YIDDISH LANGUAGE

Page in Yiddish from my parents' Book of Prayer'

The One And Only

Me and my brother were exposed to Yiddish from the moment we were born, so naturally we were able to understand and speak the basic language. I'm very grateful to my parents for this heritage.

Yiddish is a germanic language, sounds like German, but it is written with the Hebrew alphabet. It was considered the mother tongue of the east-European Jewry and it was spoken in various dialects , according to the various regions in this part of the world. It is still spoken today in places where there's a considerable jewish population, especially religious orthodox one, as in Israel and America.

Yiddish is a very 'juicy' language. It enables the best of humour and satire. A great culture was created in the past in this very lively language : great literature, great theater, great lyrics.
Who among us isn't familiar with the famous musical "Fiddler on the roof" which is based on the story of Tevie the milkman by the well-known yiddish writer Sholem Aleichem ?

My parents used to mention, quite a lot ,the stories of the famous Yiddish writers Shalom Aleichem and Mendale Mocher Sforim . They could also tell many tales, jokes and sing songs in Yiddish.
The yiddish theater companies from Bucharest and Iassi , "landed" once in a while in the small town of Saveni and entertained the local jewish community. I recall myself as a little girl attending with my parents one of these spectacles starring the two 'divas': Dina Koenig and Sevilla Pastor.

אין כמוה

אידיש, שפה ממוצא גרמני

שנכתבת באלף-בית עברי

עשירה מאד בביטויים

מלאה כרימון בדימויים

תרבות שלמה נבנתה בעבר

בשפה החיה והמקסימה הנ"ל

נכתבו בה ספרים, עיתונים, מחזות

נוצרו בה הומור, סאטירה, בדיחות

בביתנו דברו אידיש, ועוד איך

אומנם בניב מסוים, בדיאלקט

מיוחד ליהודי צפון מזרח רומניה

שונה מזה שבאוסטרו- הונגריה

מיום שנולדנו, אנוכי ואחי
נחשפנו לאידיש ולעושרה הפנימי

שלטנו בסיסית בדיבור והבנה

לתקשור עם ההורים ויהודי הסביבה

כל שפה שלומדים ויודעים

היא נכס חשוב, בעל ממדים

וכמובן שיש לטפחו ולשמרו

ואל הדור הבא להעבירו

"Mame Lushn"

Yiddish ,dulce si melodioasa

Parintii mei o vorbeau acasa

Ei intre ei, si cu noi copii

Si afara, in oras, cu evreii.

Limba de origine germanica

Scrisa cu alfabet in ebraica

A pus baza la o bogata cultura

Cantece, teatru, literatura

Parintii mei cunosteau multe

Povesti, piese. cantece, glume
Toate-n Yiddish , considerata

Limba 'materna' adoptata

Se amuzau cu poantele lui Djigan

Si cu figurile lui Max Perlman

Vocile surorilor Barry ii incantau

De cantecele lor nu se mai saturau