there are noodniks and there are noodniks. Not all noodniks are bad. We could have used a noodnik to stand on the building codes when the floor of the wedding hall crashed several years ago; and also a noodnik to make sure the place wasn't filled over capacity. We could have used a noodnik to check supplies and manpower before we went to war last year. And just think where would we be without all the little noodnik clerks in the country who get paid next to nothing who make sure shipments of goods come on time, documents are made correctly, who make sure things are done properly and thoroughly, who are able to deal with and bypass all the nasty, cruel and heartless government agencies (who hold the real power) by their patience and preserverence. And by the way, don't you miss the Israeli character that looked so forward to life he or she got up at 5:00 a.m. in the morning so they wouldn't miss a thing? It is my sincere belief that those who hold real power in Israel are the government departments: for example, the day after my mother-in-law passed away, we received a letter from the social security department stating my mother-in-law was too healthy to receive extra help at home.

so is an elitest who hates nudniks.

Obviously, the "I told you so" kind of nudniks (the ones from last two paragraphs) are hardly any good to anybody, that much is true. But Yair is mixing two different things: I have to defend the nudniks from the first paragraph, those who are "unwise to ignore" - unfortunately, there are many people and organizations in Israel, who will never pay you your salary, never give you a signature, never approve your documents, etc., unless you bug them! Some because of burocracy, others will just try to "juice" you for all your money and patience. So with people like that, in order to get what you are supposed to get from them in the first place - as much as you may hate nudniks, unfortunately you are forced to become one.

I catch once idea, that such nudniks like cockroach, that snatch food trap ("Raid" & ect. - staff like this) and bring this pest in the place,where live same congeners and never understand harm, that they made - why?-after nuclear war only cockroach, aka nudniks, continue presents, because the only things that they know is eat and shit...

Somebody's a little angry today. Not that it suprises me.. I would agree with #4 on this. Have a good one, Yair! (BTW it's funny to discover all these Jidish words we use in Czech language or at least the similarities. "Nudný" -"ý" read as "ee"- means "boring" in Czech. My partner is an Israeli and these crack us up quite often.)

although I can understand the annoyance of receiving this kind of pressure, it's your choice to write to be a public figure. Citizen participation in the governmental process is a vital part of a democracy. If you are not happy, being a leftist, I'm sure you are going to be welcome in Saudi Arabia or Egypt and their dictator rulers...

I read the column with a smile on my face until I got to the end. The term "nudnik" comes from Polish nuda "boredom" and nudny "boring; therefore nudnik, transformed by yiddish, means a boring or nagging person. In Polish, it would be nudziarz. There, have I nudniked you to death? On a more serious note - these are the people who actively participate in the democratic process as is their right. They may inconvenience or anger us but their role is hallowed by the democracy itself. Remember the American Revolution and the anonymous pamphlets outlining the ideology of the Revolution? The pamphleteers were such nudniks and their vision won! :) In Poland, the Four-year Seym (Congress of deputies) 1788-1792 was subjected to similar pamphlets, some rather rogue, so there - it's a tradition whose roots reach wide and deep.

and this disclaimer should follow his by line on every column he writes in defense of the elites.

What alot of garbage. Yair Lapid and every other columnist and politician are up in arms because the internet is now providing a way to immediately criticize anything they write, say or do. The elite (usuallly represented by the Ahkenazi Left) don't have a monopoly on the news or opinion anymore and it is really getting to them.

It sounds liek you have a twinge of guilt about going to france when the situation in Israel is so bad. And if they call at midnight because your party is still going on, they ARE correct and well within their rights. And even if your father doesn't get paid for his position, there are a lot of people who object to his holding the position. It's called morality and social awareness. It doesn't bother me that it might impinge upon your laissez faire guilt free, over consuming, elitist, lifestyle. Freedom and moral cannot coexist. Morality means controlling yourself. Maybe you need to think a little more about your morals.

I heard another explanation of the term nudnick. Nuzhni in Russian means necessary. A nuzhnik is one who performs a necessity. Ablutiions are necessary hence a term for a toilet basin is nuzh and one who uses it is a nuzhnik. Transformed into Hebrew by the Russian halutzim of the first aliya it became nudnik, nd being the root to pester. Need I explain the connection between the end product of the nuzhnik and the nudnik ?

Freedom of speech means even the smallest, softest voice gets to be heard. Democracy means majority rules. The two sometime conflict but that is a good thing because if we only had democracy then a minority (even a large minority) will be ruled by a dictatorship of the majority. In any event the biggest example of a tiny minority nudnicking its way to disproportionate political power is SHINUI. While less than 20% of Israelis consider themselves truly secular (with the rest being traditional, religiously tolerant or observant), only 7 years ago Tommy Lapid and his anti-religious platform nudnicked its way to way too much power. In the end, though, Lapid became a big zero and that is because democracy usually wins and nudnickim end up writing columns for Ynet.

A few months ago I checked my Visa statement and found that NIS350 have been deducted by my bank, Bank Discount, to be exact. On enquiring why this had been deducted, the bank calmly told me that because I hadn't spent NIS1000 per month in the past year, they were entitled to do this!!! Well, I'm glad I was a nudnikit, as I insisted on getting my money returned to my account. I "stuck to my guns" and In the end they did. Sometimes it pays to be a nudnikit/nudnik.

The word "blackmail" is certainly wrong in this context. I think you meant "nepotism" or "corruption." Don't you guys have a dictionary over there? Or even better: why not hire a native English-speaker like me as spell-checker/online copy editor? You sure could use one.

My dear Yair, You must chill out, Nudniks were born at Har Sinai and there is one little nudnik lurking in all of us that makes life interesting sometimes, tiresome sometimes Shabbat Shalom

At least I try to be to a certain extent - calling the Prime Ministker's office; sending Israeli boycotters information about Israel; contacting MK's about important issues; and telling people not to litter! Maybe someone could make a pin that says (in Hebrew) "I'm a Nudnik!"

life is full of people who drive us crazy. we have to deal with it in the right way.

they do their own research. Good for them! Someone must remain outside the drugged water lines of the masses! They are not popular because they speak truth to power. What a concept, eh?

perhaps the nudnic is our only hope of holding the elitists, bank execs, the government and the "news" journalists and culumnists accountable for their often times desperate attempts to quiet the inmates of their regime.

Dear Mr. Lapid: Maybe you should consider that a system built that provides for NO input from the public, no REPRESENTATION in the government, no one accountable to the PEOPLE, is going to result in the nudnik way. Since I can't complain to my elected representative, I'll do it with my lawyer and the court. The good news is, I'm not doing it the Palestinian way, with my grenade and gun. The bad news is, yes, they are out to get you. But only because you give no other way.

So many words spent just to say that you are pissed off from all the criticisms over your father's appointment. Economy of words Mr. arrogant! I am an outsider who never understood what a 'nudnik' is, but it requires a Mr. Lapid to make it feel that he is somebody who is doing a great service to this democracy. You have created such a big confusion...i wonder who made you a columnist. Whether you deserve it or it is because of some other reason. Sorry i forgot you cannot take criticisms. Be cool man and stop to lick yourself so much and expect everybody else to do the same.

He's made a career out of it.

Nudniks - aka- bureauocrats, also those who are more concerned with your life than with their own.

sorry about my very advanced and elaborate superior hebrew for my title. I had to ask my neighbor in my office for it. I don't really know how many of your readers are good at genetics but here I think we hold a pure gene of Nudniks in the family Lapid. Might be very interesting to analyse to find a new medicine curing that king of genetical disorder. We might call it the Lapidit Gene . Who knows might this research yields once a Nobel Price!