The secular community is dead, dead, dead. There's no Yiddish press, no Yiddish theater [not quite accurate since there is one still-vibrant group, the National Yiddish Theater-Folksbiene]. Dead, dead, dead. There were hundreds of Sholem Aleichem schools, Peretz schools. Where are they? How many Yiddish books are being published? The secular people dominated everything and now they've lost. Hasidim are pushing everyone to be more religious, more Jewish.
Rabbi Frankel's bemoaning of the potential extinction of Yiddish illuminates a greater issue: The language has become synonymous with Orthodox Judaism and has lost its meaning within the secular parts of the faith. It's a dying language among mainstream Jewish Americans but a thriving one among the Hasidim, who speak the language almost exclusively. Historically, American Jews have been more moderate and relaxed in following the tenets of Judaism, classifying themselves as "Reform" or "Conservative" more often than "Orthodox.
In total, 83 percent of Jews in America did not consider themselves Orthodox, and even those raised Orthodox tend to switch over to the less traditional forms of Judaism at higher rates than those raised in other parts of the faith.
Berger experienced this switchover firsthand. They might have gone to schul , but that's it. But the Orthodox community's previous status as a reclusive community is changing—and rapidly. Alan Cooperman , the director of religion research at Pew, said that the growth of the Orthodox community is a story of demographics.
Berger pointed to mushrooming neighborhoods of Orthodox Jews in Los Angeles, Toronto, and Chicago, with "minivans full of Hasidic kids. That's unthinkable now. There's , Hasidic Jews in New York alone, and they're growing fast.
The Census points to a curious pattern of aggregation of Yiddish speakers in four metropolitan areas, calling the Yiddish-speaking community "an extreme example of language concentration":.
This means that 88 percent of all Yiddish speakers lived in just one of these four metro areas. The same report said that many Jewish American Baby Boomers grew up speaking Yiddish at home, but dropped it—along with an Orthodox lifestyle—when they reached adulthood.
Berger hypothesized that today's secular Jews just aren't that interested in speaking Yiddish. This leads to a domination of one language, Hebrew, and a lack of awareness and appreciation for the Jewish life in places such as Poland, Romania, and Russia, and the traditions created by their culture.
Both languages are important to the history of the Jewish people, and both should be appreciated. I will admit that before I took Yiddish in college, I, too, had always thought that Yiddish was simply an equal combination of Hebrew and German, leaning towards the Hebrew side.
We need to work towards eliminating the unknown about these two languages. What better way to learn these languages, to truly develop an understanding of the differences between Yiddish and Hebrew, than by experiencing them in the places they were created and heavily spoken? Yiddish is not a version of Hebrew, and Hebrew is not a version of Yiddish — they both should exist as individual, valued languages.
Spending quality time abroad immersed in these languages is a great chance to grow an appreciation for what each language means. KAHAL aims to create meaningful Jewish experiences for study abroad students, allowing them to interact with local Jewish communities and deepen their Jewish identities. Wherever students travel, KAHAL arranges chances to attend Shabbat dinners, meet Jewish students, attend holiday meals, volunteer and advocate, and provides grant funding and travel assistance.
By using our site you agree to our use of cookies. Read our Cookie Policy for details. Choose Experience. Online Programs. Interested in Language Courses? Start Your Search. Back to top. Tags Culture Diversity. To the untrained eye, there may not appear to be any difference between Yiddish and Hebrew. What is the difference between Yiddish and Hebrew? Language family Hebrew is a Semitic language a subgroup of the Afro-Asiatic languages, languages spoken across the Middle East , while Yiddish is a German dialect which integrates many languages, including German, Hebrew, Aramaic, and various Slavic and Romance languages.
Birthplace The birthplace of a language is a crucial distinction. Original purpose Yiddish was known as mame-loshn , mother tongue, because it was the language that was used daily as the conversational, home and business language amongst Jews in Central and Eastern Europe. But why learn Hebrew and Yiddish abroad? Language learning opens doors to respect, perspective, and understanding.
Location : Warsaw, Poland 2. Summer Program for Yiddish Language and Literature in Berlin This three-week summer program hosts students from all around the world, giving students the chance to grow their Yiddish language skills while meeting others passionate about Yiddish from faraway places.
Location : Berlin, Germany 3. Ot Azoy If you have a passion for music and want to develop or advance your Yiddish language skills, Ot Azoy is the perfect program for you! Location : London, England 4. Location : Tel Aviv, Israel 4 ways to learn to speak Hebrew 1. Yiddish is now spoken by Hasidim and a few rapidly shrinking groups of culturally oriented Jews.
Yet Yiddish boasts a tremendous body of written and recorded language that will soon be incomprehensible to all but a few. With most speakers of Yiddish killed in the Holocaust and with Yiddish holding a shrinking role in Israel and the United States, it has largely been relegated to a language of the past and is, therefore, endangered. While many rich resources in Yiddish remain such as Holocaust memorial books, diaries, memoirs, and correspondence , there are few people who can read this language.
The Alliance for the Advancement of Heritage Languages is seeking to develop knowledge about Yiddish, support development of and resources about the language, and collaborate with other organizations and individuals interested in the Yiddish language. Adapted from Heritage Voices Language: Yiddish below.
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