schlemiel, schlimazl

Yesterday, the New York Times printed this article about Jews in northwest Arkansas, brought there by Wal-Mart and/or its providers.

The article in and of itself is moderately interesting, but what really caught my eye was one of the "Related" links.

See, one brief paragraph mentions "Ron Haberman, a doctor and synagogue member, who has introduced Jewish cuisine to the county. His new restaurant, Eat This, next door to a new 140,000-square-foot glass-enclosed Baptist church, serves knishes, matzo ball soup and latkes." The sidebar links to the Eat This menu which might be the funniest menu I could ever have imagined, much less actually read.

Don't believe me? How about the entry for the Eat This! Soup Special: "Ask your server for details. You can also ask your server for money or a Lexus but if all you get are soup details, be happy. At least you still have your health, kinehora!"

Or the description of Bubbe Sadie's Blintzes: "Language Alert: The "Bu" in Bubbe (which means grandmother in Yiddish) is pronounced like the first 3 letters in "book." This is in contradistinction to the pronunciation of the Southern name Bubba (who is somebody's brother-cousin in Central Arkansas). "

You gotta give this guy credit for whistling in the dark. I can really only imagine that the people actually giggling at the menu are people who don't need the explanations, but still, if you need a little chuckle, check it out. It's good times.

Now if you'll excuse me, I wants to get me some of them thar LOT-kuz.

ETA:Jim points out that this article falls squarely inside the "Wacky Jew" beat, which we and our friend Alana used to laugh about each week. I feel like the beat has not been terribly active of late...perhaps this heralds a return to form, as it were.

That, or the reporter just really wanted some rugelach.