Skip To Content
JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.
News

Olfaction in Israel

NEWS ITEM: In its battle against pollution, the Israeli government employs a corps of 300 people to sniff out the sources of bad air. These specialists utilize a basic bodily organ: the nose. Now, they’re coming to the United States to train Americans in odor detection. (Source: Dateline: World Jewry, published by the World Jewish Congress Foundation, April 2008 issue.)


It takes a special kind of mensch
To trace the source of noxious stench,
Impervious to that which flows
Malevolently through their nose!

With great persistence they’re imbued,
A nose-to-grindstone attitude!
Israelis train such personnel
Who’re willing to endure the smell!

With discipline they bear this yoke,
They gasp and choke and pant and croak,
But through it all, they persevere
And to their mission they adhere.

Sometimes these folks may disappoint
(Perchance a nose gets out of joint),
But mostly they perform with grace,
Despite what fills the nasal space.

For tasks involving the mephitic,
A hook-shaped nose is best! (Semitic!)

Es Shmekt in Israel

Fun vanen kumt der shlekhter “stench”?
Gey, freg di frage bay a mentsh
Vos hot a noz vos arbet punkt
Ven ales plutzling iz “farshtunkt”!

In Yis-ro-el, zey hobn yetst
Fil mumkhim mit di nezer best!
Der reyakh zey derkenen bald,
Un shrayn, heyzerlik, Gevald!”

Mir shikn zey a groysn dank
Far tshepenen mit der geshtank!
Ibergegebnkeyt’z a mekhaye,
Shtendik emesdik, gerekht, getraye!

Der ipesh iz tsufil oft mol:
Demolt di shmekers “lose control.”
Gestrokhe’z a geferlekhe zakh!
Nu! Khap dem otem! Gib a lakh!

Farshraybt in aza “worthy cause,”
Gebentsht zol zayn di Yiddish noz!

A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

We’ve set a goal to raise $260,000 by December 31. That’s an ambitious goal, but one that will give us the resources we need to invest in the high quality news, opinion, analysis and cultural coverage that isn’t available anywhere else.

If you feel inspired to make an impact, now is the time to give something back. Join us as a member at your most generous level.

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

With your support, we’ll be ready for whatever 2025 brings.

Republish This Story

Please read before republishing

We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines. You must credit the Forward, retain our pixel and preserve our canonical link in Google search.  See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.

To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at editorial@forward.com, subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.

We don't support Internet Explorer

Please use Chrome, Safari, Firefox, or Edge to view this site.

Exit mobile version