Advanced with Leyzer Burko and Uri Horesh: Yiddish of the Old Yishuv: Sunday, 12:00 – 1:30 PM: June 29, July 6, 13, 20, 27
Sunday, 12:00 – 1:30 PM: June 29, July 6, 13, 20, 27
Course Goals: This course explores the Yiddish dialects of the Old Yishuv—the Ashkenazi community in the Land of Israel before the State was founded. Yiddish was spoken in Ottoman Palestine and the British Mandate period by Ashkenazi Jews, especially in Jerusalem and Tzfat (Safed).
The Jerusalem dialect developed from Lithuanian Yiddish, brought by Hasidim and disciples of the Vilna Gaon (the Prushim). The Tzfat dialect, by contrast, was rooted in Ukrainian Yiddish. These were the only Yiddish dialects spoken continuously for centuries outside of Europe. Though the Old Yishuv community was dispersed after 1948, their dialects lived on and significantly influenced contemporary Haredi Yiddish.
Course Tools: Our main guides will be Mordecai Kosover’s Palestinian Yiddish and Uriel Weinreich’s fieldwork with speakers from Jerusalem and Tzfat. Kosover, a Vilna native, lived in Mandate-era Jerusalem and documented the local Orthodox community, noting extensive Arabic influence on the dialect due to close contact with Arab neighbors.
Additional Info: This course is taught entirely in Yiddish.
Sunday, 12:00 – 1:30 PM: June 29, July 6, 13, 20, 27
Course Goals: This course explores the Yiddish dialects of the Old Yishuv—the Ashkenazi community in the Land of Israel before the State was founded. Yiddish was spoken in Ottoman Palestine and the British Mandate period by Ashkenazi Jews, especially in Jerusalem and Tzfat (Safed).
The Jerusalem dialect developed from Lithuanian Yiddish, brought by Hasidim and disciples of the Vilna Gaon (the Prushim). The Tzfat dialect, by contrast, was rooted in Ukrainian Yiddish. These were the only Yiddish dialects spoken continuously for centuries outside of Europe. Though the Old Yishuv community was dispersed after 1948, their dialects lived on and significantly influenced contemporary Haredi Yiddish.
Course Tools: Our main guides will be Mordecai Kosover’s Palestinian Yiddish and Uriel Weinreich’s fieldwork with speakers from Jerusalem and Tzfat. Kosover, a Vilna native, lived in Mandate-era Jerusalem and documented the local Orthodox community, noting extensive Arabic influence on the dialect due to close contact with Arab neighbors.
Additional Info: This course is taught entirely in Yiddish.
Sunday, 12:00 – 1:30 PM: June 29, July 6, 13, 20, 27
Course Goals: This course explores the Yiddish dialects of the Old Yishuv—the Ashkenazi community in the Land of Israel before the State was founded. Yiddish was spoken in Ottoman Palestine and the British Mandate period by Ashkenazi Jews, especially in Jerusalem and Tzfat (Safed).
The Jerusalem dialect developed from Lithuanian Yiddish, brought by Hasidim and disciples of the Vilna Gaon (the Prushim). The Tzfat dialect, by contrast, was rooted in Ukrainian Yiddish. These were the only Yiddish dialects spoken continuously for centuries outside of Europe. Though the Old Yishuv community was dispersed after 1948, their dialects lived on and significantly influenced contemporary Haredi Yiddish.
Course Tools: Our main guides will be Mordecai Kosover’s Palestinian Yiddish and Uriel Weinreich’s fieldwork with speakers from Jerusalem and Tzfat. Kosover, a Vilna native, lived in Mandate-era Jerusalem and documented the local Orthodox community, noting extensive Arabic influence on the dialect due to close contact with Arab neighbors.
Additional Info: This course is taught entirely in Yiddish.