PURELY COMMENTARY
Yiddish
Continued from Page 2
school through high school and
undergraduate studies to the
Ph.D. degree. Without such a
teacher training program, the
only one of its kind in existence
at any university today, Yiddish
in the public schools would re-
main a dream.
The high goals attained in Yiddish
literature gained added encomia and
recognition via Bar-Ilan University. It
is contained in an important essay that
was read at the recent annual dinner
of American Friends of Bar-Ilan. It was
written by the distinguished, world ac-
claimed academician Dr. Sol Liptzin,
formerly of the faculty of the City Col-
lege of New York. He now makes his
home with his wife in Jerusalem. He
was awarded a Bar-Ilan University
honorary degree but was unable to
travel to New York to receive the
coveted honor, and he had his daughter
read his important message. It is a
classic evaluation of the glory inherent
in Yiddish literary creativity. Dr Lipt-
zin wrote:
Yiddish has always been
close to my heart even as it is to
you who are lovers of Yiddish. I
never studied it, because the
traditional education I was ex-
posed to before I left for
America at the age of eight was
oriented to Hebrew and em-
phasized Torah learning. But
Yiddish was spoken in my home.
It was my mama-loshen.
Before I could read English
with pleasure, I discovered the
Yiddish collection at the Seward
Park Branch off the New York
Public Library and devoured
the masterpieces of Yiddish
literature as well as the world's
classics in Yiddish translation.
Besides, every Friday evening,
when Jews streamed to the
Educational Alliance on East
Broadway to hear the great
orator Zvi Hirsh Masliansky
discourse on issues of the day,
my father took me along from
1910 to 1914.
Then came my integration
into American ways, my study
abroad, my first years of
teaching at City College.
In 1927, I was asked to take
over a course in world literature.
When I had to teach Ibsen as the
literary representative of Nor-
way, and Strindberg as the
master of Swedish literature, my
conscience hurt me that this
course, as taught by my
predecessors, did not include a
representative of Yiddish
literature. A majority of my
students came from Jewish
homes and yet knew nothing of
the Yiddish classics.
I experimented by assigning
readings in Peretz in the
available Helene Frank transla-
tion. The reaction of the
students, Jewish and non-
Jewish, was most encouraging
throughout the following 15
years.
When I accepted the chair-
manship of the German Depart-
44
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 28, 1988
ment in the early 1940s, I ex-
panded it to the Department of
Germanic and Slavic Languages
and Literatures and got faculty
approval for courses in Russian.
I then sought approval for Yid-
dish courses on the ground that
Yiddish, though written in
Hebrew characters, was
primarily Middle High German
with a considerable admixture
of Slavic and Hebrew.
It was my good fortune to
persuade Max Weinreich, the
founder and director of Yivo,
with whom I had worked
together as academic secretary
of Yivo, to take a leave of
absence from Yivo for a year
and to teach the Yiddish
courses. His students were most
enthusiastic.
He was then appointed,
upon my recommendation, as
professor of Yiddish and during
his years in my department he
accomplished miracles by
transforming the prevailing
negative or indifferent attitude
toward Yiddish to a positive at-
titude. A considerable number
of the present members of the
American Association of Pro-
fessors of Yiddish are graduates
of his courses.
After the Second World War,
Yiddish courses were introduc-
ed at Columbia University and
at Jerusalem's Hebrew Universi-
ty, and then in university after
university until they spread to
all continents.
The weakness in college Yid-
dish teaching has been that the
language courses have rarely
developed beyond the elemen-
tary and intermediate level and
that the literary courses have in
many cases been taught • in
English translation by literary
specialists in non-Yiddish fields,
whose teaching of Yiddish
writers often extends only to
Sholom Aleichem, Sholom
Asch, and Bashevis Singer.
The most important develop-
ment in Yiddish on the
academic level in recent years
has been in Israel. There two
trends are apparent, symbolized
by the Hebrew University of
Jerusalem and Bar-Ilan Univer-
sity in the Tel Aviv area. The em-
phasis at the Hebrew Universi-
ty has been on the study and
research of ancient Yiddish
texts. The National Library in
Jerusalem has a rich collection
of manuscripts and early
printed Yiddish books that can
occupy students in Jerusalem
for generations and enrich
scholarship.
The second trend is sym-
bolized by Bar-Han University.
