She described Yair as “a total sweety”.

December 29, 2014 7:31 AM

President of Argentina adopts Jewish godson to 'stop him turning into a werewolf'.

The Demon Hunter's Compendium: El Lobizon (Argentinian Werewolf)
Luison
Argentina’s president adopts Jewish godson to counteract werewolf legend

posted by andoatnp (48 comments total)

Okay, that turned out to be far sweeter than the blurb was threatening.
posted by MartinWisse at 7:33 AM on December 29, 2014 [11 favorites]

"The werewolf-like creature shows its true nature on the first Friday after boy’s 13th birthday, the legend says, turning the boy into a demon at midnight during every full moon, doomed to hunt and kill before returning to human form."

FINALLY this is relevant!!!

Werewolf Bar Mitzvah (youtube)
posted by permiechickie at 7:36 AM on December 29, 2014 [63 favorites]

Okay, that turned out to be far sweeter than the blurb was threatening.

I agree. Still, I'm astonished that this tradition only dates back to the 19th century--it'd be a lot less WTF if it was some sort of cutesy tradition that dated back to 1526 or something.
posted by Ickster at 7:37 AM on December 29, 2014

As well as feeding on excrement, unbaptized babies, and the flesh of the recently dead, the lobison was said to be unnaturally strong and able to spread its curse with a bite.

So, pretty much like any teenage boy, then?
posted by GenjiandProust at 7:39 AM on December 29, 2014 [15 favorites]

FINALLY this is relevant!!!

Werewolf Bar Mitzvah (youtube)

Um, excuse me but that has always been relevant
posted by clockzero at 7:46 AM on December 29, 2014 [8 favorites]

Yeah word, considered ing the literal, accurate pull quote, this was quite sweet. The world in 2014: still bolstering primitive superstitions, but in an inclusive, multicultural kind of way.
posted by Diablevert at 7:48 AM on December 29, 2014 [6 favorites]

Is she . . . blowing out the candles on a menorah like a birthday cake in that one picture?
posted by leesh at 7:55 AM on December 29, 2014 [8 favorites]

Fernandez is no stranger to unusual adoptions, but historically it's been of dodgy accounting practices.

(whoops bit of politics)
posted by Lentrohamsanin at 7:56 AM on December 29, 2014 [6 favorites]

Yeah leesh, that caught my attention too. That's like the first thing you have to teach kids about menorahs, the urge to blow out candles is too strong.
posted by Uppity Pigeon #2 at 7:57 AM on December 29, 2014 [2 favorites]

I think the headline mentioning the werewolf-adoptee being Jewish was gratuitous, and a sign of the Independent, under Lebedev (of Evening Standard fame) having become a sensationalist clickbaiting tabloid. The werewolf myth has no connection to Jewishness, but by itself, is just a bit of local colour. Mention that the “werewolf” is Jewish, and all of a sudden, there's a mischievous imputation medieval-style pogroms.
posted by acb at 8:12 AM on December 29, 2014 [1 favorite]

The world in 2014: still bolstering primitive superstitions, but in an inclusive, multicultural kind of way.

Well, yeah. We have to respect and legitimize all kooky, damaging, anti-humanist beliefs, not just those of the hegemonic majority. That's multiculturalism for you.
posted by Faint of Butt at 8:14 AM on December 29, 2014 [1 favorite]

That's a Hanukiah. (פֶּדַנְט)
posted by maxsparber at 8:16 AM on December 29, 2014 [2 favorites]

Werewolf Bar Mitzvah

Not to be confused with the Wolfman Bar Mitzvah, being held next Thursday in Ballroom C.
posted by Strange Interlude at 8:18 AM on December 29, 2014 [8 favorites]

Man, I lived in Argentina for years but never knew about this. People are weird!
posted by languagehat at 8:29 AM on December 29, 2014 [1 favorite]

Okay, why does being adopted by the President help?

My guess is that by having the seventh son adopted - by anyone, not just the President - they symbolically become a son of the adopting family, and are no longer the seventh son of the birth family.

