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29
A GIFT GALLERY ...
bruce m. weirs
Southeast corner Northwestern
Behind Gabe's Fruits
In The Mayfair Shops
Mon.-Sat.
ken Yiddish, their native lan- ling jokes as Yiddish, although
guage, for 25 or 30 years and to the Jewish accent used when
have retrieved it, at first hesit- telling them in German strikes
antly, then with evident pleas- the wrong note. '
ure, when they found they
So let us end with a couple of
were unable to converse in typical Jewish jokes trans-
Hebrew, English, Spanish and lated from a original Yiddish:
Portuguese.
A rich man tells his servant:
People who speak no Yid- "That beggar breaks my heart.
dish find it hard to learn, let I just can't bear to see such
alone read, because it is writ- misery. Throw him outl",
ten in Hebrew.
Moses asks his friend how
Between 15 and 25 percent of telegraphy works. "Imagine
Yiddish is Hebrew in origin instead of the wire a dog with
(depending on the speaker's its head in Kaunas and its tail
level of education), and He- in Vilna," he told, "You pull its
brew is written without vow- tail in Vilna and can hear the
els, making life even more dif- bark in Kaunas."
"I see," Moses says, "but how
ficult for beginners.
But the 75-89 percent of does it work without wire?"
German words are no trouble "Exactly the same, but without
once Hebrew script has been the dog."
Such are the remarkably
mastered.
Yiddish pronounciation was enthused reflections about a lan-
standardized in 1937 by the guage many have commenced to
YIVO Institute in New York, treat as if it were on its deathbed,'
while retention of the Hebrew but its devotees keep saying
script made it easier to "Never Say Die,"Lo omut ki ekhye
. . . I shall not die but live. They
standardize Yiddish dialects.
Yet German Jews in particu- are commentaries about a lan-
lar still tend to look down on guage replete with literary trea-
Yiddish as the language of sures with admirers on a global
their uneducated Eastern scale, with, a spirit thriving on
mirth.
European brethren.
The new lessons taught in the
A German journalist report-
ing from Israel once used the Anglicized article from the Ger-
world Mischpoche, meaning man surely provide inspiration
family in Hebrew but in a de- for lovers of Yiddish that their
language "lebt," that it is alive,
rogatory sense in Yiddish.
A German-speaking Israeli that it has many opportunities for
accused him of using Nazi jar- revival and advancement. The de-
gon and expressions borrowed scription of "bowdlerization" can
from Der Sturmer. The jour- surely be challenged.
Interesting concerns already
nalist explained that he had
first heard the word among are implied in the German essay,
German-speaking Jews in Is- and there is recognition in the
courses advanced, in the "Chairs
rael.
This explanation failed to in Yiddish" at world schools, in
satisfy the complainer, who Great Britain, at Columbia Uni-
only admitted why he objected versity, in the Hebrew University
to the word when he was told and Bar-Ilan University in Israel.
point-blank that the reason he The department for the training
disliked it was because it was of Yiddish teachers in the latter
(established by the Morris Fried-
Yiddish.
It would be an appalling mis- mans of Detroit) adds to the op-
take to write about Yiddish timism for a revivified interest in
without as much as a mention Yiddish. Indeed, there is cause to
of Jewish humor. Few lan- believe, granting that the road is
guages are as well suited to tel- difficult, that "Yiddish lebt."
,
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Terror Issue Not `Jewlsh'
"BY RABBI MARC TANENBAUM
The Palestinian terrorist at-
tacks in Rome and Vienna re-
sulted in a tragic loss of lives of
innocent human beings. In con-
versations that the American
Jewish Committee held with Is-
' raeli guards who were present
during the' attacks, we learned.:
that at least 13 people were ki lled
xentl
at the Rome airport, apparently
none of whom were Jewish.
It is noteworthy that Italian
Prime Minister- Craxi condemned
that latest terrorist assault. But
only a month ago, he was urging
the world community to under-
stand what "motivated" Yasir
Arafat and the. PLO to engage in
terrorism. With that atmosphere
of indulgence and justification, is
it any wonder that Palestinian
murderers are encouraged to be-
have in their criminal ways?
Finally, the United Nations
That horrible fact demonstrates
this month a resolution
what Israel and American Jews adopted
have been declaring for years now condemning "as criminal, all acts,
to the international community methods, and practices of ter-
whenever and by
— terrorism is not a "Jewish prob- rorism
committed." But that
lem;" it is a fundamental chal- whomever
also supports "the
lenge to the basic freedoms of the resolution
human community. While the legitimacy of ... national libera-
Palestinian terrorists who tion struggles" — not excluding
PLO, the PFLP, etc.
were members of the Abu Nidal the Those
who continue to speak
sect of criminals — fired their hypocritically
about terrorism
shots at the El Al terminal, it was must be held responsible
for its
mainly Christians and. Muslims
dreadful spread.
whom they destroyed.
i lITAFFSC
MIT
2
, Roal
6 blocks ardsony
North of 10 Mlle -
X block East of Main
Phone: 842-8404
ZOO
111
LINCOLN (1M)
e BATH NOM ONO
(GMAT LA1110 ,
FAST RAWSON
10 MIS