Subscribe to Print Edition | Mon., August 25, 2008 Av 24, 5768 | | Israel Time: 02:05 (EST+7)
Haaretz israel news English
web haaretz.com
  Back to Homepage
Rosner's Domain
Diplomacy
Defense Jewish World Opinion National
Print Edition
Car Rental
Books Haaretz Magazine Business Real Estate Easy Start Travel Week's End Anglo File
Last update - 10:00 13/07/2008
U.S. presidential hopefuls use Hebrew to woo Jewish voters
By Raphael Ahren
Tags: U.S. elections, Israel 

Political campaign buttons in Hebrew are a popular way to woo Jewish votes - but sometimes things get lost (or added) in translation. When Democrat John Kerry ran for president in 2004, his transliterated name appeared on thousands of buttons, stickers and coffee mugs. To the amusement of those familiar with Talmudic Hebrew, "keri" in its phonetic spelling means a seminal discharge.

"I never heard of that, and I am a Republican," laughed Kory Bardash, the head of the party's Israel branch. Yet he doesn't shy away from fooling with candidates' names to get his message across. For the current campaign, he thought of a pun that weaves the Hebrew words for yes and no in John McCain's and Barack Obama's names, respectively ("McKen, "Lo-bama").

Campaign propaganda in Hebrew aims not only at Jewish voters in the U.S., but also at the 250,000 Americans living in Israel, Bardash said. The chairwoman of Democrats Abroad Israel, Joanne Yaron, said her group couldn't afford to distribute its own campaign material.
Advertisement
Barack Obama, however, sells 2.25-inch-large Hebrew campaign buttons on his official Web site (one for $3, two for $5), Yaron pointed out. So far, his Republican opponent only offers buttons in English ("Jewish Americans for McCain").

The idea of using Hebrew letters to influence Jewish voters is not new. In fact, it has been around since the beginning of the twentieth century, said Brian Krapf, an Orthodox Jew and the president of American Political Items Collectors. "This corresponds with the great immigration of Jews from Europe. Basically, they say the same as their English counterparts."

The history of the political button started in 1789. Metal clothing buttons were made to commemorate George Washington's election. Today's small, round pin-back buttons were first used in the 1896 presidential campaign. "A company named Whitehead and Hoag made the first buttons," Krapf said, "realizing that they could mass produce a candidate's image very inexpensively on a small item that people could pick up and wear." Just four years later, buttons written in Yiddish with Hebrew letters were circulated.

Yet, the political significance of campaign buttons has declined sharply over the decades. Most buttons made for recent campaigns have been produced with collectors in mind; they have become much less important for a candidate's success, according to American Political Items Collectors secretary Harvey Goldberg. "A campaign, especially a nationwide presidential campaign, can reach infinitely larger numbers of voters with a series of television commercials than thousands of people wearing buttons," he said. This is even more true in the age of Facebook and Internet-based campaigns.

Some Jewish-themed political items are extremely precious: just last month a button was auctioned off for $21,000. The piece is small and rather plain - "Eddie's Friend: Truman in '48" is all it says - but it is loaded with "tremendous historical significance," Krapf explained. "'Eddie' refers to Truman's friend, Eddie Jacobson, who sat down at his kitchen table and wrote the president a handwritten letter, discussing why Truman should support the formation of the state of Israel. Thus, Eddie's friends were American Jews who were appreciative of Truman's efforts."

However, the most valuable pieces are not necessarily the oldest ones. Usually, collectors pay between $5 and $300 per article, said Krapf, who lives in Savannah, Georgia, and has been interested in political items since he was 10. His private collection includes an assortment of pre-1948 buttons advocating Jewish causes and a Hebrew Winston Churchill poster from World War II, which was used to recruit for the Jewish Brigade in Palestine.

Until 1964, buttons were officially sanctioned by the campaigns. Since then, more and more vendors started producing their owns buttons and offering them for sale. Items not sanctioned by the campaigns can sometimes be more creative and colorful than the originals, but will not be as highly rated among collectors.

Some political items are created by people who can't even vote in the United States. Obama supporter Shahar Golan, of Rehovot, crafted a poster with the Hebrew translation of the slogan "Change we can believe in." After a smear campaign tried denouncing the Illinois senator as a Muslim, Golan felt he had to publicly declare his support for "Baruch Obama," as he calls him. "As a born and bred Israeli, my interest in the U.S. elections is mainly because American presidents tend to influence the entire world," the 31-year-old photographer and graphic designer said. "And since I cannot vote myself I create graphics that hopefully might call attention to a candidate worth voting for." Currently, Golan is working on a new poster featuring a Hebrew version of Obama's "Yes we can" slogan.

Golan knows that translations can be tricky. On his blog, he elaborated on his choice of words. "Translating 'Change we can believe in' proved to be somewhat of a challenge," he muses, "as the Hebrew word for 'we can' (nuchal) is the exact one for 'crook' (nochel)." Not wanting to repeat past mistakes, he added that "even a hint of such subliminal connections can be bad."

