Mamaloshen from page 8

DANCE BOUTIQVE

I

This includes The Purim Shpiel by the
PuppetART Theater of Detroit, Neil
Alexander and the Klezmer Fusion
Band, and Neil Michaels, Daniel
Kahn and Cantor Michael Smolash
of Temple Israel. There also will be
special programs for seniors, with
entertainment by Ben Opengeym,
director of the Jewish Community
Center's Russian Life Department, and
Yiddish films playing throughout the
four-day event.

Reviving Yiddish

"There is a delightful resurgence
of interest in the Yiddish language
and culture on several fronts:'
says Daniella HarPaz Mechnikov
of Huntington Woods. Mechnikov
studied Yiddish at the University of
Michigan with professor Anita Norich,
who "lit a spark" in her.
HarPaz
Mechnikov
grew up
speaking
Hebrew
and studied
German,
"so I had a
good
base
Danielle HarPaz
for
Yiddish
Mechnikov
study. Also,
my grandmother and great-aunt
spoke Yiddish around me when I was
young." She went on to study at the
YIVO Institute for Jewish Research
Weinreich Summer Program at
Columbia University. The institute is
the world's leading research center
for Eastern European Jewish culture,

folklore and Yiddish.
"Without Yiddish as part of
the landscape, there is a lot that
would have holes in it," says HarPaz
Mechnikov, who now teaches the lan-
guage to students ranging in age from
the early 20s through the 80s. "Jewish
and related history studies, for exam-
ple, would be missing tremendous
amounts of resources without access
to the trove of information available
only in Yiddish. Imagine studying the
labor movement in American without
access to the Yiddish press; it would
be like studying anatomy without
access to certain body parts:'
Which may explain why many
American colleges and universi-
ties offer undergraduate courses in
Yiddish, and at least two websites
offer online Yiddish courses.
One curious aspect of Yiddish is
that it unites two groups who other-
wise seem to have nothing in com-
mon.
Many proponents of Yiddish today
come from a secular, even communist
or socialist, background.
Yet almost all of the everyday
speakers of Yiddish are certain seg-
ments of Orthodox Jewry, particularly
the many Chasidic sects. Even in some
non-Chasidic yeshivahs, teachers of
Talmud even prefer to give their les-
sons in Yiddish.
So is there really plenty of room for
optimism about the future of Yiddish?
Probably, but no need to lose sleep
about it. As a popular Yiddish phrase
goes, Oif morgen zol Got zorgen (Let
God worry about tomorrow). II

■ .

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Of Course, You Know Some Yiddish!

In 1937, American Jewish songwriter Sammy Kahn heard a Yiddish song,
Bei Mir Bist Du Sheyn ("I Think You're Beautiful"), gave it English lyrics
and persuaded the then-unknown Andrew Sisters to record it. It became
the Andrew Sisters' first big hit and gave gentile America its first popu-
lar Yiddish phrase.
Although many words of Hebrew origin have made their way into
English, a few Yiddish words also have become common. (Many of the
Hebrew words have to do with religion, such as amen, hallelujah, bar
mitzvah and kosher, but also the now-ubiquitous, chutzpah).
Probably the best-known Yiddish word adopted by English speakers
is shlep (you'll often see Yiddish words transliterated into German, such
as schlepp), which means "drag." People complain about having to shlep
their own luggage or having to shlep all the way out to a distant loca-
tion. The derivative, shlepper, designates an employee of menial tasks or
any low-status person.
Back when steam baths were popular, Americans learned to call it a
shvitz, the Yiddish for "sweat." By extension, a shvitzer is someone who
is over-eager, too ambitious or in too much of a hurry.
In show business, an entertainer's unique act is often called his
or her "piece of business," derived from the Yiddish shtick, "piece."
Comedians, especially, are often described as doing their shtick (the
English phrase is directly derived from the Yiddish). The Yiddish words
for body parts sometimes pop up in popular culture, too. Two of the
more common are tuchas, the Yiddish word for "buttocks," and kishkes,
"intestines."

Speciol orders available, Final safe on all frank lhow orders.

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We deal in jewelry, watches, diamonds and coins.

A Service to
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Contact Larry Allan

33700 Woodward Ave. • Between 14 Mile Si Lincoln *

2413 ,•644-8565

August 18 2011

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