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The Joys and Oys of Blogs, Books, Bubbies….Oy Vey!
A friend sent me information about a podcast today written up as Joy and Oy of Family, by Lori Fein in the Times of Israel. I was intrigued mostly about the fact that this family has a podcast, and how cute that is! Each episode is a new interview of a mother of a large family. My friend, Miriam Liebermann was sending it to me because she thought it was interesting that the title of the podcast has similar words to my book. What are those words? “The Joy and Oy.” Let me explain.
Back in 2012 when I wrote my book, Mazel Tov! It’s a Bubby! The Joys and Oys of Being a Mother, Mother-in-law, and Grandmother the idea of using the cute phrase “joys and oys” or “oys and joys” was new and exciting to me, but apparently was not new or exciting to the publishing world of Jewish cultural books, toys and games, magazine articles, picture books and other Jewish paraphernalia on or off the Internet. Joys and Oys or Oys and Joys or Oy and Joy, or any other Oyful permutation of the pair were already ubiquitous.
Yet, it was Moshe Kaufman, CEO of Israel Bookshop Publications who gets the credit because the full title, Mazel Tov! It’s a Bubby! The Joys and Oys of Being a Mother, Mother-in-law, and Grandmother the wording “joys and oys” was his brainchild for my book.
Who doesn’t remember The Wizard of Oz, when Dorothy in her blue and white gingham dress, together the scarecrow, tin man, and lion, skipped down the yellow brick road chanting “Lions and tigers and bears, oh my!?”
Somehow when I think of that expression about the lions and tigers and how fearful the foursome were, traipsing down that road, my mind wants to say, “Lions and tigers and bears, Oy Vey!” I’m not sure why but the phrase “oh my” just doesn’t work for me a girl who’s just so used to the Yiddish phrase “oy vey!”
Actually, according to Dictionary.com, Oy or Oi is an interjection in Yiddish that is used to express dismay, pain, annoyance, and grief.
Back to choosing the title of my book: I recall going through the Internet, which was young and fresh, and finding so many other uses for that phrase. The truth is, I wasn’t concerned about being original. In fact, I liked that others used the phrase already because that meant the title of my book might invoke familiarity in potential readers, making them more likely to buy it. Now, whether I was sure they’d read it after they saw the book cover and title was not my concern yet. All I knew was that I liked the title and felt good about it.
Since then, the book has been in circulation both on my Amazon page and the Israel Bookshop Publishing website, many copies have been sold, and the book is available used and new online. Also, I will tell you that while Amazon has the reputation for being cheaper, it isn’t always the case. Also, Israel Bookshop does have frequent sales. So there’s that.
As I mentioned, the phrase was used before Moshe kaufman adapted it for my book’s subtitle. And since then other books and merchandise came out with that expression.
Some of the old and new book, blogs and products using the phrase are:
1.
Between dealing with her crazy brother and a best friend who dumped her for a new guy, Joy has a lot on her plate, and so when her meddling Uncle Max moves in, Joy wishes he would find a lady his own age and start dating to stop him from interfering in her hopeless relationships. Reprint.
2. Creating Joy from Oy: The Zionist Approach to Overcoming Challenges (Opinion): “The Jerusalem Post,” June 21, 2023. Zionism’s sold-new centripetal liberalism is still open, democratic, tolerant, individualistic. But it is also communitarian, traditional, family-oriented, meaning-making and soul-stretching.
3. The Joy and Oy of Being a Jew (Chabad.org/multimedia/video); Rabbi Moshe D. Bryski (2023).
The Jew has this unique ability to cry and laugh at the very same time. This lecture will glance at the past, present and future of our people – the lows and the highs, the crying and the laughter, and the “oy veys” and the joys.
With five kids, Lori has spent years in the driver’s seat of her min-van and not only lived to tell the tales, but celebrate the journey. Joined by other parents of bigger broods, she shares teh Mommash real-deal parent joy. Buckle up for wild stories and belly laughs combined with deep conversation and walkaway wisdom for parents in families of every size and background.
5. The Deep Power of Joy (Chabad.org Parsha article, 2023) Rabbi Jonathan Sacks, OBM.
On 14 October, 1663, the famous diarist Samuel Pepys paid a visit to the Spanish and Portuguese Synagogue in Creechurch Lane in the city of London. Jews had been exiled from England in 1290 but in 1656, following an intercession by Rabbi Menasseh ben Israel of Amsterdam, Oliver Cromwell concluded that there was in fact no legal barrier to Jews living there. So for the first time since the thirteenth century Jews were able to worship openly. Read more…
We Jewish people have a joyful and an oyful history, but we plug along. We celebrate the happy times as moms and dads, grandparents and friends. And we also celebrate the oys. We bless G-d for both the good and the bad, because we know that ultimately, life is full of joys and oys but even the oys are for the best! Gam Zu LeTovah!
May we have a joyous year filled with happiness and maybe just a tinge of Oy, which is framed with tons of simcha!
