Perry Raphael Rank, Rabbi of the Midway Jewish Center, Syosset, New York, wrote an article titled, "Sex and the Piety."

He said that "Sex and the City" has now earned a position, if only minor, in the annals of Jewish sociology via a snippet of dialog that has apparently outraged members of our own Conservative Movement. A character by the name of Harvey Goldenblatt informs his girlfriend Charlotte York that their relationship has no future since he has promised his mother that he would only marry a Jew. All of this is in a restaurant where Harvey is ordering a pork dish. Charlotte questions his religious convictions. After all, how is it that he can blithely transgress a dietary law and yet stand firm about intermarriage? To which Harvey replies, "I'm not kosher. I'm Conservative."

Manhattan Rabbi, Jacob Goldstein, has branded the storyline "a travesty." He said,
"The whole notion of the programming cheapens religion. Anyone who thinks it shows a new and different side of our faith is wrong."

In one recent sermon, a member of the clergy wrote, "In the course of its schedule, Carrie and her friends wrestle with such earthy issues as spontaneous intimacy with their doormen, their realtors and their personal trainers, as well as their zany but chic escapades in the world of breakup, boy toys and Viagra. This is not a show for the family."

Since Charlotte York's fascination with Judaism has been a recurring theme in the show--and she peppers her conversations with Yiddish phrases--perhaps we need a Yiddish guide to "SATC."


"fir" (four)
Four savvy, sassy ladies navigate the perilous waters of "libe" (life), "tayve" (lust) and dating in the "Grosseh Epl" (Big Apple). Carrie, Samantha, Miranda, and Charlotte are nothing like the "Golden Girls."

"frage" (question)
#1 SATC asks the ubiquitous question, universally pondered by single Jewish and non-Jewish women "de velt" (the world) over: Is the perfect man out there? "Alle meiles in ainem iz nita bei kinem." (There is no such thing as a perfect person.)

#2 Michael Elkin ("Sex and the Siddur") asks, "What's the lowdown on how they'd (Charlotte and Harry) celebrate the High Holidays? Can Charlotte correctly pronounce 'ch'? Is there a Chanukah bush in their future?"

#3 Will Supersol cater the wedding?

#4 Will Charlotte and Harry have "shalom bayis" (marital harmony)?

#5 Will Charlotte learn the difference between "bagels" and "flagels" (flat bagels)?

#6 Will Charlotte go to the "mikveh" before the wedding?

"shrayber" (writer/author)
Four of the seven SATC writers are Jewish. Rabbi Amy R. Scheinerman, Beth Shalom Cong., Taylorsville, MD, says that she's never seen the program, but that "the inaccuracies don't surprise me. The people who write the scripts are not especially observant or committed Jews themselves, most likely. There is a long history of non-committed Jews writing TV and movie scripts that tend to justify their own life decisions (non-observance, intermarriage, etc.). TV has little to do with the real world."

"gegnt" (location/locality)
Locations on SATC are top-notch, from A-1 Gotham apartments and splashy restaurants like Sea on North Sixth Street in Williamsburgh, and nightclubs to grungy hangouts and hovels.

"groiser knocker" (big shot)
The "groiser knockers" on SATC have a most difficult dilemma; they must choose which Jewish customs and traditions to include in the scripts? Charlotte under the chupah? Dancing the hora? Completing the conversion process? Purchasing a "klutz-proof" Sukkah kit? "Oy-robics"?

"shafe" (closet)
In Carrie's closet you'll find haute couture pieces side by side with vintage frocks, downtown club wear, and many, many Manolo Blahnik stilettos. Carrie can start "der tog" (the day) looking like a streetwise pixie, change into a neo-bohemian outfit for "lontsh" (lunch), slip into an elegant princess "kleyd" (dress) for "mitog" (dinner), and into a skin-baring ensemble for a late-"nakht" party.

"tsirung" (jewelry)
Carrie's accessories include the nameplate necklace, the flower pins, and the diamond horseshoe pendant from Mia & Lizzie.

"hut" (hat)
"Without hats we would have no civilization," Christian Dior once famously remarked. Bella Abzug wore her trademark wide-brimmed hat; Carrie Bradshaw wore newsboy hats.

"shukh" (shoe)
Carrie describes the shoe designer, Maholo Blahnik, as the fifth star of SATC. (He's designed some 15,000 styles since the early 1970's and is known as the Stiletto King. SATC shot a scene where Carrie is mugged, and she begs the "gonif" (thief),"You can take my Fendi baquette, you can take my ring and my watch, but don't take my Manolo Blahniks."

"lise" (bald)
Harry Goldenblatt was the total "heypekh" (opposite) of what Charlotte desired from her men. He was "lise" and chewed with his "moyl" (mouth) open.

"kleyd" (dress)
"Dos meydele vil a kleydele." (The girl wants a dress.) Carrie signed up to guest-model in a fashion show and sashayed down a faux runway in a fabulous Dolce & Gabbana dress.

"brivl" (note/letter)
Berger dumped Carrie via a Post-it note. "A klog oyf im!" (A misery on him!)

"matone" (gift/present)
Carrie as spent more than a "toyzent" (thousand) dollars on baby showers and wedding gifts, but is still made to feel guilty about her shoe fetish. According to Ask Wendy (jewishworldreview.com), "It is customary to have a baby shower after the baby is born--not before. And while this is a uniquely Jewish order, the logic involved is unassailable. No one goes to the hospital to deliver a baby expecting complications. But they do happen...After you deliver a healthy baby, however, let the party begin."

"getrank" (beverage)
Snapple may be the official beverage of the Big Apple, but the "Cosmopolitan" is a favorite drink, especially with the ladies of SATC.

