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people—there was a visible predisposition to unite, from the poorest and simplest
corporations and groups of common interest (especially economic) to intellectual
and financially rich circles.
But more than a habitual ethnic unity, their social interaction was emphasized
by an obvious propensity to chat. The Romanian Jews practiced, publicly, close con¬
versations, manifesting a social behavior that supposedly characterized the eastern
European Jews in general. The Jewish-American anthropologist David Efron deter¬
mined in the 1940s that there was a “tendency among ghetto Jews to bunch them¬
selves in conversation” (1972: 93). This tendency, that for Efron was the starting
point for a gestural complex, his chosen point of interest, is, for the present study,
an indicator of the Jews’ fondness for intimate discussions. They simply enjoyed
schmoozing, their everyday chatting, sometimes planned ahead, at other times,
spontaneous, when the interlocutors happened to meet.‘ It was far from being a lo¬
cal phenomenon, and eastern European Jews, even when they left for America,
found in schmoozing “an exercise in building Jewish community and identifying
with other Jews worldwide” (Hoffman 2005: 9).
The intraethnic communication effectively contributed to their image of being
a distinctive and homogenous ethnic group. For the Romanians, the Jewish way of
socializing was quite uncommon, and it was largely perceived as an irregular con¬
versational process, in three major aspects:
Socially. The conversation was isolated, secretive, exclusive. Even when loud,
between larger groups, the conversation seemed strange. Commercial interests led
to group discussions and, as there were no stock exchanges, commercial transac¬
tions took place on the street. This gave birth to a Romanian proverb: The Jews
huddle to talk just as the flies huddle on droppings, showing the unfavorable impres¬
sion the Romanians were left with of an incomprehensible phenomenon (Schwarz
feld 2004: 50).
Linguistically. Jews spoke Yiddish, a galling jargon, and their language proved
to be a problem, especially because they wanted Romanian citizenship. Mihai Emi¬
nescu, the Romanian national poet and also an attentive journalist, wrote in one of
his articles: "Although language is not a characteristic sign of nationality, it is a sign
of importance. For as long as [the Jews] won’t talk Romanian inside their families
and won't keep their accounts and their inventory books and won't accept the Ro¬
manian language in their schools and synagogues—in synagogues, if not for the
rituals, at least for the service—they won't be considered Romanians” (1939: 152).
Additionally, they spoke Romanian badly, for which they were often laughed at.
4 Shmoozing isa Yiddish word, meaning “a friendly, gossipy, prolonged heart-to-heart talk—or having
such a talk” (Rosten 1968: 356). Shmoos came from the Hebrew word shmuos, meaning “things heard”
or “idle talk.” The word migrated into the English language, adding on the meaning of flattering some¬
one to win their ear. It also entered the German language, with an additional meaning of cozying or
cuddling up to someone (Finkin 2010: 148).