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Because he was better for the yiddin beruchnious when the Russians were better begashmious
This is the story of the Lubavicher Rebbe and La Marsaiiles
There was someone from France who went to meet the Rebbe for some reason, I guess he had some importance.
The Rebbe wanted him to feel at home and comfortable so he sang a familiar tune to him (All frenchmen know La Marsaiiles ) and then it became standard for chabad to sing it even though its not a chassidic niggun
This march is remarkable for its joyous, rhythmic character. It was played in 1812 by the armies of Napoleon when they crossed the border near Prussia in their invasion of Russia. The Alter Rebbe had left his native town of Liadi when the armies of the enemy were approaching. He asked that the march be sung for him and, after a moment’s contemplation, designated the march as a song of victory.
It is traditional with Lubavitcher Chassidim to sing Napoleon’s march at the conclusion of the Ne’ilah service on Yom Kippur, before the sounding of the Shofar.
The singing of this melody symbolizes the victory of the Jewish people over “Satan” and that their prayers have been accepted and they are assured of a Happy New Year.
This march was played by the armies of Napoleon. When the Alter Rebbe, who opposed Napoleon, heard the tune, he transformed the tyrant’s anthem into a tool for spiritual victory, by designating it a Chassidic Niggun.
770. you have it the opposite. The Baal HaTanya thought that Nikolai I ym”s would be better for ruchniyut because Napoleon wanted to make the Jews equal citizens on condition that they renounce national aspirations. In the end the aforementioned rasha instituted the Cantonist program. So we still have Chabad dancing at two weddings.
So the chidush is that in lieu of Yiddish, English or Hebrew, rabbonim from all segments of Yiddeshkeit, both Chassidish and Litvish, Ashkenaz and Sphardishe, should come together at an asifah at 770 EP and declare that going forward, all yidden should learn and converse only in French, s’il vous plaît
the Czars of Russia were some of the biggest Anti-Semites who ever lived, to claim Napoleon was a tyrant compared to the Czar is at minimum a lack of knowledge of history
No the way I wrote it is the right way
Your right about the bigashmioud and beruchnious part …. but the way the niggun was “composed” I’m right
I seriously doubt that there’s even a single frum Jew in the world today that has never used Yiddish words interposed casually in a conversation.
A rather difficult subject that needs dissection.
1-Rav Hutner ztl said that the intent a person or nation puts into something is what comes out.Yiddish,he continued,was created with the sole purpose of stopping assimilation and making a person think and feel in a Jewish fashion.There is no question that Yiddish has both the feel and depth of the Jewish neshama.This is despite the fact that it is so similar to German.It presupposes knowledge of Shas and all Jewish ideas.The lack of words that English has only strengthens it as the understanding of a concept goes straight from one neshama to the other, where too many words are not necessary.Furthermore every word can be put in while speaking Yiddish.
The other side is when taken to extremes.What are the extremes? That is for each school to decide for itself and it’s student body.Part of the problem today of OTD comes from too much rigidness in the school system.The way Yiddish is taught or forced can be part of the problem.Many different possible compromises have been mentioned by various people, some might work.There is a need to check each child on an individual level as well.By the way,Chabad dropped Yiddish in its Cheder in Chicago, which is on a very high level religiously and scholastically as well.This might be a precursor to some change in Crown Heights as well.
My personal idea? Montessori type Cheder with Yiddish on the side.This alleviates the harshness of a teacher and difficulty of understanding.And yes, there is a mesorah for that kind of detect.
Finish with dichotomy.Rav Yaakov Kamenetsky ztl said that pedagogically speaking English is better.Our generation sees a great help from Yiddish in many aspects so there is reason to continue it.
So much more on this topic but have to stop now
There isJoseph, I seriously doubt that there’s even a single frum Jew in the world today who (“who” refers to a person whereas “that” refers to a thing) has never used Hebrew words interposed casually in a conversation.
@Chabad 770
“We speak the real old Yiddish from back in Russia not with any English”My Oma would laugh at you ‘peasants from the east’ and how you butchered the German language.
Yiddish didn’t start in Russia, it developed as it moved out of Germany (Ashkenaz).
I went to a Chabad Day School, and still have plenty of interaction with Chabad in a number of cities…they’re more than happy to take this misnagid’s checks. There is plenty of English in their spoken Yiddish. They didn’t have computers, cell phones, automobiles, radio back in the pale of Settlement and words for these items were added from English.Joseph is correct
However just because people use the words Shul, Daven, Yamulka, lern , Layin or some other words really doesnt mean very much
LY, what Sepharadim and Eidot HaMizrach? BTW, CTL is right. Just to give one example, the German word for “jewelry” is a vulgar word in Yiddish (yes, the holy Yiddish has vulgar words).
