Is Yiddish Holy?

Can someone be a “Yid” if they don’t know Yiddish?

I don’t know whether Yiddish is to be considered “kadosh,” or not, but it sure beats English or Hebrew when it comes to describing people, their personalities, and situations where psychology comes into play. For instance, think of the worlds of meaning wrapped up just in the word, “fargin.” I didn’t learn Yiddish until I was older, but I was amazed at its resources for describing people and human situations.

Time, “shmuess” is actually Ashkenazic Hebrew – שמועות.

Avi k.,
chose to miss the point?
שיחות מוסר were given over in what language?

They were typed[ the original stencils had a lot of incendiary declarations that were deleted as per Rav Chaim Shmuelevitz’ s request] and later retyped in Hebrew,
but for the actual shmuess only yiddish would suffice
Presumably modern Hebrew is considered [ out come the fireworks] by comparison too shallow/superficial
particularly with it’s over-emphasis on the latter part of the word[mil’ra]

Of course it is but if little kids don’t understand it why should the Chumash have to suffer let the social studies suffer and not be learned

“modern Hebrew…particularly with it’s over-emphasis on the latter part of the word[mil’ra]”

That is the way Hebrew – classical or modern – is supposed to be pronounced. If you need help with that, look at how the taamim are in the Torah. It’s not a zionist thing.

One of my Rabbaiim (an Ashkenazi) taught that mispronouncing a word in K’riat Sh’ma could be meakev. The example he gave was saying v’aHAVta is past tense (wrong meaning), but v’ahavTA is future tense/command form.

Another one that he pointed out is after Barechu.
כֻּלָּם בְּחָכְמָה עָשִׂיתָ, מָלְאָה הָאָרֶץ קִנְיָנֶךָ
Ma-l’-ah haaretz kinyanecha — the earth is filled of Your possessions
But
Ma-lah haaretz… — is lashon Bris Milah — the earth circumcised Your possessions

In any event, I’m convinced that the best way to read Kiriat Sh’ma is by laining it (quietly). You’ll have the right accent and phrasing.

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The Gaon in his igeres hagra that he wrote for his wife before he left for eretz yisroel writes that he has some seforim in lashon ashkenaz, meaning German, even though those seforim were clearly written with the hebrew alphabet. So the Gr”a did not even refer to it as Yiddish , but as German which is what it is

What does it mean for Yiddish to be “holy”? Only Biblical Hebrew is lashon hakodesh, not any other language (like Modern Hebrew, Yiddish, Ladino, Judeo-Arabic, Yeshivish, etc.). Knowing Yiddish is very valuable because it allows you to connect with past generations of Jews who used this language and with thousands of Jews who still use it. (This is more relevant if you are Ashkenazi; if you are Sefardi, Yiddish is basically a foreign language). But Yiddish is only a tool, not something of value in its own right.

Bais, actually it is creole German. Agnon wrote a story about a Polish rabbi who went to germany for medical treatment. Every time he spoke in Yiddish the locals corrected him.

Tiawd, why not learn Judeo-Persian or Bukhori.

It’s, Rav Kook disagreed with him.

Lets be honest….. Yiddish is half hebrew, kedusha Tahara Torah holy sefarim that were written , and the other half is Nazi

zdad,
Could you inform us if there is anything you happen to agree on?

According to the built-in dictionary on the iPhone the word Yid is a derogatory name for a Jew.

Those droshot were given before I was born in a laguage I do not speak (I can usually understand if spoken Loudly, Clearly and slowly) If it is mumbled I cannot understand it

Make a point- Nothing about Yiddish or German is Nazi. It’s completely coincidental that the Nazis happened to speak German. Just about every language has been spoken by antisemites, and German has been spoken by Jew-killers probably since the Yiddish language developed. The German language didn’t become pasul because of the Nazis, nor did English become pasul when the Jews were expelled from England, or French during the Crusades.

As pointed out , no halacha sefer gives Yiddish a status of a holy tongue lehalacha. it is a lashon chol like English. The only question is if it’s holier because it has lashon kodesh and phrases that hint at Torah.

