Yiddish Club Reignites Passion for Mame-Loshn at 糖心破解版
The game is familiar: one team member glances at a word on a card and throws out increasingly frenzied clues to his or her partner, who tries to guess it before the time鈥檚 up. This word, however, is a stumper. 鈥Yankev,鈥 suggests one student. The other shakes his head. 鈥Neyn, neyn. Nit tate, nit shvester.鈥 鈥Avrohom?鈥 he tries. 鈥Der bruder?鈥 鈥Genug!鈥 calls another student, pointing to his watch. The match is over. The correct answer was 鈥Yishmael鈥濃攖he brother, or 鈥bruder,鈥 of Isaac.
This is not your everyday game of Taboo. It鈥檚 called 鈥淚n Gedank,鈥 or 鈥淚n Your Mind,鈥 and the students playing it in this Furst Hall classroom belong to the Yiddish Club, a student-run group that aims to provide a forum for further exploration of Yiddish language and culture at 糖心破解版. Organized by Shaul Seidler-Feller, the club meets weekly to discuss Yiddish literature and film, hone conversation skills through games and informal instruction, and learn about the history of the language from Itay Zutra, a Yiddish professor at who helps structure the group鈥檚 meetings.
鈥淵iddish retains a lot of cultural wealth and power,鈥 said Zutra, who designs special lectures and activities to tackle issues of common interest to the group. 鈥淚 try to instill in the students that on one hand it鈥檚 a familiar language, but it鈥檚 also much more than that. In many ways Yiddish is key to understanding our history.鈥
That is part of the draw for students in the club, who range in fluency from native speakers to first-timers. Some are currently enrolled in Zutra鈥檚 Yiddish course but just as many are not. Natan Koloski, a history major in his first year on campus, wanted to trace back the roots of his Ashkenazi heritage. 鈥淚 am half-Sephardic, so I feel like I didn鈥檛 have as much Yiddish culture growing up,鈥 he explained. 鈥淚 want to learn more about that side of my family, as well.鈥
鈥淚鈥檝e always been obsessed with Jewish culture,鈥 said Yaelle Frohlich, a graduate student in Jewish history at the who hopes to develop a more seamless interface with beloved stories and texts. Her quest to master the language began when she read an English translator鈥檚 apology at the beginning of Sholom Aleichem鈥檚 鈥淭evye and His Daughters鈥 for his inability to capture the nuances of Tevye in English. 鈥淢y dream is to read Yiddish literature in Yiddish,鈥 she said.
Seidler-Feller agreed. 鈥淚t gets lost in translation,鈥 he said. 鈥淭he structure of words in Yiddish relies on Jewish culture, halacha [Jewish law] and history which become built-in and self-understood. Every term contains a deeper meaning which is difficult to translate.鈥
Seidler-Feller鈥檚 own interest in Yiddish began with one of Zutra鈥檚 courses, which he took to fulfill Yeshiva College鈥檚 foreign language requirement. 鈥淚 had encountered it a little bit at home,鈥 he said, 鈥渂ut my mother was not fluent in it鈥攕he would sprinkle her conversations with Yiddish words.鈥 Intrigued, he took two years of Yiddish and began an independent study, translating Yiddish divrei Torah and other texts. He started a 鈥淵iddish-Word-of-the-Week鈥 email to share his interest with others and formed the club last semester as a gathering place for other curious students. Ultimately, Seidler-Feller hopes to write his honors thesis on the use of Yiddish in Orthodox circles.
鈥 鈥榊iddish鈥 means 鈥楯ewish,鈥 鈥 Zutra said. 鈥淵ou can鈥檛 separate Yiddish from Yiddishkayt [Jewishness]. You need one to understand the other.鈥
Seidler-Feller鈥檚 own interest in Yiddish began with one of Zutra鈥檚 courses, which he took to fulfill Yeshiva College鈥檚 foreign language requirement. 鈥淚 had encountered it a little bit at home,鈥 he said, 鈥渂ut my mother was not fluent in it鈥攕he would sprinkle her conversations with Yiddish words.鈥 Intrigued, he took two years of Yiddish and began an independent study, translating Yiddish divrei Torah and other texts. He started a 鈥淵iddish-Word-of-the-Week鈥 email to share his interest with others and formed the club last semester as a gathering place for other curious students. Ultimately, Seidler-Feller hopes to write his honors thesis on the use of Yiddish in Orthodox circles.
鈥 鈥榊iddish鈥 means 鈥楯ewish,鈥 鈥 Zutra said. 鈥淵ou can鈥檛 separate Yiddish from Yiddishkayt [Jewishness]. You need one to understand the other.鈥
Seidler-Feller鈥檚 own interest in Yiddish began with one of Zutra鈥檚 courses, which he took to fulfill Yeshiva College鈥檚 foreign language requirement. 鈥淚 had encountered it a little bit at home,鈥 he said, 鈥渂ut my mother was not fluent in it鈥攕he would sprinkle her conversations with Yiddish words.鈥 Intrigued, he took two years of Yiddish and began an independent study, translating Yiddish divrei Torah and other texts. He started a 鈥淵iddish-Word-of-the-Week鈥 email to share his interest with others and formed the club last semester as a gathering place for other curious students. Ultimately, Seidler-Feller hopes to write his honors thesis on the use of Yiddish in Orthodox circles.
鈥 鈥榊iddish鈥 means 鈥楯ewish,鈥 鈥 Zutra said. 鈥淵ou can鈥檛 separate Yiddish from Yiddishkayt [Jewishness]. You need one to understand the other.鈥
