r/Yiddish Mar 06 '22

subreddit news Support for people in Ukraine

103 Upvotes

Many members of r/Yiddish are in Ukraine, have friends and family or ancestors there, have a connection through language and literature, or all of the above. Violence and destruction run counter to what we stand for in this community, and we hope for a swift and safe resolution to this conflict. There are many organizations out there helping in humanitarian ways, and we wanted to give this opportunity for folks of the r/yiddish community to share organizations to help our landsmen and push back against the violence. Please feel free to add your suggestions in comments below. We also have some links if you want to send support, and please feel free to add yours.


r/Yiddish Oct 09 '23

subreddit news Posts Regarding Israel

53 Upvotes

Please direct all posts concerning the war in Israel to one of the two Jewish subreddits. They both have ongoing megathreads, as well as threads about how and where to give support. Any posts here not directly related to Yiddish and the Yiddish language, as well as other Judaic languages, will be removed.

Since both subs are updating their megathreads daily, we won't provide direct links here. The megathreads are at the top of each subreddit:

r/Judaism

r/Jewish

For the time being, r/Israel is locked by their mods for their own sanity and safety.

We appreciate everyone who helps maintain this subreddit as one to discuss and learn about Yiddish and the Yiddish language.


r/Yiddish 7h ago

Keneinahora in a negative context?

8 Upvotes

I have a family member that always says “keneinahora” when talking badly about someone. Specifically if a person has gained a lot of weight they will say “keneinahora did you see how much weight “x” has put on?”. From my understanding it’s essentially to ward off the evil eye and it’s a protective saying like god forbid or knock on wood. Is that family member just using the term incorrectly? Or is there some nuance that I’m not understanding?


r/Yiddish 1d ago

Yiddish literature Any idea what's being said here?

Thumbnail
gallery
27 Upvotes

Supposedly this is author Shalom Aleichem hammering Yiddish jargon into a more 'beautiful' form. Does anyone have an idea of what's being communicated here?

כּלומרשט איז דאָס דער מחבר שלום עליכעם וואָס מאַכט ייִדישן זשאַרגאָן אין אַ מער "שיינער" פֿאָרעם. האָט עמעצער אַן אידעע וואָס ווערט דאָ קאָמוניקירט?


r/Yiddish 2d ago

Yiddish language Help identifying Yiddish phrase

12 Upvotes

My great grandmother used to tell me whenever i complained or was worried a phrase that sounded phonetically like nentervivatyr or something similar. I think it means “nearer than farther” or something like that. Any help would be appreciated.


r/Yiddish 3d ago

It's me again, cursive's worst nightmare. Did I improve?

Post image
13 Upvotes

This time I wrote with a proper pen rather than my Journaling marker, which made me feel less of the struggle due to the thinner line. Yes I messed up at the very top, we aren't acknowledging that. Yes my אs are still stuck in a k-hole that I don't think they'll ever crawl out of. People were horrified by my ג last time, so I hope that got fixed. I also found a bonafide alphabet list on the internet, rather than going off some wack Etsy print that I found on Google images.


r/Yiddish 4d ago

Yiddish language Seeking gangsters, must speak Yiddish: Bringing the Hasidic underworld to life in 'Caught Stealing'

Thumbnail
forward.com
37 Upvotes

A duo of burly, gun-toting Hasidic gangsters and their doting bubbe are the breakout characters in Darren Aronofsky’s 'Caught Stealing'.

To bring them to life, the film had a secret weapon: a Yiddish whisperer.

Motl Didner, program director for the National Yiddish Theatre Folksbiene, first heard rumblings of the crime caper through a casting notice seeking Yiddish-speaking actors. He didn’t know the notice was for an Aronofsky film, but he passed the details along to members of the company, and even sent in a self-tape to be considered for a role. Later, the production got in touch to use him as a Yiddish coach.

“That’s when I found out who exactly it was that I lost out to,” Didner told our PJ Grisar. “I don’t feel so bad about losing out to, like, Liev Schreiber.”

Didner worked with Schreiber, Vincent D’Onofrio and Carol Kane — respectively playing a pair of frightening drug lords and their grandmother — settling on a Hungarian dialect for their dialogue, and even rewriting some of their Yiddish lines. The duo show up as a threat to the film’s protagonist, Hank (Austin Butler), who finds himself caught in the middle of their quest to recover piles of money from other ethnic gangs in 1998 New York City.

And Didner wasn’t the only dialect coach for D’Onofrio and Schreiber; they had a separate one for English.

“Darren Aronofsky was very specific,” Didner said of “the boys” — how Aronofsky referred to the characters. “He didn’t want them to speak English with a Yiddish accent.”

The film is a “love letter” to a past New York, Grisar writes, “stuffed with tributes to bygone establishments like Kim’s Video, cameos by WFAN’s Mike Francesa and an ethnic patchwork that gives observant Jews a central role.”


r/Yiddish 4d ago

Do you have old Yiddish letters, postcards etc for the Swedish National Yiddish archive?

18 Upvotes

Do you have Yiddish-speaking ancestors from Sweden? Just read again that Swedish National Yiddish archive is looking for old Yiddish letters, diaries, postcards or posters in Yiddish and more, collecting traces of Yiddish in Sweden. Maybe somewhere in your attic there might be a box of Yiddish history?🕰️ Your grandmother’s handwritten recipe in Yiddish could become cultural heritage, really!  🥟  They'd be grateful for any submissions by email. https://yiddisharchivesweden.se/ Have been in contact with them for a long time, webinars, Zooms etc. They are reputable and work sustainably.


r/Yiddish 4d ago

Translation request Help transcribing a manuscript?

