specialists that it was originally composed as a stage-play. The reference literature is composed... more specialists that it was originally composed as a stage-play. The reference literature is composed in a slightly idiosyncratic way. And, finally, one regrets that Michel’s thought-provoking comparisons with the “aesthetics of Hollywood” (see e.g. her striking reference to Fred Astaire movies on page 245) are only a side issue of her work. These aspects of Yiddish cinema and its “Americanisation” still deserve an in-depth study.
Vilnius's new 'Museum of Culture and Identity of Lithuanian Jews' represents a complete overhaul ... more Vilnius's new 'Museum of Culture and Identity of Lithuanian Jews' represents a complete overhaul of one of the premises constituting the Jewish state museum (that has had a number of names, currently: 'Vilna Gaon Museum of Jewish History'). This review finds the MCILJ, known as the 'Litvak Culture Museum' for short, to be an excellent start on many fronts, and expresses warm congratulations to the maker. One exception concerns the single panel (perhaps imposed from 'above'...) that represents a gross example of East European Holocaust revisionism: recasting the LAF (Lithuanian Activist Front), the 1941 Hitlerist group that unleashed thousands of murders before German forces even arrived, as some kind of 'freedom fighters'. The panel has to go...
... The impetus to write the book came from Scott Mendel of Mendel-media in New York, to whom I a... more ... The impetus to write the book came from Scott Mendel of Mendel-media in New York, to whom I am profoundly grateful ... Professor Menachem Friedman (Bar-Ilan University), Troim and Frank Handler (West Palm Beach, Florida), Vilma Gradinskaite (Vilnius), Shahar Hecht (North ...
In 1913, Ber Borokhov established the academic field of Yiddish by the publication of two works, ... more In 1913, Ber Borokhov established the academic field of Yiddish by the publication of two works, an essay (Borokhov 1913a) and a powerfully annotated bibliography (1913b), that together built out of scattered and unknown components a viable field for modern academia. Much that modern readers learned was startling. For the reader then (and for that matter for some readers now), it comes as something of a shock that section Roman II and subsection Arabic 1) read: II Sensational writings about Yiddish 11 Trash literature about Yiddish (Borokhov 1913b: 8 [from the Yiddish])
Publisher Summary The earliest efforts at Yiddish dialectology are found in the legalistic writin... more Publisher Summary The earliest efforts at Yiddish dialectology are found in the legalistic writings of medieval European rabbis. The first conscious Yiddish dialectologist was an 18th-century convert to Christianity, who earned his living teaching French. Medieval European rabbis made incidental comments in their Hebrew and Aramaic legal treatises on regional differentiation in Yiddish. Hebrew, Aramaic, and Yiddish interacted in a unique situation of internal Jewish trilingualism in the European Jewish civilization known as Ashkenaz. Yiddish, everybody's native language, was used for men's and women's popular literature. Hebrew, nobody's native language, was used for sociologically “high” genres. Aramaic, likewise nobody's native language, was used for sociologically “higher” genres still. The rabbis concerned themselves with internal linguistic differentiation in Yiddish where it was relevant to the point of law in question. The rabbinic contribution, in terms of modern Yiddish dialectology, can be summed up thus—the rabbis posited an isogloss running north to south somewhere between the Jewish cultural centers of the Rhineland to its west and to the Danube basin to its east. The feature chosen was the rendition of [h] ( khes ), which had merged with [h] ( hey ) in the western dialect region, but was preserved as [x] in the east where it merged with historical [x] ( khof ).
Transactions of the Philological Society, May 1, 1991
The accepted history of Yiddish, based on historical and literary records, places its origin in t... more The accepted history of Yiddish, based on historical and literary records, places its origin in the Rhineland, in the far west of the German speaking area. The Germanic parts of Yiddish, however, point to dialects much further east. This has been explained through a ‘Principle of Exchangeability’, whereby ongoing contact with other German dialects on the long trek eastward obliterated earlier forms. Unambiguous evidence may be gleaned from the Semitic elements in Yiddish, which have no European cognates. Modern Yiddish dialects show no trace of the old Rhineland merger of Semitic/h/with/h/. The standard model explains this by reversal of merger, and invokes additional reversals to explain the modern Yiddish oppositions/s/vs./Š/, and five long vs. five short vowels in Semitic‐origin items. Reversal of unconditioned merger is untenable. Where seven such reversals are needed to sustain a historical model, it should be abandoned. The comparative method, which takes empirically confirmed modern data as its point of departure, is superior to the writing of language history as a corollary of external or literary history.
