Mendele: Yiddish literature and language ______________________________________________________ Contents of Vol. 6.039 July 24, 1996 1) Anti-Yiddish sentiment in Israel (Ellen Prince) 2) Anti-Yiddish sentiment in Israel (Sylvia Schildt) 3) Anti-Yiddish sentiment in Israel (Noyekh Miller) 1)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 23 Jul 1996 18:11:21 EDT From: ellen@central.cis.upenn.edu Subject: Israel and Yiddish re louis fridhandler's claim that the revival of hebrew in israel did not require the suppression of yiddish, i think we'd need an alternate world where everything else was the same but yiddish was not suppressed to see if he's correct. the fact is that the millenia of bilingualism/multilingualism that jews in general and yiddish speakers in particular had gone thru are irrelevant since, in each case, the 'other' languages were gentile ones, the languages of the (usually feared) out-group power class, and jews lived as an insulated (i.e. ghettoized) minority. i don't know of a precedent where jews maintained such bi/multilingualism where the power class was itself jewish and where there was no ingroup/outgroup distinction. furthermore -- and more importantly imho -- the revival of hebrew as a living native language was a totally unprecedented undertaking that many, if not most, people (of all persuasions) said couldn't be done. the founders of israel knew this and knew they had only one shot at it -- so i for one can't blame them for taking every precaution possible. in fact, i think what they accomplished was extraordinary and i still (after about 20 trips) get misty-eyed in israel when i see people carrying the genes of over 100 lands all chattering away in their ancestral tribal tongue -- _even_ if achieving that wrought havoc upon yiddish (and many many many _other_ 'jewish' languages, let us not forget). finally, if we assume that louis fridhandler's claim _is_ correct that hebrew would have made it without the suppression of yiddish, what evidence is there that yiddish would have been maintained, other than by those groups who wished to distance themselves from the majority, e.g. the chassidim? what evidence is there that it would not have gone the way of all the other immigrant languages there -- and in every other country in the world? i really think it's time to stop blaming israel for the state of yiddish today. ellen prince 2)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 24 Jul 1996 02:25:36 -0400 From: creativa@charm.net Subject: Haskoleh, goles, anti-semitizm, zelbst-has un hemshekh yidish Di eyropeyishe yidishe geshikhte fun di letzte 200_+ yor dreyt zikh arum aza tzenario -- yidn hot men oysgeshlosn fun der togteglikher goyisher velt un ekonomie. loytn gezetz un eykh loytn minhog. antisemitizm hot gefirt tzum ghetto, un ghetto hot farshtarkt antisemitizm. yidn hobn gemuzt zikh andersh kleydn, u. a. v. Nokh Napoleon's universale frayhayt gezetzn, hobn zikh geefnt farhakte tirn un di likht(?) fun haskoleh hot ungeheybn baloykhtn der yidisher gas in mayriv eyrope. in mizrakh eyrope iz dos forgekumen mit kmat hundert yor shpeter. Mit haskoleh likht hobn yidn ongeheybn antplekn a velt fun kentenish un gedanken vos iz frier nit geven in zeyer umbatrakht. alerley izmen hobn zikh getantzt far zeyere eygn, alerley meglikhkeytn. mitamol hobn teyl yidn zikh arumgekukt af der yidisher gas, un zikh geshemt. mit kapote, bord, payes, shaytl un mikveh un eykh "zhargon". ales vos shtert zey tzu dergreykhn nit nor fulshtendike rekht, nor fulshtendiker yikhes in der goyisher velt. Asimilatzie, shmad, nit oyszen tzu yidish -- dos hot apelirt tzu a teyl yidn. afile inem tzionizm iz gelegn der grund meyre az yidn veln oyszen andersh un zikh bahandlen vi gehaste goles/ghetto yidn. Mir tzionistn darfn opgebn "koved" di frantzeyzishe genereler vos hobn falsh farmishpet Dreyfusn - vayl eyb nit dem Dreyfus protzes volt Zola nit geshribn J'Accuse" un der asimilirter Yid Herzl volt nit geshafn undzer moderner tzionistisher bavegung un mir voltn nit gehat haynt kin Medines Isroyl. Dayenu. A sakh tzionistn hobn gegleybt az ven mir veln dergreykhn nokhamol undzer eygene