Yiddish

For much of the last millennium, Yiddish was the lingua franca of the Ashkenazi Jews of Central and Eastern Europe.

Professor of Yiddish studies Shlomo Berger presents three famous historical examples of how the Torah was translated into Yiddish in Eastern Europe throughout the centuries.

These are the words you can safely pop into your conversation for emphasis with little fear of messing up, since it is hard to misappropriate them.

Why are Jewish people living in the United States speaking German? Can’t they speak in English, or at least Hebrew?

When languages die, whole cultures die with them, and communities lose their identity. Jewish languages are no different.

Question: This is not as serious as your usual questions but my daughter and I are really curious. I know that Yiddish is a mixture of Hebrew and German, my question is where does the name Yiddish come from? Answer: We take every question seriously :-) Yi...

Discover the Yiddish language, how some of the most frequently used phrases are so well used by everyone, and why some things are best expressed in this uniquely Jewish language. Yiddish is delish!

A short overview of the state of contemporary Chassidic Yiddish as a spoken language.

A look at attitudes to the traditional Jewish language in groups such as Belz, Gur, Breslav and Chabad.