The extensive introduction to the Konstanz 1544 Yiddish edition of the ‘Ashkenazic core Bible’ (P... more The extensive introduction to the Konstanz 1544 Yiddish edition of the ‘Ashkenazic core Bible’ (Pentateuch, Prophets readings, Five Scrolls) speaks not only of heads-of-household (in other words: men) who would now be able to teach their children themselves, in Yiddish, without needing a professional teacher, especially in such times when, as we are told, expulsions have decimated proper communities. It also has something for women: This book is also for the benefit of women and girls. Typically, they can all read Taytsh well but squander their time on books of nonsense like Ditrikh of Bern, Hildebrand and the likes of them, which are nothing but lies and concoctions. These same women and girls can now find their entertainment in this edition of the Khuməsh [Five Books of Moses], which is all pure and clear truth. (Khamisho khumshey Touro 1544: preface [from the Yiddish])
... A significant contribution of the present book is the well deserved emphasis on the roles of ... more ... A significant contribution of the present book is the well deserved emphasis on the roles of NathanBirnbaum and Matisyohu Mieses, both often neglected in Yiddish literary and cultural circles to this day.17 Nathan Birnbaum coined both the words "Zionism" (p. 102) and ...
specialists that it was originally composed as a stage-play. The reference literature is composed... more specialists that it was originally composed as a stage-play. The reference literature is composed in a slightly idiosyncratic way. And, finally, one regrets that Michel’s thought-provoking comparisons with the “aesthetics of Hollywood” (see e.g. her striking reference to Fred Astaire movies on page 245) are only a side issue of her work. These aspects of Yiddish cinema and its “Americanisation” still deserve an in-depth study.
Vilnius's new 'Museum of Culture and Identity of Lithuanian Jews' represents a complete overhaul ... more Vilnius's new 'Museum of Culture and Identity of Lithuanian Jews' represents a complete overhaul of one of the premises constituting the Jewish state museum (that has had a number of names, currently: 'Vilna Gaon Museum of Jewish History'). This review finds the MCILJ, known as the 'Litvak Culture Museum' for short, to be an excellent start on many fronts, and expresses warm congratulations to the maker. One exception concerns the single panel (perhaps imposed from 'above'...) that represents a gross example of East European Holocaust revisionism: recasting the LAF (Lithuanian Activist Front), the 1941 Hitlerist group that unleashed thousands of murders before German forces even arrived, as some kind of 'freedom fighters'. The panel has to go...
... The impetus to write the book came from Scott Mendel of Mendel-media in New York, to whom I a... more ... The impetus to write the book came from Scott Mendel of Mendel-media in New York, to whom I am profoundly grateful ... Professor Menachem Friedman (Bar-Ilan University), Troim and Frank Handler (West Palm Beach, Florida), Vilma Gradinskaite (Vilnius), Shahar Hecht (North ...
In 1913, Ber Borokhov established the academic field of Yiddish by the publication of two works, ... more In 1913, Ber Borokhov established the academic field of Yiddish by the publication of two works, an essay (Borokhov 1913a) and a powerfully annotated bibliography (1913b), that together built out of scattered and unknown components a viable field for modern academia. Much that modern readers learned was startling. For the reader then (and for that matter for some readers now), it comes as something of a shock that section Roman II and subsection Arabic 1) read: II Sensational writings about Yiddish 11 Trash literature about Yiddish (Borokhov 1913b: 8 [from the Yiddish])
Publisher Summary The earliest efforts at Yiddish dialectology are found in the legalistic writin... more Publisher Summary The earliest efforts at Yiddish dialectology are found in the legalistic writings of medieval European rabbis. The first conscious Yiddish dialectologist was an 18th-century convert to Christianity, who earned his living teaching French. Medieval European rabbis made incidental comments in their Hebrew and Aramaic legal treatises on regional differentiation in Yiddish. Hebrew, Aramaic, and Yiddish interacted in a unique situation of internal Jewish trilingualism in the European Jewish civilization known as Ashkenaz. Yiddish, everybody's native language, was used for men's and women's popular literature. Hebrew, nobody's native language, was used for sociologically “high” genres. Aramaic, likewise nobody's native language, was used for sociologically “higher” genres still. The rabbis concerned themselves with internal linguistic differentiation in Yiddish where it was relevant to the point of law in question. The rabbinic contribution, in terms of modern Yiddish dialectology, can be summed up thus—the rabbis posited an isogloss running north to south somewhere between the Jewish cultural centers of the Rhineland to its west and to the Danube basin to its east. The feature chosen was the rendition of [h] ( khes ), which had merged with [h] ( hey ) in the western dialect region, but was preserved as [x] in the east where it merged with historical [x] ( khof ).
Transactions of the Philological Society, May 1, 1991
The accepted history of Yiddish, based on historical and literary records, places its origin in t... more The accepted history of Yiddish, based on historical and literary records, places its origin in the Rhineland, in the far west of the German speaking area. The Germanic parts of Yiddish, however, point to dialects much further east. This has been explained through a ‘Principle of Exchangeability’, whereby ongoing contact with other German dialects on the long trek eastward obliterated earlier forms. Unambiguous evidence may be gleaned from the Semitic elements in Yiddish, which have no European cognates. Modern Yiddish dialects show no trace of the old Rhineland merger of Semitic/h/with/h/. The standard model explains this by reversal of merger, and invokes additional reversals to explain the modern Yiddish oppositions/s/vs./Š/, and five long vs. five short vowels in Semitic‐origin items. Reversal of unconditioned merger is untenable. Where seven such reversals are needed to sustain a historical model, it should be abandoned. The comparative method, which takes empirically confirmed modern data as its point of departure, is superior to the writing of language history as a corollary of external or literary history.
