Yiddish Enthusiasts Gather in SD

KPBS | By KPBS Public Broadcasting

Published October 23, 2008 at 7:30 AM PDT

This story was published more than 15 years ago.

Yiddish is a High German language that began in the 10th century which is still spoken by Jews around the world. Though few young Jewish Americans today know Yiddish, Yiddish clubs around the U.S. ar

Tom Fudge : You've got to be meshuggah if you try to speak Yiddish around here. What was, once, the language of the Ashkenazi Jews is becoming harder and harder to find. This is the result of assimilation and the destruction of so many Jewish communities in Europe, due to the crimes of the Nazis.

In a way, it's ironic that the Germans have done so much to hurt Yiddish, since Yiddish is a close linguistic relative of German. Most of its vocabulary derives from the German language. But Yiddish has developed its own sound and character and many of its own words, the result of its "mischung" with other languages like Hebrew. And it's brought American vernacular some of its colorful slang. Words like mensch, schmutz, chutzpah and Tchatchke.

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The 12th annual International Association of Yiddish Clubs Conference is October 24-27, 2008, in San Diego.

Guests

Norman Sarkin , chairman of the 12th annual conference of the International Association of Yiddish Clubs.
Philip "Fishl" Kutner , editor of Der Bay , an international Anglo-Yiddish newsletter.