Four generations of Yiddish:

Rabbi Israel Polter of Oak

Mameloshen LIVES!

Yiddish language is alive and thriving in Metro Detroit.

Park; daughter Shainy

Weingarten of Flint; grand-

daughter Devorah Leah Stein

and great-granddaughters

Chaya'le, 3, and Bluma'le, 1,

all of Southfield.

Esther Allweiss Ingber I Contributing Writer

Pale of Settlement, the Russian Empire ter-
ritories where Jews were permitted perma-
nent settlement.
"The experience of Jews in the Pale had
something so generic in its human appeal
that it crossed barriers of languages and
culture," said Simon, who attends perfor-
mances at the New York-based National
Yiddish Theater-Folksbiene.
Yiddish never stopped being relevant for
Chabad-Lubavitch Jews.
"We speak Yiddish at home because our
parents spoke Yiddish to us, and we value
it so much that we want it for our children:'
said Itty Shemtov, director of education at
The Shul in West Bloomfield. As a Chabad
Chasidic family, [Yiddish] is a treasure not
only because of the tradition and warmth
it holds, but also because of the wealth of
Chasidic teachings available in the origi-
nal [language] from nine generations of
Chasidic rebbes, or masters:'
The late Rebbe Menachem M.
Schneerson left behind recorded Yiddish
talks that "lay out the foundation of our
school:' said Rabbi Mendel Stein, develop-

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December 5 • 2013

JN

ment director for the elementary and high
school divisions of three Lubavitch cheders
(schools) in Oak Park.
Jewish Educational Media in New York
puts out a weekly video magazine called
Living Torah to share the rebbe's wisdom,
and these thousands of hours of educational
talks are part of the schools' curriculum.
According to Stein, whose 3-year-old
daughter speaks English and Yiddish, "I
believe we are the only Yiddish-speaking
school in the state [of Michigan]. You can
express content better in Yiddish. We also
believe it's a holy language'
Raised Conservative, Nathaniel
"Nachum" Eichenhorn, 25, of Huntington
Woods became more reli-
gious and moved to New
York after graduation.
He went to a Lubavitch
yeshivah, where his
Yiddish thrived.
Preparing to teach
another 10-week Yiddish
course at Isaac Agree
Nathaniel
Downtown
Synagogue in
Eichenhorn

Detroit, Eichenhorn said, "Jews of my gen-
eration have a deep longing for a Jewishness
their parents may have neglected, or even
scorned:'
Yiddish teacher Daniella HarPaz
Mechnikov, 44, of Huntington Woods sings
a heartfelt Kol Nidre at the annual High
Holiday services of Workmen's Circle/
Arbeter Ring (WC/AR) at the Oak Park
Jewish Community
Center (JCC), where
the local organization is
based.
WC/AR is a progres-
sive organization found-
ed by Jews fleeing the
poverty, oppression and
Daniella
rising violence of Eastern
Mechnikov
Europe in the late-19th
and 20th centuries.
"The Yiddish language was an integral
part of the birth of WC/AR," said local
board member Arlene Frank of Detroit.
"Cultural events included poetry readings,
staged theater productions, music, political
speeches — mostly in Yiddish — and the

handbills were printed in
Yiddish as well:'
Mechnikov taught
Yiddish at Temple Israel
in West Bloomfield under
WC/AR auspices.
Marcia Kahn of
Farmington
Hills, whose
Arlene Frank
son, Daniel, is an interna-
tional klezmer musician, was herself moti-
vated to learn more Yiddish after studying
at KlezKanada, a one-week cultural pro-
gram. She persuaded her temple to host
Mechnikov's Yiddish classes, which met in
2010-2011.
"Daniella taught me
to read, and I even wrote
a three-page paper,"
said student Ina Lutz
of Farmington Hills,
who signed up because
"Yiddish is part of my
heritag'
Lutz also praised
Aaron Egan

Mameloshen Lives! on page 10