More of Ukraine’s magic — Yiddish
Like the Jewish people and Mark Twain, the demise of Yiddish has been overstated. Over a thousand years old, the “language of the people” or “mamaloshen” the language of the mothers, is a fascinating story. It clearly is a Brooklyn story since Brooklyn has by far the largest Jewish population in New York and undoubtedly the largest Yiddish speaking population in the country. South Florida is not far behind. Jewish or not, it is unlikely that you’ve never heard anyone speak Yiddish. You may not realize it, but Jewish or Gentile you have spoken Yiddish, that’s how imbedded it has become in English, especially since Zero Mostel stormed Broadway as Tevye in Fiddler on the Roof. ‘ever use the “S”’ word for someone you thought was a dolt? Bet you have. Pure Yiddish. You eat Yiddish too. Bagels? Lox? Pastrami? Yup. Yiddish.
But this article is about more than Yiddish. I’m studying Yiddish to fulfill a deathbed promise I made to my grandma. The night before I sat down to write this I learned something incredibly relevant: about a third of the Yiddish language can find its roots in Ukrainian. So much for one of Putin’s big lies, that there is no Ukrainian language, nor a Ukraine people to speak it. This article is yet another reason to support the valor of the Ukrainian people, and if you are Jewish, to see another side of a people who once were our tormentors and who have ow turned Putin into a fool by having a Jewish president when he said it was a Nazi government.
Let’s have a look.