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Behind the Aegis

(54,808 posts)
Sat Sep 23, 2023, 03:21 PM Sep 2023

Amid rising antisemitism, the vivid language of Yiddish makes a comeback

The scenes were jarring, as intended, and meant to provoke fear: neo-Nazis parading in front of Disney World and crowding a highway bridge in Orlando, shouting antisemitic slurs, waving swastika flags, saluting Hitler.

Avi Hoffman has his own way of countering such hate. Armed with a laptop in his Miami suburb, he teaches Yiddish — a language that he believes is intrinsic to Jewish heritage and one that offers the soothing benefits of a bowl of grandmother’s chicken soup.

"Verter zol men vegn un nit tseyln,” says Hoffman, an actor who co-founded the cultural nonprofit Yiddishkayt Initiative, slowly reciting the proverb that translates to “Words should be weighed, not counted.”

His students repeat after him from various parts of the country, delving into a world they only knew in snippets while growing up yet now see as central to their identity.

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Amid rising antisemitism, the vivid language of Yiddish makes a comeback (Original Post) Behind the Aegis Sep 2023 OP
Trouble with the word "antisemitism" Sessuch May 2024 #1
Define "inflammable", "pedophile", "hippopotamus" Behind the Aegis May 2024 #2

Sessuch

(147 posts)
1. Trouble with the word "antisemitism"
Fri May 3, 2024, 08:36 PM
May 2024

The word connotes unfavorable attitude against Semitic people. By definition Semites are people who speak Arabic languages and Hebrew.
Palestinians speak Arabic and are Semites. Antisemitism would therefore include Palestinians as well as Hebrew speakers or Jews. A broad class of people are Semites. Why do Jews only declare that they suffer from "antisemitism"? Should not Palestinians declare that they suffer from "antisemitism"?

The House recently passed a bill narrowly defining "antisemitism". Their definition should never become law.

Behind the Aegis

(54,808 posts)
2. Define "inflammable", "pedophile", "hippopotamus"
Fri May 3, 2024, 08:39 PM
May 2024

It is irrelevant what it "connotes", it is defined as "discrimination against Jewish people". Anything else is nothing but a pathetic distraction and yet another example of the attempt to disregard, degrade, and dismiss, discrimination against Jews.

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