Newspaper Page Text
Twenty
Friday, September 19, 1958
THE SOUTHERN ISRAELITE
Take your choice
from this
group of
new homes on
Bramble Rd., N. E.
Off La Vista
Between Briarcliff
and N. Druid Hills Rds.
• Spacious
• Modern
• Ranch Type
• Split-Level
• 4-Bedrooms
and Den
PRICE RANGE
$23,750
to $26,750.
Can be handled
as little as
10% down
AND THEY’RE WITHIN
WALKING DISTANCE OF
NEW GRAMMAR AND
HIGH SCHOOLS
COME SEE FOR
YOURSELF
CALL
Franklin Benamy
TR. S - 7901 ME. 6 - 6313
Benamy
Realty Co.
1415 Peachtree St., N. E.
Atlanta 9, Ga.
Yiddish: A Duty to Preserve Its Literature
by Philip Slomovitz
Editor, The Detroit Jewish News
When, in our concern over a
possible decline in Jewish cultural
values, we bemoan a slackening of
interest in Jewry’s literary and
linguistic tools, many of us have "In
view also one of the most sadden
ing developments in Jewish life:
the gradual disappearance of Yid
dish as one of our dialects and as
the treasure house of a great lit
erature. It is no longer denied that
Yiddish is declining. Fewer people
than ever use it today.
Yet, while Yiddish is suffering a
setback, its idioms and distortions
are being used abominably by
comedians who are resorting to
mass appeal tactics in their utili-
Saftt For
SAVINGS
Each Account Insured
to 910,000 by FtUO
MAXIMUM
RATE
Asects over
929,000,000
4. L. R BOYD, S*rr an* AtVy,
m Braas at. N. W.. Oranl Bids.
South Magazine reports:
“GREEN STAMPS
are helping
Dixie grow”
“During the past few years a major addition to
business in the South has been the fast-growing trading
stamp industry.
“Proof of the growing importance stamps play in
bolstering the area’s economy is found in the Southern
operations of The Sperry and Hutchinson Company,
distributors of the widely-known S&H Green Stamps.
“In 1957 alone, S&H purchased more than
$12 million worth of merchandise from Southern
manufacturers, providing many of the area’s nidustne*
with increased outlets for then products and boosting
Southern payrolls.
“Added to those figures is the $2,250,000 annual
oavroll written by S&H for its present and growing
866-pcrson Southern personnel. The Company has
invested hundreds of thousands of dollars in real
estate to locate its modern redemption centers, indi
cating that the industry has become a permanent part
of the area’s business life.”
South
• 1958
For more in/c; 'm. write for our free bookkt.
Tbe story of S&H Cash Discount Stamps.
GEORGIA DIVISION
The Sperry and Hutchinson Company
256 Peachtree S*.,,N. E • Atlanta. Ga
zation of most commonplace phras
es. The fact that crowds will ap
plaud banalities and abominations
attests to poor taste. But it also
indicates a nostalgia in reference
to Yiddish. So, while repudiating
the comic artists who distort Yid
dish, we must acknowledge that
there is a response that is not util
ized properly.
Only a handful of young people
understand Yiddish. Its literature
is not read—unless some portions
of it are fortunate enough to be
translated into English.
Not all who had predicted that
this would happen were pleased
with the developments. Many of
us are pained by what is transpir
ing. It was a lovelier and a livelier
time when Yiddish had its influ
ence, when the warmth of the lang
uage helped to inspire desires for
Jewish learning. When Yiddish
was in its prime, Hebrew, too, had
a better chance of survival.
There was a time when the lang
uage battle in Israel was a bitter
one. It is no longer so today. He
brew has taken root there, and
Yiddish, when and where used, is
supplementary. Perhaps it is be
cause Yiddish is no longer a com
petitor to Hebrew that it is no
longer a belligerent in Israel. Yet,
it is possible that the survival of
Yiddish will be made possible in
Israel alone. There are legitimate
reasons for it.
