r/Yiddish Mar 06 '22

subreddit news Support for people in Ukraine

102 Upvotes

Many members of r/Yiddish are in Ukraine, have friends and family or ancestors there, have a connection through language and literature, or all of the above. Violence and destruction run counter to what we stand for in this community, and we hope for a swift and safe resolution to this conflict. There are many organizations out there helping in humanitarian ways, and we wanted to give this opportunity for folks of the r/yiddish community to share organizations to help our landsmen and push back against the violence. Please feel free to add your suggestions in comments below. We also have some links if you want to send support, and please feel free to add yours.


r/Yiddish Oct 09 '23

subreddit news Posts Regarding Israel

58 Upvotes

Please direct all posts concerning the war in Israel to one of the two Jewish subreddits. They both have ongoing megathreads, as well as threads about how and where to give support. Any posts here not directly related to Yiddish and the Yiddish language, as well as other Judaic languages, will be removed.

Since both subs are updating their megathreads daily, we won't provide direct links here. The megathreads are at the top of each subreddit:

r/Judaism

r/Jewish

For the time being, r/Israel is locked by their mods for their own sanity and safety.

We appreciate everyone who helps maintain this subreddit as one to discuss and learn about Yiddish and the Yiddish language.


r/Yiddish 9h ago

Yiddish language Is there a word for a clever but foolish person?

5 Upvotes

Like a highly intelligent schlemiel?


r/Yiddish 1d ago

Rabbi Nasan Maimon: His Life, Breslov Torah, Tisha B’ov — The 'Yiddish Voice' Podcast

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6 Upvotes

r/Yiddish 1d ago

Anna Halberstam Rubin; Sholem Beinfeld: America Celebrates 250 Years — The 'Yiddish Voice' Podcast

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5 Upvotes

r/Yiddish 1d ago

Lea Koenig and Yaniv Goldberg on Yiddish Theater — The 'Yiddish Voice' Podcast

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3 Upvotes

r/Yiddish 1d ago

Translation request Archivist looking for translation help

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6 Upvotes

I'm currently processing a small collection of material from the Beth Abraham Synagogue in Bangor, Maine. The collection has no documentation, but it's mostly bilingual printed/published material. Prayer books, anniversary pamphlets, not difficult to identify and properly categorize. There's one outlier though, a postcard dated 1914. I don't need a full transcription/translation, I know thats a lot of work, but if anyone could provide a summary of the message it would be a huge help.


r/Yiddish 2d ago

Yiddish language The Jews of Vabalninkas, Lithuania, in front of one of the torched synagogues in the town, on the eve of Rosh Hashana 1927

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45 Upvotes

r/Yiddish 2d ago

Yiddish pronuciation

3 Upvotes

Hello all. Is there a rule about when to pronounce "v" as "u" and when as "i"? I don't see any pattern. How do kids learn this in school? Thanks.


r/Yiddish 3d ago

Translation of a letter

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6 Upvotes

Would appreciate it if someone could help me with general storyline of this greeting.


r/Yiddish 3d ago

בעשיץ טראַנסקינדער בילדל

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39 Upvotes

ניצט עס, חברים


r/Yiddish 3d ago

Yiddish’s ‘revival’ points to its resilience as a portable homeland – and a global reach, from Russia to Mexico to the US

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21 Upvotes

r/Yiddish 3d ago

Translation request Traducción de reverso de fotografias

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3 Upvotes

Hola. Estoy revisando viejas fotografias familiares y encontré algunas de la década del 1930 enviadas en correspondencia de argentina a Polonia. Tienen en el reverso algunas frases en idish, me podrían ayudar a entenderlas? muchas gracias

Hello. I'm going through old family photographs and I found some from the 1930s that were sent in correspondence from Argentina to Poland. On the back they have some phrases in Yiddish — could you help me understand them? Thank you very much


r/Yiddish 3d ago

Translation request Please translate

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4 Upvotes

Found in an autograph book belonging to my aunt born in 1920


r/Yiddish 4d ago

Groyser Puris?

8 Upvotes

I was talking with my grandma and aunt (both born and raised in Kyiv) and upon mentioning I was nominated for a position in an association they called me a "groyser puris". They explained that it meant something like an important individual (like a president or a bigwig) and it was one of the few Yiddish phrases they learned and it was used all over Kyiv.