Thumbnail
gallery
11 Upvotes

The following are two pages out of Avrom Menes' autobiography which I would like to read, however the writing is a bit too smudged for me to make up, and I'm bad at reading cursive. I wonder if anyone can help me transcribe it? Note: I don't require a translation, simply copying the text into a more legible digital form. א דאנק!


r/Yiddish 4d ago

Yiddish culture Looking for old Yiddish letters, postcards etc for Swedish National Yiddish archive

Thumbnail
yiddisharchivesweden.se
7 Upvotes

r/Yiddish 5d ago

Yiddish language Go ahead, roast my writing

Post image
23 Upvotes

Starting to learn to handwrite. I figured I'd take these little Pinterest quote things I found and write one in the journal a day as handwriting practice. How's my start? I feel like my vowels are wack and that second ל in וויל is getting a little too enthusiastic.


r/Yiddish 6d ago

Translation request Quick translation request

9 Upvotes

Hi all! I’m looking to translate “May there be peace in the whole world” into Yiddish.

I’d also be open to phrases or sayings that you recommend with a variation on that theme or with a similar sentiment.

Thanks!


r/Yiddish 6d ago

“oy vavoy” on tonight’s episode 5 of Alien: Earth

Post image
23 Upvotes

Also another character named Shmuel! Loved it.


r/Yiddish 7d ago

Seen in the fridge

Post image
26 Upvotes

Saw this quick note in the fridge from a cousin and thought it was hilarious.

"Epes a soup! Segit!" (Some kind of soup! It's good!)


r/Yiddish 6d ago

The Scope of a Yiddish Dictionary

Thumbnail
youtu.be
9 Upvotes

r/Yiddish 8d ago

Yiddish literature Found this gem in a bookstore

Post image
95 Upvotes

r/Yiddish 10d ago

Translation request Options for saying "Pale of Settlement" in Yiddish?

25 Upvotes

Hello. The question came up in my friend group and I just don't want to trust random searches to tell me this. (Someone immediately asked ChatGPT, too. Sigh.)

So far the sanest thing imo has been from the English Wikipedia:

Pale of Settlement

Черта оседлости (Russian)

דער ייִדישער צעטייל־געגנט (Yiddish)

תחום המושב (Hebrew)

But I have to tread carefully with what I found because my Hebrew is at the beginner's level and my Yiddish is nonexistent. Looking up this Yiddish version brings up a lot about Birobidzhan but not much about what I'm looking for.

Are there contemporary sources out there that would refer to the area in Yiddish in a certain way, maybe a few certain ways? Thank you.


r/Yiddish 10d ago

Yiddish TV

43 Upvotes

There has been quite a lot of funding put towards Yiddish in Sweden. There are a ton of mostly kids television to watch here. https://urplay.se/sok?language[]=Jiddisch&platform[]=urplay


r/Yiddish 10d ago

Translation request How would you say "the kids are alright" in yiddish?

17 Upvotes

Like when you see a Jewish kid/young person call out a Fascist in public and you're like "the kids are alright".


r/Yiddish 11d ago

Can anyone help us parse this out?

Post image
4 Upvotes

r/Yiddish 13d ago

May it also be by you

3 Upvotes

There is a Yiddish expression used when someone is being congratulated for a happy event in his or her life, say when a child gets married. To the best of my memory it go something like "mitchen bei dir". It would mean "the same by you". Can anyone come up with the exact expression in Hebrew letters? It would be very nice also to have the original German words on which this is based. Thanks kindly.


r/Yiddish 13d ago

Translation request can someone translate this for me please!

3 Upvotes

Hi!!

Does anyone know how to say this in Yiddish:

“Don’t forget me, even though I’m leaving. I love you. I’ll love you forever”

It’s the Icelandic part of th song Forget-Me-Not from Laufey’s new album about leaving your homeland for opportunity and it reminds me of my family leaving the shtetl back in the day, and wanted to do a cover in Yiddish! But it’s been over a year since I took a Yiddish class so I’ve forgotten everything I learned, sadly.

I can read Yiddish but transliteration is helpful for the musical aspect of it 🙈

Thank you so much!


r/Yiddish 14d ago

Silly joke - what language does a Jewish chef speak?

37 Upvotes

Lokshn-koydesh


r/Yiddish 14d ago

Looking for some people who speak any Kairaim

9 Upvotes

im attempting to preserve the Kairaim dialect, and im looking for people who know some words, i know fluent speakers are extremely rare, but i thought their might be someone who knows some words.
if your interested, DM me!
I would really appreciate help!


r/Yiddish 15d ago

I am trying to learn more Yiddish to impress my father before he passes. Does anyone have any resources that would help with that?

19 Upvotes

r/Yiddish 15d ago

Yiddish cinema

14 Upvotes

I have been watching a lot of Yiddish cinema this year with my 74 year old mum who feels like she missed out of a lot of these films growing up - so everything is new for both of us.

I was just wondering what people would recommend.

So far we've seen:

Uncle Moses, The Cantor's Son, Yidl Mitn Fidl, The Dybbuk

I'm trying to find a copy of Zayn Vabs Lubovnik


r/Yiddish 15d ago

Yiddish Classes in Chicago

14 Upvotes

Hi, Chicago YIVO is offering four Yiddish classes starting the week of September 1st. Two are in-person beginner classes at Harold Washington Library downtown, and two are offered online. Link for more details and registration: Yiddish Classes | Chicago YIVO Society