It is possible that the Yiddish
periodicals now appearing in Is
rael may have a better chance for
survival because some visitors in
Israel will better be able to keep
contact with the land and its peo
ple in the language they under
stand better than Hebrew—until
they may master Hebrew. But an
even better reason is the fact that
the Hebrew University in Jeru
salem has established advanced
courses in Yiddish. Through such
courses, and because Yiddish there
by will be perpetuated as a lang
uage and literature study method,
the language has a chance.
What about Yiddish elsewhere,
especially among the more than
five million American Jews?
We posed this question upon
reading the splendid “Yuda Yof-
fe Buch” (The Judah L. Joffe
Book), a testimonial valume that
was dedicated by YIVO Institute
for Jewish Research in honor of
the 80th birthday of the Yiddish
writer and scholar whose name the
book bears.
This is an interesting volume,
and a thoroughly enlightening and
enjoyable one. Half of it is devoted
to a discussion of Jewish foods,
their origins, their etymological
derivation, etc.; the other half to
Yiddish language studies.
The former would interest not
only gourmets but also all who
are intrigued by the international
manner in which people inter
change habits and practices — in
this instance, the adoption of food
practices of one’s neighbors.
The latter is a remarkable study
of the birth of a language, its
word structures, its religious con
notations. In the instance of Yid
dish, there are interesting obser-
vaions on the interchange of He
braist and Aramaic terms, western
and other influences.
An entire volume could be writ
ten about the Yoffe Buch alone.
What concerns us, however, is:
how many people will read this
very scholarly work? Must it be
limited to a handful of people?
Must it be the symbol of a tragic
decline of a great literature and
its intriguing language.
If the answers are in the affirm
ative, as we fear they might be,
then a way must be found to pre
serve the literature and the lang
uage of Yiddish.
How?
If the masses won’t read Yiddish
and understand it, at least we must
preserve it among scholars. There
is the growing danger that even
our rabbis won’t know it; even our
spiritual leaders will remain igno
rant of the facts that have been
compiled in volumes like the one
issued by YIVI just referred to,
the poems of Frug, the stories of
Sholom Aleichem and Mendele
Mocher Seforim.
To avoid these dangers, we pro
pose a movement to make Yiddish
a compulsory course of study in all
advanced Jewish schools—even in
the Jewish high schools, but cer
tainly in the teachers’ colleges; in
all theological seminaries, not to
speak of Gratz and Dropsie Col
leges in this country and the high
er schools of learning in England
and in Canada.
Most Jewish dialects have dis
appeared. Ladino, while still spok
en in Turkey and a few communi
ties in the Orient, is practically
unknown among the Spanish Jews
in America. We doubt whether
more than a couple of hundred
Jews still understand and can read
Ladino in this country. But there
is no known literature in Ladino
with even a fraction of the wealth
that is possessed by Yiddish lit
erature. Every effort must be made
to preserve the Yiddish language
and its literary wealth. Our pro
posal may be extremely minimal.
It may satisfy very few of the
extreme Yiddishists. But we view
it as a way of preserving a trea
sure. Action in the direction we
propose should be taken at once by
the proponents of Yiddish.
Nationally Advertised
PERMANENT WAVES
$3.50
STYLIST
and
OPERATORS
Andre’s
All
Purpose
Hair Cut
EXPERT
HAIR
COLORING
CLAIROL
& ROUX
$3.50
Ho«nt 9-9 Mon. through Sot
CE. 7-6801
9 W. Pacee Tarry Rd
Buckhaad
No Appointments Necessary
Modern Air-Conditioned Salon
A«v\\v
1 n,
Greetings
GOLDMAN’S
Howell House Pharmacy
710 Peachtree St., N. E.
TR. 4-9709
jC*1«*VVVVVVVVVVVV\.V*N.VV*VVVVVVVVVV*.V*.VV*VVVXVVVltf
'1
mmm
< 3ortkfyM6xic/i ofSfaparuz
==?chenleu
RESERVE I
—'»«»»»«»»»»»»««»»»»»»»»«««««.... fTTTTl,
Stlthin BISTILLEVS Cl.. R.1, c BUNOCB WRISKT, K HQOF. is* CHIN NEHIAl SPItITS