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Explore your heritage: Learn more about the Shteytl !
In addition to knowing Ivrit, it is fun to learn some Yiddisch as well, and explore:
Teure
(Toy-rae)
Torah / Torah Scroll of a Heylik K’doyshe Yidd’n
and center of the cultural life of a Shtetl community.
On a side note: This word inspired and etymologically interacted with the German word teuer = highly valuable / of high value / expensive.
Yiddisch
(Yid-ish)
the culturally genuine language generally spoken in the Jewish communities of Europe, the U.S. and Russia; very close to Hebrew and German; contains a few elements from Slavic languages as well.
Heylik K’doysche Yidd’n
(hey-lick Ke-doyshe Yid-n)
a genuine Jewish congregation.
(Translation: A sanctified Congregation of Jewish persons / Yehudim)
Rebbe
(rae-bae)
a Rabbi in a genuine Jewish Shteytl congregation
G’vir
(gae-veer)
male member of the upper class in a Shteytl.
An interesting historic note:
Yiddisch does not use the Ivrit terminology Yehudi / Yehudim since Hebrew was considered in the Shteytl to be a holy language not to be spoken outside of the presence of the Teure (Torah).
As all Ivrit speakers know, those concerns are no longer necessary.
Yiddisch today:
In HaAretz (and beyond) there are sometimes frictions arising around the legitimacy of speaking either Yiddisch or Ivrit. Since both actually are representing important aspects of our one common culture, Yiddisch and Ivrit / Hebrew should not cause friction but strengthen our togetherness:
Hiney ma tov oo ma nayim Shaevaet Achim gam Yachad...
Films
Movies showing the life in the Shteytl:
Fiddler on the Roof
Yiddl mit sein Fiddl
Der Dibbuk.
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