The question is, what’s the practical difference, even for those who claim it’s holy? Let’s go through each possibility.
1. It takes between 500 and 1,000 hours to learn a language. If a man asks a posek if he had choice between learning Torah and a language which one should he do, even those who claim Yiddish is holy would admit you should learn Torah instead. Actual Torah >Yiddish, even if you say it’s holy.
2. If a woman asks , she will be told to learn lashn koidesh instead since it will help out her davening. Yiddish is nice, but a practical language is better. If she already knows Lashon kodesh, she would be better off learning Spanish or something practical. Or she should laern Tanach.
3. What about teaching Chumash in Yiddish to kids who don’t speak a word of Yiddish, and neither do their parents or Rabbeim? This is obviously ridiculous. There is a chiyuv to teach kids torah. teaching them in Yiddish ensures they don’t understand and is Bittul Torah, forgetting about the terrible chinuch of making kids unhappy in school over a narishkeit. Whatever mitzvah kklusha there is in Yiddish becomes a mitzvah habaah beaveira over the bittul Torah caused by teaching kids in a language they don’t understand. If we’re not mevateil tinokos shel beis rabban over Binyan beis hamikdash, surely we’re not mevateil them over Yiddish. There are those who insist that “the kids pick it up” but practical experience shows it’s not true except by a few iluyim. And even if they pick it up, how much bittul Torah happened before they picked it up? And if you insist on teaching kids in another language, you are better doing Hebrew ivris like the beis yaakovs do, as the ivris will help the kids understand Tefilla and Torah.
I am aware of a few schools that do teach American English-speaking kids Chumash in Yiddish, but I can’t imagine any daas Torah advised this stupidity. It’s pashut bittul Torah.
4. The only possible nafka mina to this whole debate is with kids who come from a a bilingual home and are fluent in both, though the kids get easily confused as to which language is which. I still remember hearing a kid ask “How do you say ‘apple’ in English?” While this is relevant in Chassidish circles, it’s absolutely pointless in litvish circles, where Yiddish is just an academic “shtultz shprach” but nobody practically speaks it anymore. Many shiurim in Eretz Yisroel have already switched to ivrit since giving them in Yiddish is a waste of time. Expect that trend to continue.

I also admit that if you ask a poseik should you spend 500-1000 hours on Facebook and other social media sites like ywn cr or learn Yiddish, he would tell you to learn Yiddish if you’re not going to learn, if only to be productive.

I would think that yiddish has some kedusha because its a languege used by yidden and only yidden. english is a non jewish languege used also by yidden. but yiddish is a languege that only yidden used

Yiddish is very holy!
It was the official language of the Ivsektsia, the Jewish branch of the Russian communist party. It is said that the first constitution of the USSR was written in Yiddish by the Vilna branch of the Ivsektsia and later translated into Russian. (The holy? City of Vilna at that time was full of Jewish communists, socialists, and all kinds of Jewish ‘ists that were strongly against Torah! They all spoke Yiddish!)
Yiddish is also the official language of Birabidzhan, the “Jewish autonomous republic” that was set up by Stalin in the 30’s.
In its heyday, there were more than 40,000 Jews living there. They raised pigs, celebrated yom kippur with a ham sandwich, and, of course, spoke Yiddish.
Yiddish was also the official language of the Bund, the Jewish socialist party. They used to celebrate Kol Nidre night with a party in which pork was served. They were very very emancipated, and of course, spoke Yiddish.
Another reason for encouraging the use of Yiddidsh is that it resembles German, which we all know, is a very high culture language. German is such a cultured language that Herzl wanted it to be the official language of his Jewish state. So at least we can have Yiddish instead—it’s almost as good!
I can’t think of any more good things to say about Yiddish, but I think that what I have said above is enough to prove that Yiddish is a very “holy” and cultured language and should be encouraged.

Avi, you’re smart enough to know that a rule can have exceptions, but your mindless hatred has blinded you.

Ask yourself: what percentage of today’s gedolim are literate in Yiddish. How many of today’s greatest talmidei chachomim know Yiddish.

Then you know what to do.

Let’s ignore the poor logic employed by hoover. Not worth a response.

Allegedly the Chasam Sofer said any drosha not in Yiddish is treif.

Allegedly the Chasam Sofer said any drosha not in Yiddish is treif.

Actually he poskened that all drashot should be in Yiddish, It made perfect sense in Polygot Pressburg where jews spoke 4-5 languages and Yiddish was a common language, It makes no sense in 2018 where most jews speak english or Hebrew (Or whatever the local language is like french if you are in France). Most people would not understand the Drasha given in Yiddish and there is a good chance the Rabbi cannot give it either.

The Folksbien performs plays and musicals in Yiddish, Many of the actors and actresess are not jewish

So much tipshus has been written on this subject matter that it is scary.
Just one example. The Chasan Sofer zy”a was in a battle to keep yiddishkeit from going astray and off the rails. Assimilation was exploding all over Europe and he instituted takonas to prevent or slow down or reverse the tide of assimilation. The Chsasm Sofer utilized Yiddish only as a means to keep Jewish identity sound. He did not attach any kedushah or holiness to this language that only came into existence a couple of hundred years ago. Loshon Kodesh or Biblical Hebrew is divine ((from the Rebbono shel olam). Yiddish is man made. Need I say more?

Yidden have learnt Torah and spoken in Yiddish for a thousand years.