Chaim the Plumber and the mystery of raw fish!

When I was a very young man working in WASP Toronto in the early 60’s I met my very first Israeli citizen. He was Chaim the Plumber to me and I was a plumber’s helper. He taught me a lot about plumbing and since he was raised in post war Berlin, something about Yiddish phrases and their usage.

shalom (sholem) Heb. lit. peace; hello/good-bye was one of those phrases.

Shalom was also used to ask, “How are you”. Chaim used to joke that if you met a Jew in a hurry, all you had to say was “Shalom, Shalom, Shalom, “ (Hello, How are you, Goodbye,) and you had all the bases covered.

So, now I am nosing around for Japanese phraseology for this weeks musings and I run across “Konichiwa” as defined below.

Konichiwa - a Japanese word for "Hello." Use it to say "good morning," "good afternoon," "good evening," or just plain "hello”.

Coincidence? I don't think so.

A handy phrase it seems, but could it be more then that? For me, amateur everything that I am, it raise’s a fascinating (at least it is fascinating on a boring Friday morning) question.

Are the Japanese people the lost 13th Tribe of Israel?

If so, they took a terribly wrong turn in the Negev desert.

Could sushi salmon rolls be the cultural descendant of Lox?

Raw ocean Tuna the Nippon equivalent of Gefelte fish?

These are questions worthy of ponder, at least until we get some scores and more dish from Karuizawa.

Tongue firmly planted in cheek, I remain, your devoted Webguy.

Konichiwa, or is it Shalom?


PS: Watch for tomorrow's exciting episode, (if we have no real news) the Chinese Emperor and the mysterious monk lock horns and the Kamakazi legend is born.