Oy, it’s the “Great Schlep”!

If you’re not Jewish or have never lived around Jews, the word “Schlep” wouldn’t mean all that much to you.  “Schlep” is a Yiddish word meaning to yank, tug or pull. As a child, every autumn my mother would announce that she needs to “schlep me around to find school clothes”.

 Right now, thousands of Jewish sons and daughters are making a pilgrimage to south Florida to what is being called, “The Great Schlep!”   The purpose is to convince their aging Jewish parents and grandparents to support an African American man for president by means of pulling, tugging and yanking.

There are an estimated 650,000 Jews living in Florida and the majority of them are life-long Democrats.  Florida is a battleground state and for Presidential nominee Barack Obama, these democratic votes are critical, however many of these elderly Jewish voters feel that voting for an African-American for president is “unthinkable”.    This older demographic is being barraged with campaign ads from both parties and are simply confused and are afraid of turning the country over to a person whose “color is different.”   And so the Great Schlep was born; an idea that young Jewish Democrats could invade Florida and somehow convince their Jewish parents and grandparents that it is okay to vote for a man of color. In order to spread the word, the founders of The Great Schlep turned to comedian, Sarah Silverman to star in a web video which has become a huge Internet sensation.  http://thegreatschlep.com/site/default.html.  Since then, “good” Jewish sons and daughters have either traveled or phoned their aging Jewish relatives.

One dutiful young man even promised his parents that he would marry his girlfriend if they changed their minds.  Another well-meaning son told his mother, “If Obama is elected; I won’t have worry so much about politics and would have more time to spend with my dear mother”.   ”Oy vey, such a good boy…only thinking about his parent’s happiness”.