Yiddish and German |
Yiddish
Over many years, I have heard
German Jews and some American Jews claim that Yiddish is a corrupt form of
German spoken by semi-literate uneducated people. This is patently a prejudice
which contradicts the facts. Before the Holocaust, an
opprobrium in the Jewish community, ten million European Jews spoke Yiddish.
Some of the greatest scholars, poets, and authors used this language. Indeed,
Yiddish is a Germanic language, but is in no sense corrupt German but a language
as valid as all languages spoken and written by any group of people who use it. I f Yiddish is “corrupt
German,” then English must be corrupt Latin, since one half of English words
are of Latin origin. Take a look at the following Latin
version of the pledge of allegiance. Fidem meam obligo vuxillo ,
federalis, civitatis Americae, et Res Publica quo stat. Uni Nationi, sub Deo,
non dividende, cum libertati et justitia, omnibus. You can see that numerous English
words are evidently of Latin origin. Therefore it is as ridiculous to call
English corrupt Latin as it is bigotry to call Yiddish corrupt German.
All languages are of equal value to those who use them. Yiddish, however, is
outstanding in that the great
scholars of eastern Europe wrote the greatest literature in Yiddish. May Yiddish
last forever among those still able to speak it and
may the bigots learn Yiddish, a language which has been instrumental in
preserving the works of the greatest scholars throughout the centuries. Shalom u'vracha. |