Newspaper Page Text
Friday, March 3, 1967
Tmfr
THE SOUTHERN ISRAELITE
OFFTHERECORD
By NATH Ah ZIPRIN
(A Seven Arts Feature)
A TREASURE
IN WORD'S . . .
It has become fashionable in
Jewish enclaves these days to in
ject yiddishisms into everyday
talk, and so wide is the utiliza
tion of Yiddish words between
the covers of books that many of
them have gained inclusion in
modern dictionaries.
More important is the burgeon
ing interest among American Jew
ish intellectuals in Yiddish as a
tongue and an instrument of lit
erary creativity. This is particu
larly so on the college campuses
of the country, where there is a
growing, albeit belated, aware
ness of the artistic quality of
Yiddish writing—a development
that presumably has largely been
spurred by the outpouring in re
cent years of Yiddish creative
works in English translation.
It would of course be idle to
speculate whether this interest
in Yiddish creativity will ever
gain sufficient momentum to lead
our young to savoring the Yid
dish well itself. The fascinated
however will find the rod to the
path in a monumental Yiddish
work—The Great Jlictionary of
the Yiddish Language, whose
completion indubitably will mark
a landmark in Yiddish cultural
achievement.
When the project was first
conceived in 1953, the enormity
of its scope eluded even those
who had been dreaming about it
for years before. Now that the
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first two volumes have appear
ed, covering ^ only the letter
aleph, the 'challenge is almost
staggering.
It had originally been esti
mated that Yiddish had a voca
bulary of some 180,000 words.
But as the research proceeded it
developed that 200,000 was a
closer figure. It is now believed
the ten or twelve volume dic
tionary will have close to a quar
ter of a million words. The first
two volumes alone, covering the
first letter of the alphabet, aleph,
have 40,000 words, and if there
is to be a new edition they may
reach the unbelievable figure of
50,000.
The Great Dictionary of the
Yiddish Language — published
under the aegis of The Yiddish
Dictionary Committee and spon
sored by an imposing number of
Jewish cultural organizations
and an array of prominent schol
ars and communal leaders — is
however to be more than a gath
ering of words and their mean
ings. Judging by the first two
volumes it is to be a treasure-
house of a unique tongue and the
people who formed it for a period
of over a thousand years, a rep
ository of a path and a culture
that have been dimmed by tide
and by time. However, the im
pact of the tongue and of the peo
ple who forged it into an instru
ment of sanctity and creativity
is by no means ended. The new
dictionary could well contribute
to a revival of Yiddish tongue.
Yudel Mark, editor in chief, is ‘
an impeccable linguist, but with
imagination, and there is all rea
son to believe he will guide the
project to successful completion,
particularly if there is generous
support from the American Jew
ish community.
• • • *
F.D.R/S RIGHT HAND . . .
Henry Morgenthau Jr., who
recently passed away, belonged
both to American and Jewish
history.
As Secretary of the Treasury
during the New Deal and World
War years, he held a post of
critical national and internation
al importance.
As the general chairman of the
United Jewish Appeal and one of
the founders of Israel Bonds, he
played an important role in help
ing establish the economic struc
ture which has made possible the
great growth of Israel.
His was not the usual Horatio
Alger story of the poor boy who
rises to affluence and greatness.
His father, Ambassador Morgen
thau, was a man of large means
and of political importance but
Henry Jr. might be said to have
carved his own individual route
to eminence. As against his own
dedicated service to Israel, the
elder Morgenthau had been ant
agonistic to the Zionist move- G
ment, but Henry Jr. liked to re
member that, as Ambassador to
Turkey, his father had success
fully intervened for Ben Gurion
when the Turks during World
War I had imprisoned him.
Henry Morgenthau Jr.’s service
for Israel Bonds during the years
he was its head was not routine.
He made many trips to Israel and
delighted iij every aspect of its
growth. He responded with deep
sympathy to the Chaluz. Perhaps
because, in his way, he had been
a kind of “chaluz” himself. While
law and business absorbed his
father, Henry Jr. nursed the am
bition of becoming a farmer and
against paternal counselling here,
too, he had his way, attending the
Cornell Agricultural College and
later establishing himself as a
successful apple grower.
When Roosevelt became Presi
dent. he hoped for appointment
as Secretary of Agriculture, but
FDR instead named him to the
more important post of Secre
tary of the Treasury. FDR call
ed him “my right hand.”
That earned him a high place
in history.
Anti-Defamation
Bill Up In New York
ALBANY, N.Y.—(JTA)—A bill
making it a crime to defame reli
gious or ethnic groups in New
York State was approved by the
State Senate last week and sent
to the Assembly for action.
The bill, approved 39 to 10,
bans the “uttering,” “publishing”
or “encouraging” of “false and
defamatory matter, portraying
any depravity, criminality or un-
chasity of any race, color, creed
or religion” with the intent to
hold such groups up to “con
tempt, derision, obloquy.” The
measure also bars defamation
“productive of a breach of peace
or riots.”
Sen. Jeremiah B. Bloom,
Brooklyn Democrat, said the
measure was introduced at the
urging of the Jewish War Vet
erans to prevent riots incited by
bigots speaking in public.
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