Mazzel tov Quotes

“Er bestaan twee soorten verdiet, onthoud u dat. Een dat het kan verdragen om gekieteld te worden. Een dat zo groot is dat je ervan af moet blijven, zelfs met ogenschijnlijk onschuldige vragen.”
― Margot Vanderstraeten, Mazzel tov

“Assimilation is death to us," he said.
"You don't know our history...Jewish athletes weren't allowed to join non-Jewish clubs. We have to look after ourselves, because others never will.”
― Margot Vanderstraeten, Mazzel tov

“I tried teasing her about her stubbornness - it was more sinewy than the veins that ran like cables over her jaw and neck, I told her. She merely shrugged.”
― Margot Vanderstraeten, Mazzel tov

“And that's why they always kept their passports up to date and had them ready in their homes. Just as we always have our passports ready. You will never find an Orthodox Jew in this country - perhaps not even a liberal Jew - whose passport has expired. We're always ready to leave at a moment's notice.”
― Margot Vanderstraeten, Mazzel tov

“So why do you say hatred of Jews, if it's essentially hatred of other people?"
"Hatred of Jews is the most acceptable form of hatred of other people."
There was a long silence. Elzira took the towel off her head and shook her hair free.”
― Margot Vanderstraeten, Mazzel tov

“What, to your left-wing friends? They already have their options. But they've no idea how dangerous their one-sided information will be in the long term. Their biased reporting is creating a climate - I've seen it happen over the past thirty years. I'm not saying that everyone has to be pro-Israel. But what I would like is for people not to present the Arab world as saintly. Not that the Arabs have a monopoly when it comes to hatred of Jews, mind you. It exists among the police. It exists among local officials, among people working in healthcare, people working for all kinds of institutions. It's timeless and universal: wherever there's a decline in prosperity, minorities are targeted. That doesn't just apply to Jews. Your Persian friend will experience the same thing here.”
― Margot Vanderstraeten, Mazzel tov

“The mind ranked higher than the heart. First intellect, then feeling; the latter would follow automatically.”
― Margot Vanderstraeten, Mazzel tov

“Had it not been for your children, we'd never had any contact. Children lower thresholds. Adults build walls.”
― Margot Vanderstraeten, Mazzel tov

“You don't know our history," he said, his hands in the air, ready to block my throw. "Jewish athletes aren't allowed to join non-Jewish clubs. We have to look after ourselves, because others never will.”
― Margot Vanderstraeten, Mazzel tov

“Religious Jews would never order cheese after a meal. Or coffee or tea with milk. We can't do that if we've eaten meat. Or rather, we can, but then we have to wait at least six hours. Or three hours. Religious Jews in the Netherlands, the realm of dairy products, only wait one hour...But the other way round is fine. After milk we can eat meat without waiting. It's to do with chewing. It's complicated, je sais.”
― Margot Vanderstraeten, Mazzel tov

“These days it takes courage to be religious. Atheism, is proof of lack of courage. It's nothing, neither fish nor fowl." I contradicted him. He let me speak but didn't listen. It was water off a duck's back.”
― Margot Vanderstraeten, Mazzel tov

“Repudiation is part of the necessary silence...There are two kinds of sorrow, remember that. One that can bear being prodded. And one so great that you have to keep your distance from it, even when asked apparently innocent questions.”
― Margot Vanderstraeten, Mazzel tov

“I wanted to hear about the war, not this run-of-the-mill love story: all widows were sad and all widowers wanted to remarry.”
― Margot Vanderstraeten, Mazzel tov

“My experience of Marjane had taught me that physical pain manifests itself in recognizable ways, while mental suffering can take every conceivable form.”
― Margot Vanderstraeten, Mazzel tov

“Where two religions share a bed, the devil sleeps in the middle.”
― Margot Vanderstraeten, Mazzel tov

“Bez dzieci nigdy byśmy się nie poznali. Dzieci burzą bariery. Dorośli wznoszą mury.”
― Margot Vanderstraeten, Mazzel tov

“Na papierze byłam bardziej otwarta niż w rzeczywistości. Papier pozwalał na więcej refleksji - to, co mówisz, to jesteś ty, to, co piszesz, można zawsze wyrzucić do kosza na śmieci.”
― Margot Vanderstraeten, Mazzel tov

“Ojciec znienawidził Thomasa za to, że miał w sobie coś z niego, do czego on nigdy nie potrafił się otwarcie przyznać. Może był jakiś związek między ojcem Thomasa a mną. Kto wie, może zazdrościłam chasydom odwagi bardziej, niż chciałam się do tego przyznać. Kto wie, może byłam zazdrosna o śmiałość, z jaką żyli po swojemu.”
― Margot Vanderstraeten, Mazzel tov