The extensive introduction to the Konstanz 1544 Yiddish edition of the ‘Ashkenazic core Bible’ (P... more The extensive introduction to the Konstanz 1544 Yiddish edition of the ‘Ashkenazic core Bible’ (Pentateuch, Prophets readings, Five Scrolls) speaks not only of heads-of-household (in other words: men) who would now be able to teach their children themselves, in Yiddish, without needing a professional teacher, especially in such times when, as we are told, expulsions have decimated proper communities. It also has something for women: This book is also for the benefit of women and girls. Typically, they can all read Taytsh well but squander their time on books of nonsense like Ditrikh of Bern, Hildebrand and the likes of them, which are nothing but lies and concoctions. These same women and girls can now find their entertainment in this edition of the Khuməsh [Five Books of Moses], which is all pure and clear truth. (Khamisho khumshey Touro 1544: preface [from the Yiddish])
... A significant contribution of the present book is the well deserved emphasis on the roles of ... more ... A significant contribution of the present book is the well deserved emphasis on the roles of NathanBirnbaum and Matisyohu Mieses, both often neglected in Yiddish literary and cultural circles to this day.17 Nathan Birnbaum coined both the words "Zionism" (p. 102) and ...
An Introduction to Ashkenazic Hebrew and Aramaic. An evolving draft (still in early stages) of a ... more An Introduction to Ashkenazic Hebrew and Aramaic. An evolving draft (still in early stages) of a new manual and dictionary for the study of Ashkenazic Hebrew (and Aramaic) with equal emphasis on the literary masters of the modern Hebrew revival and the stubborn survival of the language as a living and vibrant medium. in an array of contexts. Comments and suggestions welcome (info@yiddichculturaldictionary.org). The draft is online at: https://defendinghistory.com/intro-ashkenazic-hebrew.
Although far from completion, this new online (and free) edition of the Vilnius-based English-Yid... more Although far from completion, this new online (and free) edition of the Vilnius-based English-Yiddish dictionary project (at: www.yiddishculturaldictionary.org) comprises c. 300,000 words of Yiddish text and c. 13,000 entries. It aims to cover religious and secular Yiddish equally, provides dialect variants, and comprises the Yiddish forms of writers' names from both spheres. It takes a variationist and descriptive stance, thereby complementing other works more rooted in purism and normativism. It is dedicated to a vibrant, living Yiddish (hence all discussion on usage etc are in Yiddish; hence it is frequently updated to reflect contemporary issues). Corrections, comments and suggestions (including English or Yiddish terms readers propose for inclusion) are welcome at: info@yiddishculturaldictionary.org
The June 2020 update of "A Yiddish Cultural Dictionary for the 21st Centry: An English-Yiddish Di... more The June 2020 update of "A Yiddish Cultural Dictionary for the 21st Centry: An English-Yiddish Dictionary" (at www.yiddishculturaldictionary.org), though a very long way from completion, now comprises c. 300,000 words of text and c. 13,000 entries. The project's goals include representation of (a) genuine Yiddish usageף (b) elaboration of Yiddish culture, and East European Jewish civilization, including ancient and modern, religious and secular (with entries for core Yiddish writers); (c) conscious adoption of a descriptive and variationist stance, to complement the normativist and purist perspective of other works; (d) Yiddish as a vibrant living language (hence a descriptive apparatus that is entirely in Yiddish, hence a determination to include contemporary terms and trends). Colleagues are invited to contribute words, phrases, nuances and corrections (both typographic and substantive) at: info@yiddishculturaldictionary.org.
A new online English-Yiddish dictionary in the spirit of variationism and descriptivism (rather t... more A new online English-Yiddish dictionary in the spirit of variationism and descriptivism (rather than purism and normativism), with equal emphasis on the classical and newer strata of the language, and on the religious and secular. Interactive with option for reader input on entries for inclusion as well as corrections (online free, no login).
Examination of the history of discovery and (courageous) publication of evidence of J. Noreika's ... more Examination of the history of discovery and (courageous) publication of evidence of J. Noreika's extensive involvement in the Lithuanian Holocaust. Brief background (with links for detailed further reading) to the Lithuanian scholars who are the moral heroes of this saga: Evaldas Balciunas and Dr. Andrius Kulikauskas. Alas, their role is utterly written out of Kretzmer's film (and their vast research freely used without accreditation), attributing their achievements, mysteriously and bizarrely, to a South African origin Californian wealth advisor whose own blogs reveal anti-Lithuanian ethnic animus. However, the film's successful demonstration of ongoing state glorification of Holocaust perpetrators, and its highlighting of the courageous truth-teller and American author and educator Silvia Foti, Noreika's granddaughter, are its high notes. Hopefully the film will inspire further documentaries on the current legacies of the Lithuanian Holocaust, with interviews on site in Lithuania, not just in in Los Angeles and Chicago.
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Colleagues are invited to contribute words, phrases, nuances and corrections (both typographic and substantive) at: info@yiddishculturaldictionary.org.