Saturday, September 10, 2011

Let's Play Chutzpah

1967.  The Jewish version of Monopoly comes out.  My mother brings it home, the family gathers in the den. We laugh our tushes off.  The Chutzpah sales pitch:  "Instead of Community Chest and Chance cards, you have Shlemiel and Shlemazel cards. If you have a little mazel with the dice, you could end up with 5 weeks in Miami Beach. Add a little Chutzpah, buy some smaltzy properties, avoid Tsoris and wind up the Big K'nacker with all the Gelt. If you lose, you get Bubkis. Unless you're a gonif and try and walk off with the Pushka, we'll all have naches. The perfect gift for Bubbe and Zayda."
 
The Chutzpah rules:  You start with $10,000 in gelt.  The unused money goes in the Bank (Pushka). One player is the Pushka Maven.  Keep an eye on him, in case he's tempted to 'take a little extra for himself.'  The board shows 24 nice things you can buy, ranging from the cheapest at $70, up to the most expensive, $20,000. Anyone who lands on your property gets fined.  Players pick from four stacks of cards:  Chutzpah, Shlemeil,Schlemazel and You Want to Take a Gamble? 

The Chutzpah cards are good and earn you gelt. The Schlemeil and Shlemazel cards are bad news and cost you gelt. The Gamble cards have a 50% chance of being good or bad. Each card offers a reward or penalty.  Examples: 'You call your son who is a doctor. He asks you how you feel. You tell him. He sends you a bill for $50. You call your son, a lawyer. He asks you what's wrong. You ask him if his brother can do such a thing. He says "Yes" and sends you a bill for $100. Pay the Bank $150 for having such smart children.'"  

That's Chutzpah!  I'd give anything to play the game with my family one more time.  If only I could find where it went. 

6 comments:

  1. If you can find the board game I'm in.

    P.S. Mel Brooks & Dick Cavett last night were hilarious on the HBO Special! Tanks again!

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    1. Hi Carol - On 9/10/11, "John" praised the fabulous 2010 Cavett/Brooks TV special. For those who have not seen it, the entire hour-long show is still available for viewing on the Internet Movie Database. A link can easily be found by googling "Cavett Brooks". And thanks for your blog - I will surely be back to read it again!. Arnie 😍

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  2. Help! We're playing but we don't know when the game ends. Cant find the rules. Do you remember?

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  3. There are a bunch of sets on eBay, ranging in price (current bids) from $10 to $60 (and, no doubt, in condition as well.. Good luck!

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  4. Oops, left out the end paren. That's why you're the writer, and I'm the musician. 😎
    .

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