The Chronicle of Higher Education
Date: June 13, 1997
Section: Opinion
Page: B11
To the Editor:
From "The Study of Yiddish Comes to Life Once Again in Sholom Aleichem's Land" (Notes From Academe: Ukraine, April 25), one might get the impression that Yiddish is a language that is dying "with every Jewish death in Eastern Europe." However, this is really not the cause of the demise of Yiddish in Eastern Europe.
European Jews spoke Yiddish primarily because it was part of their overall religious life experience as Jews. The Nazis destroyed millions of Jews, and the Communists went to great lengths to destroy the Jewishness of those who survived. Unfortunately, both were quite successful in eliminating a vibrant way of life known as Yiddishkeit.
Yiddishkeit was not and is not based on the speaking of Yiddish or the reading of Sholom Aleichem and other "Yiddish" writers. It is based on a commitment to traditional Judaism by those who want to perpetuate the life style and values of their fathers and mothers.
The fact of the matter is that Yiddish is still spoken by those who maintain this commitment. In Brooklyn, N.Y., and other places throughout the world, one can find young children whose first language is Yiddish, whose religious education is in Yiddish, and who are being raised in an environment permeated with the Yiddishkeit that was so vibrant 70 years ago.
These children will not need to take college courses to speak the language of their great-grandfathers because they are a link in the chain for which their grandfathers and grandmothers paid so dearly.
Larry Levine
Professor of Mathematics
Stevens Institute of Technology
Hoboken, N.J.