First Word

Every dictionary I have consulted offers an unsatisfactory definition. Webster’s Collegiate states that it is an informal equivalent to effrontery along with nerve, cheek, and gall.

I prefer chutzpah because there is something fundamentally jewish about it.

Examples of Chutzpah

The first example comes from fiction. In Perelandra, C.S. Lewis describes a scene on the planet Venus where the protagonist, in the midst of conversation with Venus’ Eve, is confronted by a demon-possessed scientist.

“May I ask you, Dr. Ransom, what is the meaning of this?”

In all the circumstances it would have been reasonable to expect that Weston would be much more taken aback at Ransom’s presence than Ransom could be at his. But if he were, he showed no sign of it, and Ransom could hardly help admiring the massive egoism which enabled this man in the very moment of his arrival on an unknown world to stand there unmoved in all his authoritative vulgarity, his arms akimbo, his face scowling, and his feet planted solidly on that unearthly soil as if he had been standing with his back to the fire in his own study.

The next example comes from the political arena. Rather than telling you about it, watch this video. Here is the salient question and answer:

Reporter: “Is it ever reasonable to restrict constitutional freedoms in the name of fighting terrorism?”

White House mouth piece: “In our opinion, no.”

A third example comes from comedian Chris Rock:

“Nigger live next door to you break into your house [and steal your new flat screen television], come over the next day and say, ‘I heard you got robbed.’”

(You can find all of Chris Rock’s shtick here. But caution; nigger language.)

A fourth example is from an old joke. A young man is on trial for murdering both his parents and pleads for mercy because he is an orphan.

But for the paradigmatic case of chutzpah, we must of course look to a jew. This is from an article in the JTA (Jewish Telegraphic Agency).

“Michel Friedman — a journalist, attorney and former leader in the German Jewish community — wanted to interview far-rightist Horst Mahler about his roots as a founding member of the left-extremist Red Army Faction for the trendy magazine.

“Mahler, 71, who famously underwent a transformation to the extreme right, reportedly greeted Friedman with ‘Heil Hitler’ and, during the course of the two-hour interview, denied the Holocaust occurred and called Hitler the savior of ‘not only the German people.’

“The interview, in German, is currently online and in the printed version of Germany’s Vanity Fair. After the interview, Friedman filed suit as a private individual against Mahler because of his ‘incendiary’ remarks.”

In other words, a Jewish reporter asks and is granted an interview with a man known for his pro-Nazi views and then turns around and sues him when the man expresses his pro-Nazi views.

Defining Chutzpah

I know I am posturing, you know I am posturing, I know you know I am posturing and you know that I know that you know that I am posturing. Chutzpah is a way to exert power. Now that this is settled, what are you going to do about it?

A World without Chutzpah

In a world inhabited by young males there will always be the audacious. In a world with children there will always be cheek (and the parents response should be cheek for cheek). Indeed, in Christendom there were plenty of examples of cheek, audacity and even gall. But rarely did it descend to the level of real chutzpah. There is something peculiarly jewy about chutzpah. This is a theme that will need to be explored further.