Welcome to Switzerland, "Schmuck" | j. the Jewish news weekly of Northern California

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Welcome to Switzerland, “Schmuck”

9:12 am Friday, May 8, 2009
by andy altman-ohr

geneva_shmuck_sign_640

So a week or so ago, I'm heading out of the office to start a vacation, and the boss drops the ol' blog reminder on me. Oh, just what everyone wants to read about, my one-week jaunt to Switzerland, France and Belgium. Moreover, the itinerary included NOTHING Jewish (nothing wrong with a J. break when you work at j. - right?).

Anyway, after I get off the plane in Geneva, Switzerland and take a train to the center of town; I've got a few hours to kill before meeting up with my wife, who's on a business trip. I decide, OK, I'm not going to seek out anything Jewish, but if I do come across anything, what the heck, I'll snap a picture of it.

First thing I see after leaving the Central Station and crossing the street: the picture you see above. What a welcommen! (Schmuck apparently means "jewelry" in German, although "jewels" is an inch or two off of the Yiddish meaning we're most familiar with.) The sign was at a jewelry/watch store.

Later on in my three-hour, stave-off-the-jet lag-trance walk, I just happened to stumble geneva_sign_640 upon Geneva's Grande Synagogue; some workers were painting the outside railing, but I couldn't get inside as it was a Wednesday morning at abo geneva_synagogue_640 ut 10 a.m.

The structure was indeed grand, a Byzantine-Moorish structure designed by a Swiss architect and built in 150 years ago (and renovated in 1997).

On the rest of my trip (two days in France, four days in Belgium), I came across nothing Jewish. Sorry, boss; next year, in Jerusalem?

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Welcome to Switzerland, “Schmuck”

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