The Story of YiddishThe Story of Yiddish
How a Mish-mosh of Languages Saved the Jews
Title rated 2.15 out of 5 stars, based on 3 ratings(3 ratings)
Book, 2008
Current format, Book, 2008, 1st ed., No Longer Available.Book, 2008
Current format, Book, 2008, 1st ed., No Longer Available. Offered in 0 more formatsYiddish is a mirror of Jewish history, thought, and practice--for better and worse. Karlen charts the beginning of Yiddish as a minor dialect in medieval Europe that helped peasant Jews live safely apart from the marauders of the First Crusades. Incorporating a large measure of antique German dialects, Yiddish also included little scraps of French, Italian, ancient Hebrew, Aramaic, the Slavic and Romance languages, and a dozen other tongues native to the places where Jews were briefly given shelter. By 1939, Yiddish flourished as the lingua franca of 13 million Jews. After the Holocaust, whatever remained of Yiddish, its worldview and vibrant culture, was almost stamped out--by Jews themselves. Yiddish was an old-world embarrassment for Americans anxious to assimilate. In Israel, young, proud Zionists suppressed Yiddish as the symbol of the weak and frightened ghetto-bound Jew--and invented modern Hebrew. Today, a new generation has zealously sought to explore the language and to embrace its soul. This renaissance has spread to millions of non-Jews who now know the subtle difference between a shlemiel and a shlimazel; hundreds of Yiddish words dot the most recent editions of the Oxford English Dictionary.--From publisher description.
Title availability
About
Subject and genre
Details
Publication
- New York : William Morrow, c2008.
Opinion
More from the community
Community lists featuring this title
There are no community lists featuring this title
Community contributions
Community quotations are the opinions of contributing users. These quotations do not represent the opinions of Daniel Boone Regional Library.
There are no quotations from this title
Community quotations are the opinions of contributing users. These quotations do not represent the opinions of Daniel Boone Regional Library.
There are no quotations from this title
From the community