy gadol" (great nation), then goy is the word you want. But if you mean someone who is not Jewish or someone who behaves badly or someone who hates us (and is our enemy), we have words for them.

Call me a "goy" when I accidently cut you off in line and I'm liable to take out my wallet and bore you with pictures of the folks in my "nation."

Let's see - here's the wife when we first met, here's my #1 son at the brit, here he is at 10 months, here he is ....

"Jerk" or "te-pesh" or even "timbel" might be OK, but "goy" really is not the word you want for me.

Yohanon Glenn
Yohanon.Glenn at gmail dot com

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