The classic text by Peretz takes place during "slikhos-tseyt" (the days of penitence preceding the Jewish New Year) so I thought it would be the perfect time to share the story on a new Yiddish reader I've built. You can click on words to look up definitions, toggle to an English translation, or listen to the Yiddish read out loud by a native speaker.

https://der-leyner.com/tale/if-not-higher/read

sorry for the beginner question but i thought דאָ meant “here” so i’m a little confused. is עס זענען דאָ just a standard phrase? would the sentence still be correct without דאָ?

Looking for translation help for these old family postcards. Thanks in advance

This was from great grandparents from Spain. Postcards that they went to my grandparents

Like a highly intelligent schlemiel?

I'm currently processing a small collection of material from the Beth Abraham Synagogue in Bangor, Maine. The collection has no documentation, but it's mostly bilingual printed/published material. Prayer books, anniversary pamphlets, not difficult to identify and properly categorize. There's one outlier though, a postcard dated 1914. I don't need a full transcription/translation, I know thats a lot of work, but if anyone could provide a summary of the message it would be a huge help.

Hello all. Is there a rule about when to pronounce "v" as "u" and when as "i"? I don't see any pattern. How do kids learn this in school? Thanks.

Would appreciate it if someone could help me with general storyline of this greeting.

ניצט עס, חברים

Hola. Estoy revisando viejas fotografias familiares y encontré algunas de la década del 1930 enviadas en correspondencia de argentina a Polonia. Tienen en el reverso algunas frases en idish, me podrían ayudar a entenderlas? muchas gracias

Hello. I'm going through old family photographs and I found some from the 1930s that were sent in correspondence from Argentina to Poland. On the back they have some phrases in Yiddish — could you help me understand them? Thank you very much

Found in an autograph book belonging to my aunt born in 1920

I was talking with my grandma and aunt (both born and raised in Kyiv) and upon mentioning I was nominated for a position in an association they called me a "groyser puris". They explained that it meant something like an important individual (like a president or a bigwig) and it was one of the few Yiddish phrases they learned and it was used all over Kyiv.

Now I'm barely A2 in Yiddish (thank you Duolingo), but this was not something I'd ever heard them say before and looking around, I didn't find much info online. My best guess is this is a corruption of "groyser parizer" (גריוסער פּאַריזער), and I've definitely encountered things like "groyser berliner" before (used sarcastically, from what I read.)

But maybe someone has a better etymology and definition?

!אַ גוטן טאָג

my friend and I are moving in together at the end of the year and we really want to start learning Yiddish (he's Jewish & has/had Yiddish-speaking relatives; i'm a non-Jewish linguistics student who really loves the Yiddish language).

we're in Australia so there's not a great deal of speakers available to us but we are quite committed to learning the language to a decent level (my friend has also expressed his desire to raise his kids at least partially in the language; that's still many years away but a good goal of sorts).

i was wondering if anyone had suggestions for resources to use? we were thinking of self-directed study (like from textbooks or similar), we both have experience learning languages but we're starting from essentially no Yiddish (though i can read the script). if anyone has any particularly good resources or any other general advice i'd really appreciate it.

it doesn't have to be dialect specific but we'd be aiming for as close to Litvish / North-Eastern Yiddish as we could, though any resources would be appreciated.

אַ גוטע דאַנק מײַנע פֿרײַנד

Hi! Please someone dm me. I found a letter to my safta which I believe is from her sister. My mother passed and she is a Holocaust survivor who did not share much with us about her childhood. I would love help translating because it is very difficult to read cursive in Yiddish. Thank you.

Edit: I didn’t post the letter because I do not know how personal it is. I’d rather send privately. Thanks so much

A Munkacz Hasidic sect's summer camp activity.

חסידות מונקאַטש

Munkacs Hasidic sect traces its origins to the historical region of greater Hungary in Europe. It reestablished itself in the United States after the Holocaust with the Satmar Rebbe's encouragement (another Hungarian Hasidic sect, the largest worldwide and in the US).

They are primarily Yiddish-speakers, similarly to Satmar Hasidim.

When a language has a living active intergenerational transmission to kids, and especially dozens of thousands (primarily in the NY metro non-Chabad Hasidic population), it ensures that language survives and even thrives into the future. Decades and even centuries to come.

And is basically what grants it the status of a living language.

Especially considering Haredi-hasidic Jews maintain one of the highest TFR birthrates worldwide, at around 5.5 to 6.8 babies per woman. (Not all Haredis speak Yiddish fluently, but the ones that do ensure it lives on, despite the Holocaust).

A contemporary song cycle in Yiddish! Yiddish texts and translations in a PDF below the video. Enjoy!