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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Franz Kafka is one of the best known Jews of all time. One of the world’s most favorite authors, Kafka was born in 1883 to a middle class Jewish family in Prague which is now a part of the Czech Republic. He has had a huge impact on literature in the west. Most of his works were unfinished at the time of his death at the age of 41 and were published posthumously.

He was the oldest of his parent’s six children and was raised mostly by governesses and servants because both his parents used to be away from home managing their business. Kafka’s family was one of the many affected by the vendetta against Jews. His sisters were all sent to Litzmannstadt Ghetto; a ghetto established specially for Jews so that they did not come in contact with non-Jews.  His youngest sister Ottla was sent to a concentration camp and was then gassed to death at a death camp.

Though Kafka’s first language was German he was also fluent in Czech and had learnt a bit of French by reading French authors. He studies law and was also a clerk at the civil and criminal courts at Prague. He was greatly taken by Yiddish theater and this was thause of his increasing faith in Judaism.  Kafka did not publish any books before his death. Metamorphosis was his only published work which is considered to be a short story.  He has several museums started in his name in Prague and the term “Kafkaesque” has been coined after him. He has also inspired a great number of films on his life and work. 

Kafka is believed have suffered from clinical depression and some social problems. In 1917 he developed tuberculosis and over the years developed many medical conditions. Later his tuberculosis grew so bad that the condition of his throat did not permit him to eat. He apparently died of starvation in 1924 at the age of 41 in Vienna.

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The nature and reason behind some of the festivals celebrated by Jews are different and hence they may be referred to as good day or fast or festival.

The Jewish New Year is called Rosh-ha-Shanah in which God sees the deeds of a person through the past year and gives a judgement for the coming year. According to Judaism the world was finally created on this day and two days together form Rosh-ha-Shanah. It is considered by Jews to be one long day

There is a festival called Yom Kippur where all Jews pray to God to atone for the sins they have committed. It is a day of fasting where people fast from sundown until night falls on the next day. Bathing, drinking, eating and conjugal relations are not allowed on this day and it ends with the breaking of the fast in the night.

The time between the two above days are the ten days during which a person is supposed to review his acts over the past year, atone for them. Fasting and praying is also done and people confess before God to repent for their sins.

One of the most important Jewish festivals is Hanukkah which is also knows as the festival of lights. It is the most well known festival among non-Jews and is celebrated to mark the defeat of the Seleuicid Empire who had come in the way of the people of Israel practicing Judaism.  Only the non-orthodox Jews celebrate this festival as the orthodox believe that it is insignificant.

A very important day for all Jews is Shabbat or Sabbath. Every week one day is taken as a day of rest and treated as a holiday. This Friday night to Saturday night is the Jewish Shabbat which is the most important holy day for Jews the world over.

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