Jewish Student Weekly

Yiddish is a Germanic language which is spoken by about 4 million Jews all around the world. The term ‘Yiddish’ itself means Jewish. The language came about sometime between the 9^th and 12^th centuries as an amalgamation of Middle High German dialects and was also influenced heavily from Hebrew/ Aramaic terms that are found in traditional Jewish literature.

Yiddish after some time split into West and East Yiddish and East Yiddish further split into North and South Yiddish. Modern Yiddish especially East Yiddish also has been influenced greatly by the Slavic languages. Yiddish is written in the Hebrew language although Yiddish is not linguistically related to Hebrew in spite of the fact that it has absorbed many things from Jewish tradition.

The late 19^th and early 20^th centuries are considered the golden age of Yiddish literature and this period also coincides with the revival of Hebrew as a language and also as literature. At the beginning of the 20^th century Yiddish began emerging as a major European language and Yiddish theatre and films also became popular. In the middle of the 20^th century however, the Holocaust led to the sudden decline of Yiddish as the Jewish community that used Yiddish extensively was largely destroyed.

In the United States Yiddish initially bound together Jews from different countries but eventually there came an end to that. In the United States most people did not pass on the language to the coming generations as they preferred them to learn English and assimilate to the present culture. In Israel Modern Hebrew began to be the language of use as there were increasing conflicts between the cultural and secular forces in the country.A large number phases in the English language are also inspired from Yiddish to such an extent that they are now part of the language.

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The issue of abortion is another much debated and controversial issue among communities today. Even among the same community, views are divided on the topic. The Roman Catholic Church has taken the view that abortion is a sin and has condemned it strongly.

Many people however have different views on the topic. Most people do not take a stand and maintain that the circumstances have to be looked into and understood before a opinion can be formed, because the various circumstances in which abortion is resorted to can be very different. In some cases it is a necessity while in others a way to escape responsibility. 

In my opinion, whether abortion is ethical or not depends on the situation. There can never be a straitjacket answer to social issues such as this. Now take the example of a young girl who has been raped and finds that she has conceived. Take another situation where there is a girl who is less choosy about whom she is seen with and thinks nothing of having different sexual partners. She also finds that she is pregnant by one of them. Are these two situations the same? There is not even a slight similarity between the two where one is a victim of rape and finds that she pregnant out of no fault of hers and another where a girl is careless and gets pregnant. There cannot be a uniform answer to both the situations and the many hundreds of such situations.

The rape victim must be allowed to abort the fetus as it could put an end to her future when she had not done anything to warrant such a thing. But as far as the second girl is concerned, to let her abort the fetus would be to let her get away with her carelessness and instead make an innocent life pay for it. You probably have a different view of the second situation. Thus there can be no one answer to such social issues. They have to be examined with an unbiased view and some compassion.

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The world is still divided on opinion regarding homosexuality. Orthodox Jews still view it as perverse while the Roman Catholic Church has condemned it. More and more people however are beginning to recognize the rights of homosexuals and accept it.

The whole debate begs the question, what is wrong with homosexuality? Many argue that homosexual relations cannot result in procreation and thus it is immoral and against the laws of nature. But if the only purpose of sexual contact is to procreate, the world would be sagging under the combined weight of us all. This is an issue which needs to be addressed with logical thought and compassion.

People do not choose to be homosexual, for no one would wish to face the kind of discrimination homosexuals face. Recent scientific studies have shown that sexual orientation is genetically determined and some experts say sexual tendencies are also heavily influenced by the environment of a child in the first few years of his life. So really, what choice does a person have? Is it up to you and me to choose whether we are to be attracted to men or women? Or both, for that matter?

Every country gives its citizens the right to life including the right to live with dignity. If such a right applies to black, whites and Asians, men and women, they why not to homosexuals uniformly? Taking away the right of a person to govern his sexual orientation and the relations he enters is equivalent to seizing a person’s right to worship. What good can possible come out of forcing a homosexual to be straight. Or “normal”. Who governs what is right and what is wrong? As long as a person does not harm anyone else and two adults consent to be intimate with each other, it is their prerogative and no one else’s and society should learn to accept an individual’s rights.

We are an intolerant society. Being in the majority makes us confident of our convictions and we think we can force people who are different from us into submission. This attitude needs to change and although in some parts of the world homosexuals are accepted into mainstreams society, there are many where they are shunned and homosexuality is taboo, even illegal and punishable with death or imprisonment.

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