Clues on Israeli superstition?

May 12, 2009 2:06 PM

Hints on Israeli superstitions?

I am currently working for an Israeli guy in his thirties and have quietly been told by a third party that he's quite superstitious. For example, I am never to put my bag or purse on the floor, because so doing suggests one does not value one's possessions. And then today, I picked up one of those multi-color ballpoint pens that was lying around to take a few notes, and happened to start writing in red ink. He gasped, told me one NEVER writes in red ink, took the pen away from me and gave me a different one.

Granted he may have his own hangups, but I can only assume that, like anyone else, he's picked up some of these ideas from his own culture. Are there any other Israeli cultural taboos I should be careful of? (He doesn't seem to be especially religious, dresses very casually and has indicated I can also dress casually, and seems otherwise fairly down-to-earth. I'm not so much interested in taboos connected with Judaism as with the current culture in Israel.)

posted by zadcat to religion & philosophy (8 comments total)

Zadcat, I asked a friend who lives in Jerusalem (and is Orthodox, but this is tangential) and said he's never seen or heard of either. Not sure how "universally Israeli" these odd quirks are. Consider that maybe he's just a weirdo.
posted by luriete at 3:22 PM on May 12

Yeah, I'm Israeli and neither of those are superstitions I've ever come across. Don't attribute this to Israel. It's OCD.
posted by namesarehard at 3:25 PM on May 12

Thirding the "nothing 'Israeli' about this at all" sentiment.
posted by Conrad Cornelius o'Donald o'Dell at 3:31 PM on May 12

Israeli SO says, re: red ink: in middle school, students are supposed to write in blue or black ink, so that the teacher can then correct in red. So his only guess was that this guy had an overly strict middle school education...
posted by wyzewoman at 3:40 PM on May 12

I've heard that writing somebody's name in red ink is completely taboo in Korean culture, although I've heard no such thing for Israeli culture. I've never heard of the purse one anywhere.

This guy could just be picking up superstitions from all around the world, or making up his own as he goes along. Maybe a mix of both.
posted by Saydur at 4:16 PM on May 12

I asked my Israeli cousin (secular, lives in Tel Aviv) and he said neither of those mean anything to him. Sounds like an individual thing to this guy.
posted by lullaby at 5:12 PM on May 12

Thanks all! I was hoping for some signposts but I'll just have to take his notions as they come.
posted by zadcat at 5:31 PM on May 12

It's possible that he is a first- or second-generation immigrant from another country and is holding on to the superstitions of that country, not of Israel.
posted by Electrius at 7:14 PM on May 12