"shvarts" (black)
Carry wore jet-black bobby pins in her highlighted blond hair. It was five-and-dime chic, the 50 for $1.99 type available at CVS.

"khazer-fleysh" (pork)
Harry Goldenblatt, who is Jewish, ordered tenderloin of pork. "Es iz a shandeh!" He said, "I'm not Kosher; I'm Conservative." That line upset many people because it suggested that Conservative Jews do not have an obligation to keep kosher. Bruce Greenfield, exec. director of the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism said, "In fact, to be good Conservative Jew one must keep kosher."

"plyukhen" (to rain heavily)
Manolo Blahnik says that women with Manolos are devoted to the shoe. Just don' wear them in a rainstorm. "I love my work too much to see any harm come to it," says the master.

"veynen" (cry/weep)
The men in SAC cry, but not nearly as much as the women. They're always "pishn mit di oygn." Carrie cries when she realizes that her breakup with Aiden was permaent, and she cries when Big has angioplasty. (And you though that only Jews can have heart problems, a septuple bypass, etc.) "A gelechter hert men veiter vi a gevain." (Laughter is heard farther than weeping.)

"psikhiatrye" (psychiatry)
Stamford says to Carrie "I don't believe you don't have a shrink. In New York, even the shrinks have shrinks."

"kokhn" (to cook)
In the episode, "The Domino Effect," Miranda says to Dr. Leeds, "I only make Lean Cuisine." Carrie said, "The only thing I've ever successfully made in the kitchen is a mess. And several small fires."

"menyu" (menu)
There are a few cookbooks in Carrie's kitchen, but she can't cook so she would never use them. There are a "tuts" (dozen) or more takeout menus--the most important tool of a "Noo Yawkah."

"tash" (bag)
A visit to the set of SATC would show many shopping bags from Barney's, Jimmy Choo, Bergdorf's and other high-end stores.

"shvanger"/"shvengert" (pregnancy)
SATC needs a fertility specialist on the payroll. Miranda has a "lazy ovary"; Charlotte gives herself fertility shots and underwent a porcupine-faced acupuncture treatment to become pregnant. In Season 6, Charlotte is "shvengert." Mazel tov!

"zitsung" (meeting)
Charlotte announces that she is going to convert to Judaism and attempts to meet with a rabbi. She is repeatedly rebuffed. The rabbi wants to ensure that any applicants are serious. Charlotte sets out to prove herself but winds up crashing Shabbos at the rabbi's house. He shows "mekhile" (forgiveness) with the intrusion, and invites her to observe Shabbos at his house.

"sude' (feast)
The future Mrs. Goldenblatt prepares a traditional Friday night feast of brisket, potato kugel and matzo ball "zup." "Tsegait sich in moyl." (It's so delicious it melts in your mouth.)

"fingerl" (ring/jewelry)
"diment" (diamond)
Charlotte's engagement ring (from Tiffany's) is "groys" (enormous) and patterned after the one given by Richard Burton to Elizabeth Taylor. No "kintslech tsirung" (costume jewelry).

"reykhern" (to smoke)
Carrie and Samantha wind up in a dive bar. The pair light up a joint to take the edge off of their problems and Carrie gets busted for possession. Miranda, "der advokat" (the lawyer) manages to talk the charge down to "smoking in a bar."

"eyn un tsvantsik" (21)
Carrie and Mr. Big meet at "21"--the NY landmark--for a "bifsteyk" (steak) and private talk.

"perfekt" (perfect)
Charlotte's "perfect" wedding day is wrecked. Harry is unable to smash the ceremonial glass. Carrie consoles her reminding her that HER wedding with Trey was flawless, but the marriage itself didn't work out.

"vayn" (wine)
At the ceremony for Charlotte and Harry, Charlotte manages to spill wine on herself.

"shiker" (drunk)
The best man at Charlotte and Harry's wedding gives a raucous drunken toast.

"tint" (ink)
"flek" (stain)
The Sunday Times wedding announcement for Charlotte and Harry is ruined with an ink stain on the image of Charlotte's "punim" (face), making her look somewhat like a certain W.W.II dictator.

"neet khasene gehat" (single/unmarried)
Carrie coined the phrase "SSB" to describe the "secret single behavior" she holds so dear.

"dokter" (doctor)
Miranda's new "squeeze" is handsome and charming Blair Underwood (Dr. Robert Leeds), the New York Knicks team physician. On the Web site, Yiddishamama, we learn that "In the Jewish doctrine, a fetus becomes a human when it graduates from medical school." Jackie Mason said, "If a daughter should marry a doctor, that's great. But if he' a specialist, that's even better. And if he should own a medical center on top of that, then the naches is nearly beyond words."

"nomen" (name)
The producers of SATC smoked the peace pipe with the owners of a Manhattan bar named "Down the Hatch.' The owners were seeking to stop an episode from airing because it portrays their joint as a drug den. References to the bar were removed from the show and replaced with a fictional "nomen." ("Down the Hatch" is a respected establishment frequented by, among others, Jenna Bush.)

"Shabbes" (the "Bride of the Week")
The newly converted Charlotte takes her role as a Jew with great "kraft" (vigor). She cooks a massive dinner for her first Shabbat with Harry, however, Harry wants to watch the Mets game. This leads them to "taynen" (argue).

"vern zikh" (to bet)
Carrie realizes that people go to casinos for the same reason they go on blind dates--hoping to win the jackpot...but wonder: If we know the house always wins, why gamble?
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Marjorie Gottlieb Wolfe says, "Ich kum fun niew york" and admits she'd have trouble navigating the street of Manhattan in Manolo Blahnik's 4 1/2- inch stiletto heels.