ZD, the above frum Jews do not use Yiddish words except where they crept into Modern Hebrew
Nearly 40 years ago, I heard the Lakewood Mashgiach Reb Nosson zt”l say more than once that the Rishonim “sanctified” Yiddish to a certain degree, somewhat like the status of Aramaic in the times of Chazal. It’s likely many others heard him say this as well.
Be that as it may, if the language is not spoken in the home, it’s an extra burden on a child in school to have to learn it. Yiddish has it’s value, but we need to approach the question using a broad outlook. School/cheder is hard enough as it is. There’s no point in torturing a child unnecessarily.
To all those who harbor a visceral disdain for Yiddish. Ask yourselves, if Ladino and other Middle Eastern languages and dialects that were developed by those Jewish communities (e.g., Kurdish Jews have their own languege) If are kosher — so is Yiddish.To avi k
I never said Yiddish was necessary but gave ideas for those who connect to it.Sephardim who obviously don’t have no need for it.AY, I agree. Those dialects are all museum pieces. They were useful in their day their time is past.
Lol
In the alter Heim jews spoke all sorts of languages, the common thread they had was Yiddish, in fact there is a Psak from The Chasam Sofer that says a Derasha should only be given in Yiddish, which makes lots of sense consider how many languages were likely spoken in Pressburg (Modern Day Bratislava). Its like jews there spoke German, Slovak, Polish, Hungarian, Ukranian and Yiddish. Yiddish was the common Language
Today that is not the case, instead of being a united among jews Yiddish has become a divider as English and Hebrew and the main languages spoke. There are benefits to learning a second language and there are good reasons why Yiddish could be that second language, My objection is not that yiddish is spoke, more that it is forced over English or Hebrew (Or whatever the local language is) Too many people in Brooklyn can speak Yiddish but not english and that is a problem
That’s cuz they’re not taught
Well us tooZD, the Chatam Sofer wrote that in response to the Neolog (Reform) who were “more Hungarian than the Hungarians”. In fact, the story goes that Franz Josef favored the Orthodox because after he was forced to compromise with the Hungarians he had to agree to speak in Hungarian whenever he went there. Hungarian is an extremely difficult language and in the end he simply rattled off scripts that we written for him,. The head of the Neolog spoken literary Hungarian, which very much annoyed FJ. However, the Chief Rabbi (Koppel Weiss) interrupted his script and said in German (in Pressburg they earned external baccalaureates in exchange for draft exemptions as theological students) that he did not understand Hungarian. FJ was overjoyed, patted him on the back and said “We are two old gentlemen. We will never learn this language”).
Although it would be beneficial to maintain Yiddish, the “facts on the ground” in the Chareidi community in Eretz Yisrael are that Hebrew has been accepted as the lingua franca. Whether we like it or not, nearly all Bais Yaakov elementary and high schools in the country are teaching in Hebrew. The Chazon Ish himself had a hand in this decision to teach in Hebrew. Of course, there are plenty of private schools that teach in Yiddish. Nearly all of the students in these schools come from Yiddish speaking homes. And it is a parent’s and community’s right to perpetuate this, if they so wish.
So, if the girls are not learning Yiddish at home or in school, their future homes will also be Hebrew speaking. These are the facts of life today, and have been for quite some time. Any sort of posturing and prevaricating that it is not so is simply ignoring the truth. There are many Chassidishe groups as well as the “Old Yishuv” Yerushalmim that are working hard to maintain Yiddish in their communities. (Chassidei Gur are a notable exception. They have mostly given up on Yiddish.) Decades ago, you could find many youngsters who could not communicate in Hebrew. Nowadays, teenagers and older have managed to learn Hebrew (most of the Yerushalmim work, so only Yiddish would be a huge handicap).
The Mirrer Yeshiva in Yerushalayim recently switched over from Yiddish to Hebrew for the shiur klali in the Beis Hamedrash. And don’t think that some “kanoyim” (NK outsiders, not anyone in the yeshiva itself) didn’t protest. Many of the regular “daily” shiurim have already been said in Hebrew for a very long time. In general, the Gedolei Torah have decided that today insisting on Yiddish is not an issue.