Under the dynamic leadership
of Professor Gershon Winer, the
emphasis is on modern Yiddish
literature and on the training of
Yiddish teachers who are to be
well grounded in the culture of
what was the Yiddish heartland
and who learn not only to read
devoted to translations from an-
cient and modern Hebrew
literature; to poetry, fiction and
drama of non-Israeli Jewish
writers; and to essays on aspects
of Judaism, Israel, the Middle
East, and other issues bearing
on these.
The TR will emphasize the
pluralism and the unique
character of spiritual, cultural,
literary and artistic tendencies
in Israel. Despite the small
number of Hebrew speakers,
Hebrew is one of the classical
languages of West and East
alike, and perhaps the only one
spoken today. Its vitality and
richness are also manifest in the
achievements of contemporary
Israeli literature. The TR seeks
to transcend the barrier of
language and to foster a ge-
nuine dialogue between Israel
and the Diaspora, based on a
mutual exploration of cultural
issues. Concerning political
issues, the TR will provide ex-
pression primarily for that body
The weakness in
of opinion defined as liberal.
college Yiddish
In our view, the Jewish in-
teaching has been
tellectual and ethical heritage,
as well as a real concern for
that the language
Israel's
democracy and security,
courses have rarely
should guide our approach to
developed beyond the
current political agendas. Thus,
concerning the Israeli-
elementary and
Palestinian conflict, we believe
intermediate level.
that its reasonable solution is
necessary for maintaining the
cient support, students and
democratic and predominantly
graduates can be trained from
Jewish character of Israel, for
the undergraduate to the doc-
developing the country's socio-
torate level to go forth as sorely
cultural and economic potential,
needed teachers on all con-
and also for improving its inter-
tinents and they can help to
national political standing.
slow down the decline of
Yiddish.
These are definitive assertions that
The structure of our Jewish
point to gateways to Israel's productive
personality is based on a foun-
literary pursuits. They are invitations
dation of many pillars: religious
to increased cooperation between Israel
belongingness, ethniC origin,
and Diaspora. There are symbolic pur-
historic memories, present
poses in the new project,
realities, messianic longing. It is
Poetry, historical essays, fiction,
80 years since the Czernovitz
drama,
the issues that affect not only
Conference of 1908 proclaimed
Israel but the entire Middle East, com-
that in addition to Hebrew as
bine to make the aim of the Th1 Aviv an-
the national language, Yiddish
nual a valuable objective in the ad-
is a national language of the
vancement of knowledge of the en-
Jewish people.
cyclopedic Hebrew achievements, the
Hebrew is no longer in
importance of knowledge of Jewish
danger as the expression of our
history, appreciation of the arts and the
people. Yiddish is endangered.
study of literature.
Let us help the efforts of Bar-
The authors, whose works will
Ilan's Yiddish faculty to lessen
become knowledgeable in the transla-
the danger. Let us help to
tions, include the most prominent in
preserve Yiddish as well as
Israel: Yehuda Amichai, Yoram Kaniuk,
possible and as long as possible.
It is to the credit of Bar-Ilan Univer- A. B. Yehoshua, Abba Kovner are
sity and its supporters that the glorious among those whose works receive
achievements of Yiddish and the Yid- serious consideration here. The giants
dishists now become symbols of high- in earlier historic literary creativity
ranking academia and the means at- also are being considered.
tained in the high level in which the
Israel's roads are invitational to
language again gains a high role in fellow Jews everywhere.
Jewry's cultural triumphs.
While intifada is a menace and a
Yiddish but also to write it well
and to speak it fluently.
Students who study Yiddish
at Bar-Han are infected by the
enthusiasm of their professors.
Beyond the classroom, they are
also brought in contact with the
living creators of Yiddish
literature, since most Yiddish
writers, editors, publishers, and
readers are centered in the Tel
Aviv area. Though Jerusalem,
too, has a Yiddish Culture
League and a considerable
number of talented Yiddish
poets and novelists, these have
little contact with the universi-
ty specialists of ancient Yiddish
texts and are rarely called upon
to participate in the university's
Yiddish projects.
The number of Yiddish
courses and Yiddish students at
Bar-Ilan is increasing from
semester to semester and now
exceeds the total at all Israel's
other universities. With suffi-
Both Elections
Continued from Page 2
nual magazine which will ap-
pear each January. It will be
tragedy, life proceeds in Israel with
dignity. Hopefully, election results will
assure decisions to make life livable.
There are serious times ahead after
the elections. The honor of the nations
involved will surely result from respon-
sibilities not to be shunned.