JULY 1 • 2021 | 29

S

hirley Benyas, 93, a resident
of Jewish Senior Life’s Meer
Apartments in West Bloomfield
for the past six years, has been teaching a
Yiddish class for other Meer residents for
nearly two months.
Benyas learned to read, write and speak
Yiddish through an afterschool program
from the time she was 8 years old until her
first year in college. She was also a Detroit
Public Schools teacher for nearly 40 years.
The class takes place once a week, on
Thursdays at 3 p.m.
Before Meer residents were allowed to
congregate in the main halls and take part

in in-person activities again, activities and
programs took place over the building
intercom.
“
At one point, there was a singer who

was doing some Yiddish songs, and some-
one asked, ‘what does it mean?’ They didn’t
know the translations to the songs,
” Benyas
said. “
At the same time, there’s a woman
here who was doing a class on making
Hebrew readings easy, and I thought if
they’re doing Hebrew, why can’t we do
Yiddish?”
The class consists of many residents
who heard Yiddish being spoken by their
parents growing up, remembering certain
things and wanting to know the meanings
and to learn more of the language.
There are also some in the class who
have never heard the language.
“There was one woman who never heard
any Yiddish because her parents came from
Hungary and it was never spoken there,
and she has come a tremendously long
way,
” Benyas said.
The class has translated songs they’re
familiar with, translated idioms, menus
and foods they could order, read stories in
Yiddish like fairytales and read poems in
Yiddish such as Shakespeare.
Benyas has also told the class about the
history of the Yiddish language and how
it came about, which she believes is very
important.
A recent class assignment saw the attend-
ees trying to tell a little bit of their life story
in Yiddish in four or five sentences.
“It’s an experiment for the other people
and an experiment for me, because I had
never taught this as a language,
” Benyas
said. “Each week, we try to do something
a little bit different, and those who come
seem to like it very much.
”
Benyas said one woman who attends the
class is 100 years old, and she describes her
as very bright. Benyas’ “students” are eager
to continue learning.
“I get a kick out of it when they pick up
the things we’ve talked about,
” Benyas said.
“If they understand a little bit and they get
a few more words and they can use them,
that’s great.
”

‘Zeyer Gut!’

JSL resident does a “very good” job
teaching Yiddish to her neighbors.

DANNY SCHWARTZ STAFF WRITER

Shirley Benyas
enjoys teaching
Yiddish at Meer
apartments.

Yiddish class with Helen Siegel, teacher Shirley
Benyas, Anita Cywiak and Eleanor Smith.

MYRIAM COHEN, MEER PROGRAM COORDINATOR

MYRIAM COHEN, MEER PROGRAM COORDINATOR