So, whether we like it or want to admit it or not, it appears that Hebrew has become the spoken language of most of the Chareidim in Eretz Yisroel. Along with a sizeable population that is still maintaining Yiddish.
80 years ago, there was a fierce kulturkampf about the languages, today, because of Gedolei Yisroel’s decisions, the majority of Chareidim are speaking Hebrew. “The battle has shifted to other areas.” (The Chazon Ish responding to some Yerushalmi kanoyim who came to his house to argue with him about his decision to allow Hebrew.)
נהרא נהרא ופשטיהMir is mostly American; why would they need Ivrit for Americans?
AY, these issues have not exclusive to. Yiddish vs. Hebrew was also a big issue among the secularists with the Bund favoring Yiddish as the “language of the Jewish proletariat” (Lenin and, at first Stalin ym”s, even established Yiddish schools while suppressing Hebrew schools and a “Jewish autonomous region” in Birobidzan with Yiddish as the official language. For that matter, various German Protestant groups tried (and some, like the Amish, still try) to preserve German as the group’s language. In fact, a legal battle was fought over the right to teach in German when some states tried to ban instruction in languages other than English. SCOTUS overturned it in Meyer v. Nebraska, 262 U.S. 390 (1923) – which was fought over a $25 fine! I suppose that the same battles were fought when the Jews in Bavel switched from Aramaic to a Arabic.
Neolog Judaism is not reform, its Neolog. Its somewhere between Conservative and Orthodox, but its really its own thing
I went to the Doheny Synagogue in Budapest (As a tourist, not to daven, I never even heard of Neolog until I went there) which is Neolog and they had a Mechitza and an Organ which I was told was played by a non-Jew on Shabbos .
Joseph, the Rosh Yeshiva and other maggidei shiurim in Mir are not fluent enough in English to deliver a shiur . So, they speak in Hebrew. Reb Nosson Zvi zt”l used to say over his daily shiur in English.
If Mir teaches in English/Hebrew because a majority of its talmidim come from the U.S., than it would make sense for other yeshivot/kollels in EY to mandate that after a certain date, anyone who is a magid shiur present in Ivrit…there should obviously be exceptions to the rule for older rabbonim for whom giving a shmooz in ivrit would be challenging so Yiddish could be accommodate with simultaneous translation for a new generation of ivrit-speaking ynungerleit
I disagree i think yiddish should and should always be the language of the mir as it is the jewish language whether the most popular amoung jews or not
Hebrew will never be a universal language amoung jews as it will confuse children. Because most yidden are ashkenazi their accent in davening and in hebrew would differ. though if yiddish is the jewish language that problem would be avoided as rov yisroel are ashkebazi.
Also if you ever want to listen to a shiur from just about (yes you can fing=d a very rare exception) any gadol of the last 100 years twill be in … yiddish. so yiddish is especially useful to know in that way.Yiddish has never been universal.
Many topics in the Torah and Talmud are “politically incorrect”. I wonder if discussing those topics in Yiddush, rather than English, helps keep them out of the public eye.
While most Jews are Ashkenzi, a good percentage are not, especially In Israel.
There is no confusion among children speaking more than one language.
A Bocher from the Mir Yeshiva needs to take a bus to Bnei Brak and needs to ask for directions. Hebrew is more useful there than Yiddish
Dovid, forget it. Antisemitic websites are full of English translations along with “commentary”. Anyway, I have it on the authority of the wife of a friend who is from Switzerland that someone who knows Swiss-German can understand Yiddish.
Yiddishekop, I am quite certain that the Ben Ish hai did not give shiurim in Yiddish and I know that Rav Ovadia did not. Rav Soloveichik switched to English at some point when he realized that talmidim were not understanding him. I could go on and on but I have other things to do.
Thanks for letting me know avi (sarcastic voice)…
but i already said before that you can fing a rare exceptionthe problem is not limited to a foreung language.
My kids came home with “the spirit of hashem was hoovering over the water,” convinced that hashem was hoovering somewhere, or more recently “staff in their hands, their loins girded” with zero understanding of the words. Chumahs has to be taught using WORDS children understand
YK, I slightly correct my previous post. There is a long list of Sephardic Achronim as well as Ashkenazi Israeli gedolim who did not use teach in Yiddish. I simply do not have the time to list all of them.
Yiddishekop, Swiss-German is not rare. In fact, probably more people speak it than Yiddish.
GG, is “foreung” something before an ung? Is “hoovering” acting like Herbert Hoover or perhaps vacuuming the carpet?
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