March 20, 2013, - 12:58 pm
HILARIOUS: Meet Barack Obama’s Fave Israeli Jew, “Ploni Almoni”
As you probably know, right now Barack Obama is in Israel and met with far-left crotchety, old figurehead President of Israel, Shimon Peres, the man behind almost every self-destructive Israeli policy and land concession and the man who is handing Obama some BS award he never earned. And, yet, even with this Israeli President gushing over him, Obama and his speechwriters don’t get it right because they are simply phoning it in. They don’t care much for Israel and the Jews, and they make stark mistakes and deliberate missteps to let Israel and the Jews know. I already mentioned that Obama is dissing Israel’s parliament, the Knesset, by skipping speaking there in favor of speaking to hand-picked liberal American college students in Israel. But, then, there is what Obama said with Peres at his side, as noted by Boycott Watch‘s Fred Taub on Twitter, this morning:
At a press conference or speech with Peres, Obama praised “Ploni the miracle worker from the Talmud.” But there is no such person. As any learned Torah Jew (or just a Hebrew speaker) knows, “Ploni” or “Plony” is short for “Ploni Almoni” or “Plony Elmony,” which is Hebrew for “John Doe” or “so and so” or “some [not important enough to name] person.” (The female vernacular of the term would be “Plonya” or “Plonya.”) The term is used frequently in the Talmud and throughout Jewish texts, and it’s something I learned (at a private Jewish school) in Second Grade. Unlike Muslims, I don’t expect people to know my religion or its language (Biblical Hebrew). (I’d rather they didn’t do anything involving my religion but were instead pro-American national security and pro-Israel, which are inextricably linked.) But I do expect Barack Obama to treat the Jews and American-ally Israel with at least a modicum of the butt-kissing respect with which he treats all other countries in the region, all of which hate us (and that’s where my expectations are way too high, right?).
If this was a Muslim or Arabic thing, they’d get it exactly right, but they take Jews and Israel for granted and couldn’t spare the seconds for online research. And as Fred Taub points out, they don’t even have an informed rabbi who legitimately knows Judaism that they can ask. They probably have hundreds of imams they consult on everything Islam.
All you–and Obama’s speechwriters–would have to do is google it, though, to know what it means. But Obama’s speechwriters are lazy when it comes to Israel and the Jews. As I said, they just don’t care much, just as when Obama posed with an upside down Haggadah [Passover dinner ceremonial book] when he pretended to celebrate Passover, and his chef said Jews should vote for Obama because he eats hummus and latkes on Passover (most Jews are not allowed to eat hummus on Passover and latkes are a Chanukah food). So, instead, Obama talks about a “famous miracle worker named Ploni.” Not only is there no such person, but it’s an insult because it’s like saying there are no Jewish or Israeli miracle workers he can name, so he refers to an anonymous “John Doe” miracle worker.
This, regarding the people and country who’ve performed many a miracle–spiritual, medical, high tech, and otherwise.
Thanks, Obama, er . . . President Ploni Hussein Almoni. Ya stepped in it again.
Tags: Barack Obama, Ploni, Ploni Almoni, Plony, Plony Almony, Plony Elmony
At least we know his priorities: golf, basketball, picking his Final Four brackets, pronouncing Arabic words perfectly, taking fancy vacations, etc, etc, etc………
David on March 20, 2013 at 1:08 pm