Okay, so he didn’t throw a Molotov cocktail physically, but the Governor of Wisconsin threw out a statement wishing the Jewish community Molotov for Hanukkah. I’m sure the Governor of Wisconsin, Republican Scott Walker, wasn’t getting carried away by the martial significance of the holiday, what with its emphasis on war between the Maccabees and the Syrian Greeks, about things burning for a long time etc…
It seems like it was just an understandable verbal error. Anyone can make a gaffe like the Governor and get farmischt, as expressed by the Huffington Post in appropriate Yiddish.
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But wait, Scott Walker didn’t wish the Jews of his state (and perhaps the world) Molotov in speech, but in a written letter. So he could have checked really. But no matter.
Look, we shouldn’t be so hard on the guy for not checking the difference between Mazal Tov (which is wished on a special occasion like a birth and a bar mitzvah and not a holiday, but why get pedantic) and Molotov, a generic term for crude incendiary weapons, as Wikipedia tells us. Molotov cocktails were named for the Soviet foreign minister Vyacheslav Molotov, who secretly signed the Molotov-Ribentrop pact with the Nazis to invade Finland, well, not so secret when it was foiled and the Finns made fun of him.
But in any case, Governor Walker’s rather sincere and good natured letter went like this, as reported by the Huffington Post, presumably to those who requested the menorah:
“Thank you for your letter regarding the Menorah Display. Yes, we would be happy to display the Menorah celebrating the Eight Days of Hanukkah, here at the courthouse.
Thank you again and Molotov.
Well, there was no response, according to Huffington Post, from the governor’s office when questioned about the gaffe, which means, of course, they are probably absolutely mortified and perhaps a bit miffed for the blatant merriment over a blameless display of goyischekeit, especially as he was so kind as to agree to display the menorah, he spelled menorah right, AND Hanukkah (not that anyone can agree on the spelling of the holiday in English), he really meant to say “mazal tov, ” and since they intended to display the huge Jewish object at the courthouse, there was obviously no intention to then throw molotov cocktails on the Jewish community. Or even fashion a greeting to that effect.
So no reason to engage in righteous offense tinged with slight paranoia, to ridicule the poor Governor who probably meant well in his outreach effort and failed Hebrew lesson. In fact, let’s forget it, sit around together and sing traditional holiday songs like “Silver bombs…sorry…Silver Bells.”
