Hebrew vs Yiddish

~`photo by This is Tel Aviv

Many people who don’t have a lot to do with the Jewish culture, find it hard to define the differences between Hebrew and Yiddish, or even wonder if it’s not the same language - “uhm, the one all these Jews speak, right? ”. Although both of them are written with the same alphabet, they are never ever supposed to be confused. Not only they come from two distinct language groups and have been spoken in different parts of the world by people of different ethnicities. In Israel, they also represent two opposite worlds that have a completely different vision of what being a Jew means.

But let’s start with the linguistic aspects. Yiddish was used by the Aschkenazi families in Eastern Europe. Some scholars consider it just a Judeo-German dialect, others describe it as an independent language. Hebrew is a Semitic language of Afroasian origin. Classical Hebrew is the ancient, Canaanite version in which the Bible is written, therefore today it is used mainly for religious purposes. However, in this article I’m referring only to Modern Hebrew - don’t get lost. This language is quite peculiar, artificial in a way. It has actually come into being only at the end of 19^th century, as a fruit of the Hebrew revitalization project. All the Jews settling in Palestine about that time needed a common language to unite the diverse, arising nation. The Zionist linguists and writers (Ben Yehuda in particular) modernized the old, biblical Hebrew by changing various grammatical rules, making the sentence structure more Slavic and borrowing many words from various Jewish or foreign dialects. Since the establishment of the State of Israel, this hybrid has become (beside Arabic) one of the two national languages.

The whole Zionist movement that led to it was based on the importance of Jewish identity, but most of its secular activists would perceive it somewhat differently than the Ultra-Orthodox haredim. The establishment of the Jewish state meant breaking off with the “diaspora mentality” and creating a brand new exemplar, totally different from the pale, bearded intellectual of the past. The pioneer Sabras were supposed to be strong, direct, plain and persistent; full of ideological socialist-zionist enthusiasm; liberally distanced from the Hasidic religious tradition, dividing time between the strenuous farming work, Hebrew poetry and heated debates in the kibbutzim communities. The Jewish identity has been replaced (or smoothly transformed?) by the new Israeli one. The words perfectly mirrored that transition. Many Zionists after coming to Israel  would symbolically change their old names into new ones – take Ben Gurion, ex-Dawid Grün. Erec Israel signified a new beginning. They associated Yiddish with the ghetto-shtetl provincialism and treated the Eastern European Jews with a sense of superiority or contempt. It was only later that Yiddish gained back a bit of respect and started to be considered another part of the rich Jewish tradition. Nowadays, it returns to being in young Israelis’ favors, it can even be studied at the Israeli universities.

If you wish to learn one of these languages, it will certainly be a splendid window on the Israeli life and culture. Nevertheless, you must remember that each of them will reveal a different image of the country - one of its many, many faces.

Religion and high tech at the JCC

I finished my Days of Israel experience this Friday by attending two magnificent lectures held at the JCC as a part of the ‘A Kaleidoscope of Israeli Cultures’ international expert panel. To start with: shame on you all who were too lazy to come! Sitting there, I kept wondering what’s the mysterious reason for all these free chairs around. Fascinating topics, renowned scholars and a great place – an opportunity not  to miss.  Now, as you guys are sobbing with regret, let me comfort you with an entertaining summary of the lectures.

The first one "Religions and Religiousness in Israel: A Coat of Many Colors" was delivered by dr Annamaria Orla-Bukowska from the UJ Institute of Sociology. She was describing the vibrant Israeli multireligousness in such a joyful, calm way that I couldn’t help smiling. What I loved in particular was her absolutely open-minded, respectful attitude towards every single denomination she would talk about. Perhaps it was this approach of a wise social anthropologist: no judging, just constant, curious observation. At the end, she said one brilliant sentence that seems to perfectly characterize the extreme intensity of Israel: “Our human nature tends to fit everything into these little boxes. Whereas in Israel, nothing fits into any box! Everything overflows”.

