Dysentery, most commonly referred to as diarrhea, is of very unfortunate circumstances. People who experience it are often ostracized and humiliated. It is not a pretty experience. The most common causes of dysentery can be an intolerance to lactose, a stomach virus, food poisoning, and of course being Jewish. The ubiquity of dysentery within the Jewish communities can at times be inexplicable, but I am here only to talk on the psychological effects this has.

            When speaking on the psychological effects of dysentery, one can’t glaze over its main rival, vomit. Vomiting is very effective, offering an immediate rejection of anything the body must release. As for dysentery, it can often have ambiguous reasons. A person who commonly suffers from dysentery might ask themselves “why must I go through this? All I did was break bread.”

               In our modern society, vomiting gets all the praise. In popular media depicting a party, what can often be seen is a person vomiting, which leads to most swooping into action to care for that person. Vomiting also lends itself as a bonding experience. During this social convention, referred to as vomiting, the victim will have their hand held, and in special occasions, girls will hold each other’s hair back, and even braid it. One might even let the sick person sleep in their bed, if they seem in fit condition.

       As for diarrhea/dysentery-goers, they are shunned by greater society. As one experiences diarrhea at a party, rather than being a social convention, it is one of great fear and hiding. One experiencing diarrhea will do everything in their power to ensure no-one around them knows it is occurring. This can be often seen as letting the sink run, playing music, or repeatedly reminding the people inside the home that there has been a sudden downpour outside. The incident being unknown by the fellow party attendants, the dysentery sufferer is not offered comforting words, or even words of encouragement. Experiencing dysentery is a very isolating experience. Saying goodbye to the fellow party attendants, the dysentery-suffering person walks down the stairs with extreme caution, with their left foot grazing the edge of each stair. As they continue their walk home, one guest from the party might see them walking down the sidewalk, knee-knocking and arms flailing to occasionally hold the anus shut.

             While the person who experienced dysentery, suffered an internal humiliation and early end to their night, the person who threw up is the clear winner, as they got to share an intimate bonding moment, and might have even gotten to sleep over. Thus, the dysentery-suffering people resent the vomit goers.

                 There are some benefits to experiencing dysentery however. Dysentery is one of the main factors leading to the Orthodox Jewish people being such a strongly connected community. As the Jews sit around the table and share their stories of experiencing diarrhea during their holiday of their choosing. For this, dysentery is actually held in high esteem in these Orthodox sects. Some even appreciate the isolating and humiliating qualities of experiencing diarrhea, as it connects themselves to the ancestral Jewish people who had experienced exile centuries ago. And when it is spread throughout town that someone, who happened to be anti-Semitic, had experienced diarrhea, the Jews rejoice and cheer “Good Riddance!”.