Sunday, May 08, 2005

Happy Mutter Day

So I have an interesting thought on Mother's Day.
Mother:
Hebrew: Ima
Yiddish/German: Mutter
French: Mere
English: Mother
Italian: Madre
Spanish: Madre
Funny that in nearly every Phoenician language the word for mother always has a 'mem' sound. One of a child's first words is 'mama'... Now why is this? I once read in this obscure book that 'mem' in Hebrew is 40...for the 40 weeks that a woman is pregnant the child is in 'mayim', 40...the state of preganancy until birth (thinking Shavous here...) feminine wisdom etc. etc. hmm...interesting notion i think.
Like Valentine's Day- I often wondered where Mother's Day came from, here's the story:

The earliest Mother's Day celebrations can be traced back to the spring celebrations of ancient Greece in honor of Rhea, the Mother of the Gods. During the 1600's, England celebrated a day called "Mothering Sunday". Celebrated on the 4th Sunday of Lent (the 40 day period leading up to Easter*), "Mothering Sunday" honored the mothers of England. During this time many of the England's poor worked as servants for the wealthy. As most jobs were located far from their homes, the servants would live at the houses of their employers. On Mothering Sunday the servants would have the day off and were encouraged to return home and spend the day with their mothers. A special cake, called the mothering cake, was often brought along to provide a festive touch.

As Christianity spread throughout Europe the celebration changed to honor the "Mother Church" - the spiritual power that gave them life and protected them from harm. Over time the church festival blended with the Mothering Sunday celebration . People began honoring their mothers as well as the church.

In the United States Mother's Day was first suggested in 1872 by Julia Ward Howe (who wrote the words to the Battle hymn of the Republic) as a day dedicated to peace. Ms. Howe would hold organized Mother's Day meetings in Boston, Mass ever year. In 1907 Ana Jarvis, from Philadelphia, began a campaign to establish a national Mother's Day. Ms. Jarvis persuaded her mother's church in Grafton, West Virginia to celebrate Mother's Day on the second anniversary of her mother's death, the 2nd Sunday of May. By the next year Mother's Day was also celebrated in Philadelphia. Ms. Jarvis and her supporters began to write to ministers, businessman, and politicians in their quest to establish a national Mother's Day. It was successful as by 1911 Mother's Day was celebrated in almost every state. President Woodrow Wilson, in 1914, made the official announcement proclaiming Mother's Day as a national holiday that was to be held each year on the 2nd Sunday of May.

While many countries of the world celebrate their own Mother's Day at different times throughout the year, there are some countries such as Denmark, Finland, Italy, Turkey, Australia, and Belgium which also celebrate Mother's Day on the second Sunday of May.


8 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

the letter mem being forty is not some obscure fact, it is simply the numerical value of the letter.

11:50 AM  
Blogger HindiK said...

correction: "I once read in this obscure book that 'mem' being numerically 40 in Hebrew represents the 40 weeks of pregnancy..." This is the one literary forum that I allow myself to be loose with syntax, grammar, punctuation, spelling and diction....

7:17 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

To Hinda Hindi Hinda, my eternal star crossed Pesse Batya Tzippy D'Vora lover,

My most sincere apologies for the way
In which I treated you today
It was quite crass
That comment I lashed out to you in class.
I hope you can find it in you to forgive my words
Because, you're number one- not second, or thirds.
I get so odd and mean sometimes,
And then do bizzare things, like make rhymes!
We're like worlds away, but still on the same planet.
One day you'll be famous for a Sonnet.
But until then, know you're an awesome friend,
A friend whom I'll want to know until the end.
In class we banter, sit and laugh,
It makes time fly faster, time cut in half.
Don't take my words so seriously,
Because in all seriousness, there is some envy!
You're so well learned and filled with smarts.
Let us renew our friendship to a brand new start!
You're one cool gal, whom I so tackily embarassed.
But you can laugh at me now, for I have a flat ass.

9:52 PM  
Blogger Hubert Cumberdale said...

mother in spanish is mama o madre

10:06 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Edmond, I don't know who you are, but me likes ure poem. Much esier to understand then my dear friend Hindy's... Howev, I hope the theme of your next piece of work will be more pleasant!
Hin, when u coming to visit? I'm slowly going crazy here, tho' tg, w/ the weather lookin up it's gettin better - we made malkie's kids a bbq 4 mother's day and went swimmin yesterday. I'm leaving in 5 weeks, so time's running out... Plus Malkie wants to work w/ u on curriculum... Ok. I'm not being so coherent, so call me later. Ciao mon amie.........

2:43 PM  
Blogger Rishe G said...

hey hun, been ages since i posted on here cos forgot the url. great excuse i know. but now i have no bookmarks so its tough!! I love Mother's Day - love my mum. So I'm sitting at Shabbos lunch and I get this FLASH of inspiration to ring the Aussie florist and get them to send her stunning red roses. I think I got more thrills from speaking to an Aussie accent on the phone and imagining the bustle of carlisle st beyond the door than from actually sending the roses... Anyhow, it's a highly recommended activity for anyone far from their mums/moms. Love the Mem thought too. Btw I kinda have this blog but I don't write on it yet. I guess I should. Whenever...

2:44 PM  
Blogger nahama said...

oh wait am i supposed to be working?

6:01 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

edmond, your poem is just fab. i hope you start your own blog soon.

6:36 PM  

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