goldene medine vet vern a sof tzu der shverer yidisher goles. Yidn veln arumgeyn vi ale mentshn glaykh, in a medine mit ale medines glaykh, un ale yidn veln avekvarfn dem yokh fun goles. Ober dos iz nit der realpolitik fun undzere tzaytn. In 2 yor arum veln mir fayern dem 50tn yubileum fun medines Yisroyl - borukh hashem. Eyn zakh iz ober klor -- der goles blaybt tzuzamen mit der medina -- 2 zaytn fun yidishn lebn. On goles volt keyn medine nit gevorn -- un zikher on goles shtitzung volt zi nisht durkhgelebt di letzte 48 yor. Un on medine voltn goles yidn nit gehat di makht vayter ontzugeyn mitn yidishn lebn. Eyn hant shtitzt dem tzveytn. An interesanter dinamik. Epes nayes. Eyb es volt take shoyn geven a medines yisroyl in di 30er yorn, volt efsher geven a gantz andere mayse. Nor onshtot a groyse emigratzie fun velt yidntum nokhn khurbn, hobn zikh farshtarkt yidhishe goles kehiles un shpiln a vikhtike role in zeyere eygene lender tzu shtitzn Yisroyl politish un ekonomish. Un vu yidn hobn emigrirt (amerike, kanade, dorem afrike, u.av.) hot men zikh shtark bamit oystzumaydn di ale oyserlikhe simonim fun andershkeyt. Tzum badoyern, afile in Yisroyl, vu me volt zikh gekent be'emes fray oyslebn af der yidisher gas, shtoltz, ofn, on zelbst-has un on meyre. Farvos dertzeyl ikh aykh ot di maysele - ir veyst es ale, mistome, gantz gut -- ikh vil bavayzn az di shtromen fun asimilatzie un zelbst-has (a respons fun teyln yidn tzum anti-semitizm) gefinen zikh iberal af der gantzer yidisher velt. afile tzvishn gevise teyln fun di firer fun modernem tzionizm un fun medines yisroyl gufe. nit ale, danken got. ikh her a sakh gute bsures vegn yidish in yisroyl - hemshekh dor, Yung Yidish (Mendy Caham/Mame Loshn 96) yidish teater, kursn in di isroyldike universitetn un kindershules, u.a.v. derfar iz mir a shok az a yid, a kneset mentsh, zol zayn der eyntziker "lo" benugeye dem nayem gezetz vos git anerkenung beyde heybt goles shprakhn - yidish un ladino. mayn tayne tzu aza mentshn vi Burgn (vos hot politish un ekonimish vos tzu zogn) iz vos er probirt zikh shteln antkegn dem shtrom. ikh veys gantz gut az er halt zikh nit far kin anti-semit -- ober dos iz er b'meyle. aza zelbst-has iz eykh a forme fun anti-semitizm - nor dos iz sine tzum eygenem folk-shprakh un dem eygenem opshtam. vifl er zol nit trogn a kipah, davnen in zayn bet medresh, iz er fort an ashkenaz, fun ashkenazishn opshtam, un mit zayne vilde aktzies shpayt er take on in keyver oves. er vil oysmaydn dor-doyres yidishe geshikhte. er fargest on di greyse dergreykhungen fun yidisher literatur, kultur, neshome- er makht es tzu nisht. yidish un ashkenaz iz ayns -- a 1000 yorike geshikhte. yisroyl un hebrayish zaynen beyde ufgeshtanen tkhiyes hameysim - ober dos meynt nit az men darf aroysvarfn altz vos iz geven - "the baby with the bath water" -- hebrayish iz take loshn koydesh, ober yidish is _loshn k'doyshim_. Tzi er vil yo, tzi er vil nit, iz er "de facto" a shutef mit ale anti-semitn, di natzis un zeyere mithelfer arayngenumen. bay undz yidn is der gedank fun Yizker, fun Haskoreh, a grund kontzept. Du zolst nit fargesn. Nit nor vil er derhargenen 1000 yor yidishkeyt, er lozt nit afile zogn kadish. ikh meyn az der motor vos traybt be'emes undzer itztiker yidisher renesans iz davke a gefil fun farlust. mir hobn farlorn a dor oder 2 farbindungen mit undzer fargangenheyt un dos makht a mentsh "deracine", on vortzlen. Hebrayish, yidish, nemt zikh beyde arum, git zikh a kush - rayst zikh nit. mir zaynen fort mishpokhe. Sylvia Schildt Baltimore, MD 3)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 24 Jul 1996 From: nmiller@shakti.trincoll.edu Subject: Anti-Yiddish sentiment in Israel It strikes me that this thread is not only a bit frayed from repeated use but now seems to be moving beyond the relatively narrow scope of Mendele's interests. Maybe it would be useful to remind readers that Mendele is _not_ about Jewish history, religion, genealogy, politics, etc. except as these impinge (and of course they do) on the Yiddish tongue and its literature. Noyekh Miller ______________________________________________________ End of Mendele Vol. 6.039