Yiddish Lesson

           Yiddish is an interesting language, made up primarily of German, Hebrew, and Polish vocabulary and written in Hebrew characters. It was the primary language of Eastern European Ashkenazi Jews, who resided in the "Pale of Settlement," the region of imperial Russia in which Jews were permitted to live. The Pale, as it was called, is most familiar to us today as the setting for Fiddler on the Roof.

            Large numbers of Jewish immigrants came from the Pale to the United States in the late 19^th and early 20^th centuries, and they brought their Yiddish with them. Primarily on the Lower East Side of New York, they established a thriving Yiddish theater and many Yiddish publications.

My father's parents spoke Yiddish, and my father was pretty fluent, as well. My mother understood more Yiddish than she actually spoke. The primary employment of Yiddish in my family as I grew up was to enable my parents to have conversations that their children could not understand.

            Outside of a few Hassidic enclaves, Yiddish is not a significant, spoken language today. Eastern European Jewish immigrants worked hard to insure that their children became "real Americans" who spoke English and participated in American society. The real last nail in the coffin of Yiddish was the decision by the founders of the State of Israel to choose Hebrew, an ancient language used primarily in prayer and study, over Yiddish as one of the national languages of their old/new nation. (The other, by the way, is Arabic.)

            But a fragment of Yiddish survived in the form of words and phrases passed down to the "third generation" as part of the vernacular in most Jewish homes. Today, that fragment is peppered in the conversation of Jews whenever a serious conversation is in progress. Sometimes, we even forget that the words are not really English!

            Some of the words and phrases have become, through literature, entertainment, and food, a part of the American language. A Wikipedia article lists over 100 such words. Examples include bagel, chutzpah, gelt, glitch, kibitz, kosher, lox, mensch, nebbish, schlep, schmooze, shalom, shamus, shtick, and tush. The level of penetration of these words can be demonstrated by the fact that my spell check recognized all but two of them!

            But some words and phrases are almost exclusively known and employed by Jews about my age. I have had several conversations with Jewish lawyers and clients which include a smattering of Yiddish and which sort of constitute a private language. However, since other people at our firm are often parties to these conversations, or are just exposed to my compulsion to employ some Yiddish from time to time, I have conducted a few Yiddish lessons in the office.

            Here are a few of the words and phrases I have tried to teach, or which find their way into my legal thought processes. My renderings in English may be subject to some debate.

            Kayn ahora – a reference to the Evil Eye, with similar impact to "knocking on wood."

            Meshugge – Crazy. Irrational behavior

            Gai gezunterhait – Go in good health!

            Gantser megilleh – Big deal (sarcastic).

            Get – A Jewish ritual divorce.

            Pareve – Neither meat nor dairy – can be eaten with either. Bland.

       Hock mir nicht kein chinik – One of my mother's favorites meaning, "Stop pestering me!" Literally, it means "Don't bang on my tea kettle!"

            Alter cocker – Grumpy, old person. Literally, an old fart.

       And then there is that certain type of client or attorney, known in the language of my grandparents as a Schmuck!