Dr Orla-Bukowska’s speech was followed by a presentation by Rabbi Avi Baumol “The Start-up Nation: How Talmud Shapes Modern Day Israeli Capitalism”. This one had what I enjoy most in lectures and books - completely new information and a fresh point of view. I am not very much into technology and economy so I wouldn’t rather get another opportunity to learn all these things. But to tell you the truth, it turned out to be far more interesting that I’d ever guess. Israel is known as a high tech world leader. But have you known how many genius devices come from this country? From flash drives through drop irrigation system up to endoscopic pills, our world is filled with tiny yet brilliant Israeli inventions. The authors of the cited book ‘The startup nation‘ believe that that this phenomena must be linked not only to the government policy or foreign grants but also to certain psychological aspects. The optimistic Israeli ambition and self-confidence close to arrogance (see:http://israelidreamin.blogspot.com/2014/05/israeli-movies-rule.html) make perfect businessmen, leaders and innovators. But these traits cannot come out of nowhere. 
The authors derive them mainly from the compulsory military service and constant immigration. The latter one is rather obvious. People abandoning their past homeland are always the risk-takers. They tend to treat the aliyah as a chance to fulfill their dreams and hopes – that applies to launching a business as well. Moreover, as Israelis are raised in a multicultural society, they naturally develop an open-minded, creative attitude. The latter one- military service - came as a bit of a shock to me. As a pacifist, I’ve always considered the army as something that kills all the personal qualities, transforming young people into thoughtless fighting machines. However, the Israeli Defence Forces appear to work quite differently. They actually encourage the soldiers to think and work independently, acquire leadership skills and question the authorities.
According to Rabbi Baumol, the last skill is not anything new for the Jews. Conversely, it is deeply rooted in the Jewish mentality thanks to… the Talmud. This was the shock number two. I’ve always associated Orthodox Judaism with a strict obedience to the 613 commandments. And here comes an orthodox rabbi, proving that the foundation of his religion is challenging the authority of God! The Old Testament and Talmud are plenty of stories in which the least significant ones argue with the Almighty himself. Mind-blowing. What’s more, the old Jewish tradition has its unique approach to intellectual development. The Talmud knowledge is all deep-rooted in logic, critical thinking and reality, it forms a culture of discussion, arguments and doubts.

If you ever wondered ‘Why are Jews so smart?”, that seems to be a fair answer.

Israeli movie time

I began the Krakow Days of Israel with a Hebrew movie night in a cosy shisha café (https://www.facebook.com/przyladekkrakow) in Kazimierz, the Krakow’s famous Jewish District. Lying Orient-style on a pile of comfy cushions with a warm pot of rooibos was a perfect way to switch to the Middle Eastern chillout vibe.  

The first film was Turn Left at the End of the World (סוף העולם שמאלה) – certainly worth recommending. No matter if you are searching for a vivid image of what aliyah is about or just two hours of laughter and emotion, I’m sure you’ll be satisfied. It tells a story of two Jewish families – one from Morocco and the other one from India – who choose to start a new life in the dream Eretz Israel. That is to say, in the middle of nowhere. The people who once considered themselves high-class, sophisticated and elegant now need to deal with a complete change of lifestyle: settling in the inhospitable desert, hard, low-paid job in a factory and… getting along with the neighbors. At first they treat each other with a certain dose of distance and superiority. But day after day, the wall of prejudices is crumbled  by common experiences. They are united by personal tragedies and successes, family problems and sport challenges, bonds of friendship and affection. The way it was shown in the movie took my heart completely: without exaggeration nor dramatic kitsch- just ordinary human life, with all its difficulties and wonders. Lovely, funny, moving.

The second movie, Café Tales, gave me somewhat mixed feelings. Café Braun, which splendor is long bygone, is under threat of being closed. A group of old friends  declares war on all the world’s injustices standing between them and their favorite local coffee shop. The plot itself seems to make quite a good movie material but to me it just wasn’t really convincing. All the characters were somewhat too obvious, crazy and lost: colorful but simply exaggerated. The same could be said about editing: sharp, chaotic transitions from one scene to another would just make the whole story unreal. However, there was one great thing about the Café Tales that caught my attention: the way it presented one peculiar feature of the Israeli personality. Although each of the characters was totally different, there was one thing that united them: each of them was firmly convinced about his righteousness. All these macho men and strong women who have gone through a lot shared one rule: fight for what you want. This motivating, but often troublesome motto seems to apply to quite a lot of Israelis. As my Hebrew girl friend  once shouted: “You gotta step out of this <what’s wrong, what’s right>! If you want somethin’, just get it!”