More Jewish World news and features
Bookmark to del.icio.us  
 
McCartney in Israel
The former Beatles lead singer announces his plans to perform in Tel Aviv next month.
Next big invention
U.S. entrepreneur makes aliyah to take advantage of Israeli innovation.
  1.   Obama for president 10:18  |  Choni Davidowitz 13/07/08
  2.   Reply to Choni (#1) 10:56  |  Tod Zuckerman 13/07/08
  3.   El-Al will be busy when war breaks out 11:04  |  Clickfool 13/07/08
  4.   OSAMA LOVES OBAMA 12:57  |  petra 13/07/08
  5.   The Republicans and Israel 15:06  |  Yehudit 13/07/08
  6.   SCFOOL how do you know? Is that what happened the last time 17:42  |  PETER SM 13/07/08
  7.   They use Spanish to woo Hispanic Voters 18:25  |  DAT 13/07/08
  8.   Clickfool: The Web`s Most Stubborn Moron 18:44  |  Tex 13/07/08
  9.   IT`S NOT FEW JEWISH VOTES, IT`S FEAR OF THEIR MEDIA AND MONEY 21:19  |  JACKAL 13/07/08
  10.   ..and they`re speaking in Spanish too 22:33  |  Panderer 13/07/08
  11.   petra- What is a true american? 22:35  |  WASP 13/07/08
  12.   WASP 11 if you need to ask what a true American is... 09:26  |  Realist 14/07/08
  13.   #1 Your `logic` is flawed beyong recognition. 15:36  |  petra 14/07/08
  14.   Realist - True Americans 17:21  |  El Hombre 14/07/08
  15.   Why no Yiddish? 19:16  |  Yid 14/07/08
  16.   Yid 14:03  |  Nephtaly 15/07/08
  17.   http://www.hellnobama.com 17:38  |  Former Belgian 15/07/08
  18.   Bueno, Hombre, good luck in the US Army. El Pueblo unido vencera 19:12  |  Realist 15/07/08
  19.   15 Yiddish is full of Hebrew words and written in Hebrew letters 19:15  |  Realist 15/07/08
  20.   Response to 1 & 2 19:52  |  Czarkazem13 15/07/08
  21.   Petra 19:55  |  Czarkazem13 15/07/08
  22.   This is old news 21:15  |  Boaz (Shalom) 15/07/08
  23.   Barack in Hebrew 21:24  |  Green Eagle 15/07/08
  24.   #3 - Clickfool the expert on everything 21:38  |  Maurice 15/07/08
  25.   How shall I call thee,....? 02:57  |  Gideon Reader 16/07/08
  26.   Nice try #23, but you need some Hebrew lessons! 03:01  |  Brian 16/07/08
  27.   Whatever happened to creativity 04:08  |  JLEE 16/07/08
  28.   Blind and Stiff necked 04:24  |  Jay 16/07/08
  29.   Translating "change that we can believe in" 08:16  |  Steve 16/07/08
  30.   #15 Yiddish 06:04  |  Joe 22/07/08
  31.   American Jewish vote 00:07  |  Israeli Jew 25/08/08
 Read & React
Islamic Jihad urges Palestinian groups to kidnap Israeli soldiers
Responses: 48
Arab League chief praises activists who challenged Gaza siege
Responses: 201
Israel's missile shield against Iran: Three Americans in a trailer
Responses: 63
Natasha Mozgovaya: Obama played it safe, but is Biden good for Israel?
Responses: 82
Haredi rabbis: Renew ban on Jews entering Temple Mount
Responses: 43
Rosner's Domain
One State solution? Let the debate begin
What killed the campaign for Darfur?
Better chances for a Lieberman VP?
Poll: Who will be better as leader of the Kadima Party?


More Headlines
18:17 Nasrallah: Hezbollah's next victory over Israel will be indisputable
23:01 Iran-bound passenger plane crashes in Kyrgyzstan, 70 dead
00:12 Police search for missing girl in 'one of the most shocking cases in Israel's history'
00:12 Police close Islamic institute suspected of aiding Hamas
01:35 Gilad Shalit becomes punchline for jokes in the Gaza Strip
00:37 Interfaith gathering kicks off U.S. Democratic Convention
13:27 Israel to free 199 jailed Palestinians on Monday
22:22 Son of Nazi doctor seeks to donate father's money to Holocaust education
15:26 Arab League chief praises activists who challenged Gaza siege
08:36 Israel's missile shield against Iran: Three Americans in a trailer
21:56 Daughter of woman accused of severe child abuse: My mother is a righteous woman
19:49 Olmert slams Barak over absence from defense budget discussions
Previous Editions
Special Offers
Advertisement
Fattal Hotel Chain
Perfectly located hotels on best resorts of Israel.
Jewish Singles Personal Ads
Find the love of your life on JDate.com
MBA in Israel in English
APPLY NOW! Limited spaces available
Israel's Premier Real Estate Website
www. israel-property.com
Hebrew Summer courses
From $39.95
ISRAEL BONDS Build Israel
Israel bonds - a multi-purpose way to celebrate Israel's 60th
Eldan Rent a Car
Israel's leading car rental company offers you a 20% discount on all online reservations
Junkyard
Junk a car - get free towing nationwide and a tax-deductible receipt
Home | TV | Print Edition | Diplomacy | Opinion | Arts & Leisure | Sports | Jewish World | Underground | Site rules |
Real Estate in Israel | Travel to Israel with Haaretz | Hotels Israel | Restaurants Israel | Tourist attractions Israel | Shops Israel
birthright Israel | Search engine marketing
Haaretz.com, the online edition of Haaretz Newspaper in Israel, offers real-time breaking news, opinions and analysis from Israel and the Middle East. Haaretz.com provides extensive and in-depth coverage of Israel, the Jewish World and the Middle East, including defense, diplomacy, the Arab-Israeli conflict, the peace process, Israeli politics, Jerusalem affairs, international relations, Iran, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, the Palestinian Authority, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, the Israeli business world and Jewish life in Israel and the Diaspora.
© Copyright  Haaretz. All rights reserved