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Waterford
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Beverly Hills
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(810) 642-2161
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(313) 240-8948
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855-5822
Yiddish Studies
Are Reived
SHELLEY KLEIMAN SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH NEWS
0
ne of the casualties of Is-
rael's struggle for inde-
pendence was Yiddish, the
language that nurtured
the spiritual and intellectual life
of Eastern European Jewry un-
til the eve of the Holocaust. Many
Zionist leaders considered Yid-
dish the language of the Diaspo-
ra, of the ghetto, and of right-wing
orthodoxy. It was, therefore, a
threat to the revival of Hebrew
and the rebirth of the Jewish peo-
ple in their ancient homeland. It
was the antithesis of everything
they were striving to create. Is-
rael's first prime minister, David
Ben Gurion, called it a "nerve-
wracking, alien language."
Forty-five years later, in what
might be considered an indica-
tion of the nation's self-assurance,
there is growing interest in Yid-
dish. Courses are flourishing in
elementary and high schools, as
well as community centers and
universities throughout Israel.
But in an ironic turn of events,
the language of instruction in
now Hebrew.
"To my parents' generation,
Yiddish was an embarrassment,"
say Nathan Cohen, a doctoral
candidate and language instruc-
tor in the Department of Yiddish
Studies at the Hebrew Universi-
ty of Jerusalem. Although both
his parents are Israeli born, Mr.
Cohen heard Yiddish at home
from his maternal grandmother,
who immigrated to Palestine
from Poland in 1906. From her,
he developed a passion for the
language.
Mr. Cohen delights in intro-
ducing Yiddish to his students.
"Most are surprised by the rich-
ness of the language," says Mr.
Cohen. The secular culture-the
literature, theater, press-that
flowered in Eastern Europe, he
says, comes as a shock to stu-
dents whose meager association
with Yiddish is limited to Fiddler
on the Roof and a few caustic re-
marks. To many, Yiddish is a dy-
ing language with little more
than sentimental and nostalgic
overtones.
Why, then, are increasing
numbers of Lsraelis of all ages, re-
turning to Yiddish?
"The reasons are hard to pin-
point, " says Professor Chava
Turniansky, acting head of the
Yiddish Department. Some sim-
ply wish to fulfill a degree re-
quirement or to facilitate research
in the Holocaust and other areas
of Jewish history.
But other's reasons are far
deeper. The roots of the language
can be traced back some 1,000
years-the earliest written docu-
ment is dated in the 11th centu-
ry-and for centuries Yiddish was
the common denominator unit-
ing Jews in many parts of the
world.
Some recall hearing Yiddish at
home, for others, "Yiddishkeit"
simply entered their collective
Jewish consciousness. "It is part
of our neshamah (soul), says
Daniel Jolay, chairman of "Yid-
dish Lovers-the Second Genera-
tion," a non-profit, Israel-based
organization which promotes Yid-
dish clubs throughout the coun-
try.
Many Yiddishites cite the
search for roots of the 1960s and
`70s in America as the catalyst
that got things rolling. This eth-
nic impulse, coupled with the
growing realization of all that the
Holocaust had destroyed, spurred
interest in Yiddish in universi-
ties and adult education pro-
grams.
Major universities
offer language
courses in Yiddish.
The most dramatic shift in Is-
rael can be seen in the school sys-
tem. Today 3,000 pupils, from
third through 12 grade, are
studying Yiddish in 52 schools-
both religious and secular-
throughout the country. "Eight
years ago, only three schools of-
fered Yiddish," says Mordechai
Dunetz, supervisor of Yiddish In-
struction at the Ministry of Edu-
cation, and the man who most
single-handedly effected this
change. "Yiddish is now an inte-
gral part of the school system.
There is even a bagrut (matricu-
lation exam) available in Yid-
dish."
Yiddish is offered as an elec-
tive foreign language ("ludicrous
calling it a foreign language," says
Mr. Dunetz), and either parental
request or a principal's own ini-
tiative brings it to a classroom of
Ashkenazi and Sephardi pupils.
School-age children, says Mr.
Dunetz, are totally unaware of its
cultural importance. "I like the
way it sounds. I like the songs,"
offered a third grader in a
Jerusalem school.
And it is primarily through
song, drama and folktale, that
children are introduced to a world
that is no more. For them Yiddish
in not presented as a dead lan-
guage. With the basics under
their belts, pupils visit hospitals