Of course if the adopting family already had six sons, then you're right back where you started, so I guess you have to be careful who's adopting your seventh son. And in this case, I have to wonder what happens to the seventh person the President adopts. Do they go all werewolf anyway, and people go, well, there was nothing to be done for them?
posted by Naberius at 8:33 AM on December 29, 2014 [2 favorites]

That's a Hanukiah.

A hanukiah is a /type/ of menorah, and is commonly called a menorah.
posted by leesh at 8:37 AM on December 29, 2014 [1 favorite]

The boy also gets a full scholarship for all studies until his 21st birthday, which is pretty awesome.

But isn't an educated werewolf worse than a normal one?
posted by Sangermaine at 8:40 AM on December 29, 2014 [2 favorites]

acb: I think the headline mentioning the werewolf-adoptee being Jewish was gratuitous, and a sign of the Independent, under Lebedev (of Evening Standard fame) having become a sensationalist clickbaiting tabloid.

You'll get no argument from me about the Independent, but the (ex-)werewolf's being Jewish is significant, because he's the first Jewish boy to be adopted by the president. The article mentions at the end that the tradition was only open to Roman Catholics until 2009, and has only been possible for seventh daughters since 1973.
posted by daisyk at 8:46 AM on December 29, 2014 [2 favorites]

But isn't an educated werewolf worse than a normal one?

Lycanthropes alreally face serious problems in job-searching without being denied the benefits of formal education as well.
posted by GenjiandProust at 8:47 AM on December 29, 2014 [5 favorites]

As well as feeding on excrement, unbaptized babies, and the flesh of the recently dead ...

Don't go with that guy -- I read a similar review on Yelp when we were looking for caterers for our son's bar mitzvah.
posted by mosk at 8:50 AM on December 29, 2014 [1 favorite]

 I have to wonder what happens to the seventh person the President adopts.

Double werewolf!
posted by sexyrobot at 8:56 AM on December 29, 2014 [7 favorites]

A hanukiah is a /type/ of menorah, and is commonly called a menorah.

You know that but don't know how to read a Hebrew transliteration of "pedant"?
posted by maxsparber at 8:58 AM on December 29, 2014 [7 favorites]

I think the headline mentioning the werewolf-adoptee being Jewish was gratuitous

I think they mentioned it because the article says it was the first time this has applied to Jews. Up until 2009 it only applied to Catholics according to the article.
posted by Carillon at 9:10 AM on December 29, 2014

acb: "I think the headline mentioning the werewolf-adoptee being Jewish was gratuitous"

Yeah, the only reason it's notable is that this is the first time a Jewish child has been "adopted" by the president, since only Catholic seventh children were "adopted" until 2009. (Probably because Jews don't have godparents!)

Naberius: "Okay, why does being adopted by the President help?"

It notes that the child is adopted by the president AS A GODPARENT -- not a parent -- and appears to have been aimed at giving the child symbolic protection of the state and social status, and showing that powerful people did not believe in the superstition. Possibly there is some element of religious blessing counteracting the curse, what with the godparenting, but it isn't directly mentioned.

It also seems like today this is more a "The Today Show wishes you happy birthday on air for your 100th" than anything serious, as it's been extended to girls and now non-Catholics -- just a sort of cultural tradition that celebrates the now-unusual situation of having a seventh child by getting to meet the president when you turn 13 and enacting this symbolic, 100-year-old state ritual with kinda nice roots in helping protect powerless children against superstition. (With bonus scholarships!)
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 9:19 AM on December 29, 2014

But isn't an educated werewolf worse than a normal one?

And all those student loa-oooons to worry about.
posted by a lungful of dragon at 9:19 AM on December 29, 2014 [1 favorite]

You know that but don't know how to read a Hebrew transliteration of "pedant"?

I don't know why you assume someone who knows what a menorah is can read Hebrew that well. I suck at reading English words in Hebrew characters, sorry to disappoint.

I also don't know why you're being mean to me in a thread about silly werewolves.
posted by leesh at 9:37 AM on December 29, 2014 [3 favorites]

Still, I'm astonished that this tradition only dates back to the 19th century--it'd be a lot less WTF if it was some sort of cutesy tradition that dated back to 1526 or something.

