It used to be that Jewish people went to services at their synagogue, or temple or, in Yiddish terminology, their shul.  It used to be that men went to daily  morning minyan (ten) services,  families went together on Friday evening, and/or Saturday mornings.  It used to be that Torah was studied and  women kept Kosher -- having two sets of dishes and silverware to ensure that dairy and meat products were not mixed.  It used to be that parents bought children new clothes for the “High Holidays” to mark the days of awe in which one repented for their sins and asked G-d to grant  another year of life.  It used to be that different kitchenware was used for the holiday of Passover, to commemorate the G-d given gift of freedom from Egyptian slavery.  For some of us that still exists, for others -- it used to be.

It used to be that Jewish mothers and grandmothers proudly referred to their offspring as a “Yiddishe kopf” meaning a ”Jewish head” or a Jewish smart way of thinking.  For some of us, that still applies, for others -- it used to be.

A “Yidiot’ is the Jewish opposite of a Yiddishe kopf.  How does one know the difference? 

A Yidiot is a person who accepts anti-Semitic, riot-inciting  Al Sharpton’s attendance at a New York City memorial rally for the Jews killed in Pittsburgh but is offended at President Trump’s appearance in Pittsburgh to honor them.

A Yidiot is a person who is silent when Farrakhan trashes Jews as “termites”, rants "Death to America, Death to Israel from Iran", is feted in public with past presidents Clinton and Obama, and is sought after for advice from seventeen members of the Congressional Black Caucus, but believes President Trump is anti-Semitic.

A Yidiot is a person who belongs to a political party that elected anti-Semite Keith Ellison as an attorney general of Minnesota, and Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib, who waved a Palestinian flag in celebration, and thinks diversity is more important than assimilation.

A Yidiot is a person who believes it is fair to give an American citizen who has worked all their lives an average Social Security monthly stipend of $1,400.00 per month while supporting an illegal for $5,500 to $6,000.00.

A Yidiot is a person who believes the right to an abortion up through the ninth month of pregnancy is more important an issue than supporting Israel’s existence

A Yidiot is a person whose political party’s past leader supports taking a gun to a knife fight,  past attorney general espouses kicking opponents when they are low, and whose party exhorts mobs and Antifa to public violence and personal confrontation while accusing the opposing party of fascism.

A Yidiot is a person who allows its party to boo the idea of Jerusalem being the capital of Israel, and silently  allowed past president Obama to deny Israeli citizenship to Jews born in Jerusalem but attacks president Trump as a threat to Israel by moving the American Embassy to Jerusalem.

A Yidiot is a person who sends their Jewish children to colleges and universities where ugly, hurtful, and dishonest anti-Israeli propaganda proliferates through Palestinian-funded BDS, yet still make donations to those institutions, and remains silent.

A Yidiot is a person who knows there are over 50 Muslim countries and countless Christian ones that are never criticized for their religious moorings, but thinks Israel, the only Jewish State, cannot be both Jewish and a democracy.

A Yidiot is a person for whom it is not as it used to be.

Note: "Kopf" was usually pronounced cop, and can be speklled several ways.