Mr. Monday and other tales of Jewish Amsterdam

95 Air. Monday and Other Tales of Jewish Amsterdam

Number 6? The solution is simple. With some imagination you can see that Number 6 has the shape of a bottle.

However, there are also difficult call-names which are based on the fact that in Hebrew the numbers are designated by letters. Every word in Hebrew is therefore not only a combination of letters but also has a certain numerical value. For instance, in Hebrew the letters of the word kouacli add up to 28. Kouach means strength. Who had strength? Samson. In Hebrew: Shimson. What was Shimson? A hero and a strong man, Gibour in Hebrew. So when the caller chants "Shimson-the-gibour..." you know that he means 28.

In the same way mazel tov (good luck) stands for 49. It is a kind of Caballa. In this way, every number has a name. The 8 is called the pretzel, Number 12 is called "good afternoon" and Number 13 is the Bar Mitzvah Boy. Number 44 is named Chanukah because that feast lasts 8 days, and two times 4 is 8. The highest number, 90, is The Old Man.

Some Bingo players have a legendary fame as callers and at Bingo games they are the guests of honour. They are invited everywhere, one night here, the next evening somewhere else. But not on Friday nights, for on Friday the Sabbath begins.

The shabbesmachers, Sabbath makers, always make their rounds on Friday and they appear just before the Sabbath begins. That time changes every week. When the Sabbath starts early, for instance at 4:30 p.m., the shabbesmachers appear in the streets at 4 o'clock.Then, at 4:30 they have disappeared again. On the other hand, when shabbes starts late, the shabbesmachers also appear late. So it is just as if