Ah bay gezagt

My mother, a Romanian born Holocaust survivor, was one of the kindest, simplest (I thought) people I ever met.

She would always find something nice to say about someone and would “judge” people in the most beneficial light.

She saw things others missed.

When a young relative was three credits short of college graduation and they let him wear a cap and gown and walk in the processional anyway, my mother said “They didn’t want to fashemen (embarrass) him”.

She was insightful.

One evening, age 15, I had an epiphany (to borrow a phrase) and realized that a life of scholarship and academic achievement was fine but I needed to ditch the school marm look and learn something about fashion.

“I’m going on a diet tomorrow!” I declared.

“What’s wrong with tonight?” she responded.

She knew things about human nature, about dishonesty, things that it took me a long time to learn.

One of her expressions, when she heard someone make a self-serving promise, or take a position that they didn’t really believe just to gain an advantage was “Ah bay gezagt”.

It was said in acknowledgment of a speaker’s insincerity.

It translates as or I took it to mean “As long as it was said” or “So it was said.”

I thought of my mother’s expression the other day when New York City Democratic Mayoral candidate, Zohran Mamdani, who, when previously questioned about his refusal to condemn the phrase “Globalize the Intifada!”, now announced that he would ”discourage” the phrase.

“Ah bay gezagt!” echoed in my brain.