I know absolutely nothing about Argentinian lobizons, but Galician lobishomes are your run of the mill man-eating werewolves. They must have added the bit about seventh sons in America.
posted by sukeban at 9:41 AM on December 29, 2014

Can you get good beef chow mein in Argentina?
posted by Faint of Butt at 9:45 AM on December 29, 2014 [1 favorite]

Is she . . . blowing out the candles on a menorah like a birthday cake in that one picture?

I saw that and didn't think twice, but now that you mention it, that's...um...probably not the traditional usage, huh?
posted by Nonsteroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drug at 9:48 AM on December 29, 2014

I also don't know why you're being mean to me in a thread about silly werewolves.

Not sure how you're reading what I have said to you as mean, but, then, I'm also not sure why a thread about adoption and Judaism is just about "silly werewolves" to you, or why, when you couldn't read my Hebrew, you assumed I didn't know enough about Judaism that I needed to be corrected on my use of hanukiah.

We may simply be reading this thread in different ways.
posted by maxsparber at 9:50 AM on December 29, 2014

Eyebrows McGee: " this symbolic, 100-year-old state ritual with kinda nice roots in helping protect powerless children against superstition. (With bonus scholarships!)"

This rituals are really important, by the way -- like Obama hugging the ebola patient, or Princess Diana shaking hands with an AIDS patient in 1987. (Or even Nelson Mandela cheering for the Springboks -- symbolically similar in that it's about showing a particular group will not be made outcast by the government.) One of the best ways to combat superstition and fear is for people in powerful and visible positions to show in public ways that those superstitions are ungrounded. Princess Diana did an enormous amount to combat the stigma of AIDS simply by appearing in public repeatedly touching and hugging AIDS patients. The things the doctors are telling you are true, it says. You cannot get this disease by touching and shaking hands and sharing doorknobs. One of the most visible women in the world is touching AIDS patients and she has not gotten infected.

Same reason Obama had the ebola patient for a photo op at the White House. It's a kinda silly photo op, but you know there is absolutely no possible way that woman was going to be allowed in a room with Obama unless the CDC and the president's military doctors were absolutely, 100% positive he wouldn't be infected. (And if they were wrong and ebola was dangerous even after the recovery period? There is no possible way to hide that if the president gets infected.)

Anyway, this is the same kind of thing. 100 years ago the President of Argentina goes, "Your superstitions are wrong and bad. In fact, they're so wrong that I'm not afraid to invite these children to meet with me. In fact, they're so wrong that I'll be their godfather because they're just such nice kids. In fact, they're SO wrong that I'll pay for their education until they're 21, because I'm so positive they're not going to turn into werewolves at 13!"

It's an important tool to keep in mind where stigma or superstition is a problem -- such as against albinos in Tanzania, say -- that governmental leaders (or even just celebrities!) can help combat it by these sorts of very visible symbolic acts, particularly when they're well-chosen and backed by substantive (as well as symbolic) support.

sukeban: "They must have added the bit about seventh sons in America."

If you go down a wikipedia link-hole, you can read about how the original one in Guarani mythology is the seventh child of a sort of evil godling/devil (Tau) and a human Guarani woman (Kerana), who had seven cursed children, the seventh and last of whom was extra-cursed. He's a sort-of human/dog-looking grim reaper who feeds on rotting flesh in burial grounds in Guarani myth, and gets all mixed in with the werewolf when Europeans come colonizing. It's pretty interesting.
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 9:53 AM on December 29, 2014 [19 favorites]

you assumed I didn't know enough about Judaism that I needed to be corrected on my use of hanukiah.

I wasn't correcting YOU, I was responding to you correcting ME.
posted by leesh at 10:02 AM on December 29, 2014 [1 favorite]

Ugh, forget it.
posted by leesh at 10:03 AM on December 29, 2014 [1 favorite]

Can you get good beef chow mein in Argentina?