Now I'm barely A2 in Yiddish (thank you Duolingo), but this was not something I'd ever heard them say before and looking around, I didn't find much info online. My best guess is this is a corruption of "groyser parizer" (גריוסער פּאַריזער), and I've definitely encountered things like "groyser berliner" before (used sarcastically, from what I read.)

But maybe someone has a better etymology and definition?


r/Yiddish 5d ago

materials / advice for new learners

10 Upvotes

!אַ גוטן טאָג

my friend and I are moving in together at the end of the year and we really want to start learning Yiddish (he's Jewish & has/had Yiddish-speaking relatives; i'm a non-Jewish linguistics student who really loves the Yiddish language).

we're in Australia so there's not a great deal of speakers available to us but we are quite committed to learning the language to a decent level (my friend has also expressed his desire to raise his kids at least partially in the language; that's still many years away but a good goal of sorts).

i was wondering if anyone had suggestions for resources to use? we were thinking of self-directed study (like from textbooks or similar), we both have experience learning languages but we're starting from essentially no Yiddish (though i can read the script). if anyone has any particularly good resources or any other general advice i'd really appreciate it.

it doesn't have to be dialect specific but we'd be aiming for as close to Litvish / North-Eastern Yiddish as we could, though any resources would be appreciated.

אַ גוטע דאַנק מײַנע פֿרײַנד


r/Yiddish 5d ago

Yiddish language This is why Yiddish is NOT a dead language

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26 Upvotes

A Munkacz Hasidic sect's summer camp activity.

חסידות מונקאַטש

Munkacs Hasidic sect traces its origins to the historical region of greater Hungary in Europe. It reestablished itself in the United States after the Holocaust with the Satmar Rebbe's encouragement (another Hungarian Hasidic sect, the largest worldwide and in the US).

They are primarily Yiddish-speakers, similarly to Satmar Hasidim.

When a language has a living active intergenerational transmission to kids, and especially dozens of thousands (primarily in the NY metro non-Chabad Hasidic population), it ensures that language survives and even thrives into the future. Decades and even centuries to come.

And is basically what grants it the status of a living language.

Especially considering Haredi-hasidic Jews maintain one of the highest TFR birthrates worldwide, at around 5.5 to 6.8 babies per woman. (Not all Haredis speak Yiddish fluently, but the ones that do ensure it lives on, despite the Holocaust).


r/Yiddish 5d ago

Translation request Letter from 6 weeks before German invasion

5 Upvotes

Hi! Please someone dm me. I found a letter to my safta which I believe is from her sister. My mother passed and she is a Holocaust survivor who did not share much with us about her childhood. I would love help translating because it is very difficult to read cursive in Yiddish. Thank you.

Edit: I didn’t post the letter because I do not know how personal it is. I’d rather send privately. Thanks so much


r/Yiddish 5d ago

Can someone help me read this

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8 Upvotes

We found this letter from my great great grandfather after him and his family were taken to the concentration camps. Can anyone please help translate it? I would love to know what it says. Thank you


r/Yiddish 6d ago

Joy of the Yiddish Word

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5 Upvotes

A contemporary song cycle in Yiddish! Yiddish texts and translations in a PDF below the video. Enjoy!


r/Yiddish 6d ago

Yiddish language Seeking a noun that means hassle/bother/annoyance. Example sentence might be something like: "You have to do five interviews instead of two? What a pain." Not looking for a verb or way to refer to a person, just a situation.

11 Upvotes

Tsuris isn't it. Nudnik isn't it. Schlep isn't it but it's closest to what I'm looking for. Mutche might be, except I've only heard that as a verb.

All help appreciated!


r/Yiddish 6d ago

I.J. Singer is part of Italy’s Yiddish moment

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7 Upvotes

r/Yiddish 11d ago

Rugrats

12 Upvotes

In an older episode when the grandparents are babysitting, Didi's father asks one of them if they hurt their shmegeggi, What does it mean?


r/Yiddish 11d ago

“Strictly Kosher”

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66 Upvotes

—From the Brooklyn Museum—
Interesting that the store chose to transliterate English words into Yiddish script rather than using actual Yiddish words for the top of the signage


r/Yiddish 11d ago

Rugrats

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2 Upvotes