Work: The Curse Poem by gershon hepner

“Of the drinking class work is the curse, ”
said Oscar. I will drink to that,
and put his wisdom into verse.
Men of the professoriat
who have misquoted him should rue
the day that they put in his mouth
words that he never spoke. This Jew
knows better, being from the south.

Inspired by engagement with Professor Martin I Lockshin concerning the desirability of “strolling” in the sukkah during Sukkot (see bSukkkot 28b) , such strolling being analogous to the conduct of philosophers described by Aristotle in his “peripatetic, ” as Rabbi Daniel Korobkin insightfully pointed out to me when I explained to him that “strolling” corresponds to the German “spatzieren”. When I asked Professor Lockshin whether he was fulfilling the commandment of “strolling” in his sukkah by surfing on the net he responded: “I have to sit on campus all day long, far from my sukkah. Work is the curse of the working class.” Since Professor Lockshin is a textual positivist who frowns on midrash even when it is quoted by Rashi, I feel sure that he knew the correct version of Oscar Wilde’s insight, and was merely goading me to write this poem. Professor Lockshin is a northerner, born in Winnipeg and currently teaching at York University in Toronto, both situated far north of my sukkah, which is in Los Angeles.

10/7/09