I think they opened a Lee Ho Fuk's in Buenos Aires last year. I mean if anywhere would have good beef dishes...
posted by Naberius at 11:00 AM on December 29, 2014 [5 favorites]

I'd think adoption of any kind by a government official would be highly fraught in Argentina after all the secret adoptions by ranking military officers of babies of the Disappeared -- babies whose actual parents were tortured and killed by the very officers who adopted them, in some cases.

And perhaps especially in the case of a Jewish baby, if Jews were as over-represented among the Disappeared as they seem to have been in the South American left of that time in general, since it adds overtones of genocidal anti-semitism and Inquisitorial forced conversion to echos of murder and torture.

It turns the whole thing inside out; it's like the kid is being adopted by the werewolves -- real werewolves.
posted by jamjam at 11:15 AM on December 29, 2014 [2 favorites]

Mod note: The joke bombed, guys, drop it please. Thanks.
posted by restless_nomad (staff) at 11:25 AM on December 29, 2014

I think they opened a Lee Ho Fuk's in Buenos Aires last year.

There's a (spectacular) Chinese restaurant in Philly called Lee How Fook. I had been going for years by the first time I ever heard that song, so when it hit that line I did a literal double-take.
posted by Itaxpica at 11:56 AM on December 29, 2014

I think they opened a Lee Ho Fuk's in Buenos Aires last year. I mean if anywhere would have good beef dishes...

Yeah, I remembered after I made that joke that Argentinean beef is world-famous for its excellence. So, yes! Werewolves!
posted by Faint of Butt at 12:03 PM on December 29, 2014

Fake story.
posted by Conrad Cornelius o'Donald o'Dell at 12:33 PM on December 29, 2014 [6 favorites]

Dang it there's nothing to believe in. I mean, except sausage. And pie. Do you think one could make a pie with sausage in it? I would believe in the shit outta that, let me tell you. Do you think the President of Argentina will adopt me? I may or may not be a werewolf. A REAL one, I mean. However, I am not Jewish. But I guess it doesn't matter as she is not adopting werewolves of any race, color, or creed, apparently. There is nothing to believe in.
posted by Mister_A at 1:24 PM on December 29, 2014

Fake story.

The godadoption (or whatever the right term is) being a tradition taken from Russia and unrelated to the werewolf thing makes a ton more sense than my attempts to come up with a mechanism by which being the godchild of a President would prevent lycanthropy. Werewolves respect the balance of powers? God loves presidents and would never allow one to be forced to raise a werewolf? God hates presidents and prevents them from being able to associate themselves with sweet-ass werewolves? Maybe God just hasn't gotten around to seeing Underworld 3: Rise of the Lycans yet and is taking very thorough steps to be sure that no one he might want to hang around with is a potential vector for spoilers.
posted by Copronymus at 1:40 PM on December 29, 2014 [3 favorites]

Aww. :(
posted by daisyk at 1:52 PM on December 29, 2014 [1 favorite]

the lobison (n.) a lobster stuffed in venison; definitely not kosher
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 2:31 PM on December 29, 2014

You mean to tell me that the story about the Argentinian President adopting a 21 year old Jewish man to prevent him from transforming a werewolf is fake? No way.
posted by euphorb at 2:35 PM on December 29, 2014 [1 favorite]

You say fake; I say werewolves. Let's agree to disagree.
posted by Faint of Butt at 6:30 PM on December 29, 2014

The world is odd. I'm not prepared to discount much of anything anymore.
posted by josher71 at 12:28 AM on December 30, 2014 [1 favorite]

Loopineingly, yes.
posted by clavdivs at 2:09 AM on December 30, 2014

My guess is that by having the seventh son adopted - by anyone, not just the President - they symbolically become a son of the adopting family, and are no longer the seventh son of the birth family.

Of course if the adopting family already had six sons, then you're right back where you started, so I guess you have to be careful who's adopting your seventh son. And in this case, I have to wonder what happens to the seventh person the President adopts. Do they go all werewolf anyway, and people go, well, there was nothing to be done for them?

Inception 2 Script leak?
posted by juiceCake at 10:56 PM on December 30, 2014