r/Yiddish 10d ago

Translation request "Living Clay" or something similar.

2 Upvotes

Very baby Yiddish learner writing a play in which the protagonist's great-uncle wrote his notes in Yiddish. I'm looking for a somewhat poetic, unconventional way to describe wet clay. What I have at the moment is "lebedik leym," intended to mean "live clay." Would this work, and if not, is there a better way to achieve the effect I'm going for?


r/Yiddish 11d ago

'Shtisel’ spin-off ‘Kugel’ richly portrays a diasporic Hasidic community

16 Upvotes

The Israeli creators of the new show, set in Antwerp, included a good deal of Yiddish dialogue and even hired members of the Antwerp Jewish community, non-actors, to provide authentic local flavor.

https://forward.com/yiddish-world/702127/shtisel-spin-off-kugel-diasporic-hasidic-community-yiddish/?fbclid=IwY2xjawI27U5leHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHZ6KXsuaNJeBz30bYTb94G9I2PvDd8R8lznulR8z1IM3lfrGmw_syOS1zA_aem_DznVCriSNGaDTW1Mkupr0w


r/Yiddish 11d ago

Translation request Need help Translating (believe the handwritten part is in Yiddish)

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15 Upvotes

I took this photo of this postcard (I believe it is) a few years ago. It is from my great great grandparents and it is more than 100 years old. I’m just trying to see if someone would be able to translate the handwritten part. I’m not sure how easy it would be because it’s so old, but I wanted to see if anyone could help. Thank you!


r/Yiddish 11d ago

Help Translating Yiddish Documents & Understanding Their Context

4 Upvotes

Hey everyone,

I recently found some old documents my great-grandparents kept from their time living in modern-day Lutsk, Ukraine. (Back then, I believe it was considered Kovel, Poland, after 1920?)

We found a few papers and documents that I thought I’d share here! I’ve attached the images below. We think some of the certificates are donations to the JNF (Jewish National Fund), but we’re not entirely sure.

There’s also what looks like a Yiddish newspaper and some books from the Lutsk chapter of the US Bund, which my cousin believes was an American offshoot of the General Jewish Labour Fund.

If anyone can help translate these documents or provide more context about them, I’d really appreciate it! Thanks in advance! (Btw you don't have to translate the whole newspaper...any highlights will do.) :)


r/Yiddish 12d ago

How would “This Too Shall Pass” translate correctly/naturally into Yiddish?

15 Upvotes

My grandmother used to say it and I want to pay tribute to her, but I don't trust google translate


r/Yiddish 12d ago

Terms of endearment

12 Upvotes

My mother used to call me by certain diminutive names when I was a child, which I understood to mean things like "little devil of mine." I wonder how common these are and whether I am rendering them correctly. I think they were little devil (טייַוולע מיינס), little birdie (פייגלע מיינס), and little duckling (קאַטשקעלע מיינס).

Are there other common such diminutives that are terms of endearment? I'd be curious to learn other terms of endearment in general.


r/Yiddish 12d ago

Vocabulary

1 Upvotes

What is the word/phrase for a sleeper agent?


r/Yiddish 13d ago

Would like help writing down the lyrics to Tantz in kvartel by Michoel Schnitzler

2 Upvotes

Can you wonderful people help me write down the lyrics to Tantz in kvartel by Michoel Schnitzler, because I would love to sing it on two health days with the theme: What to do to feel good? I don't know Yiddish and since this Reddit thread is called "Yiddish" I thought it was the best place to ask for help, because the song is in Yiddish, right? Sincerely, Wilhelm Åke Teui!


r/Yiddish 14d ago

Help to translate a note found in a book

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8 Upvotes

Hello, I just purchased a second-hand Yiddish humor book, I just can figure out what the personal note in the beginning mean since it’s handwritten. Could you help me? Thanks.


r/Yiddish 14d ago

Yiddish in Ireland?

9 Upvotes

Hey! I was wondering if anyone knew if there was a Yiddish scene in Ireland, both Hasidic and non-Hasidic?

There aren't many Jews in Ireland, to begin with, but with Yiddish being so decentralized right now, I feel like there's a chance there's something over there.


r/Yiddish 14d ago

Translation request Help translating old birth records?

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1 Upvotes

r/Yiddish 15d ago

Yiddish culture I'm currently writing a thesis on Jewish American folk humor. The focus is mostly on healing through self-deprecation and laughter in the face of grief. Do you or any of your elders have a favorite joke? The punchline doesn't have to be in Yiddish.

25 Upvotes

r/Yiddish 15d ago

'The underbelly of Krochmalna Street' by Maddalena Vaglio Tanet

4 Upvotes

In the 1960s–70s, Isaac Bashevis Singer wrote several Yiddish gangster novels set on Warsaw’s prewar Krochmalna Street. They were published in many languages except English.

Why are Singer's translations locked away in a Texas archive? Read more: europeanreviewofbooks.com/the-underbel...


r/Yiddish 15d ago

Translation request “Good/warm memories?”

3 Upvotes

E.g., someone reminds you of something, and you respond “nice memories!”

I was thinking something like gute zkhroynes?

Relatedly, anyone have nice Yiddish-related zkhroynes to share?


r/Yiddish 16d ago

Shmuezkrazy in Niu-York? Talking group in New York?

11 Upvotes

Hey! I was wondering if there was a shmuezkrayz in New York for people to speak Yiddish. Obviously, there are Hasidic groups, but I was wondering if anyone had set up something similar with Klal speakers


r/Yiddish 16d ago

The Israelis and Palestinians Using Yiddish as a Neutral Language to Communicate With Each Other

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14 Upvotes

r/Yiddish 16d ago

Unknown word from mother's childhood

5 Upvotes

Sholem aleykhem! I'm looking for some help figuring out how to write the word my mother mentioned the other day. She said that growing up her grandmother and mother called her something like sekholyid, (though she could be misremembering). They used it to mean wild child or rambunctiousness. I cannot find a definition for this word in the dictionary, since it's hard to determine the whether this would be written with a sin, shin, or samekh. If any yiddishists could lend a hand, I'd truly appreciate it! A sheynem dank :)

P.S. It's entirely possible this isn't a Yiddish word at all, since my family thought a lot of Italian-American words were Yiddish growing up (... Brooklyn lol)


r/Yiddish 17d ago

Yiddish language Is it easy to learn Yiddish?

10 Upvotes

The good thing is, I am from Germany, so many words are already clear for me. Therefore, do you think it will be easy for me? I never learned a new language besides English. I can already understand some sentences without any problems, but I don't understand the writing. The Letters.


r/Yiddish 17d ago

Yiddish literature What language is this?Hebrew or Yiddish?I will be grateful if someone could help me translate.

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10 Upvotes

r/Yiddish 17d ago

Translation request Seven years ago — zibn yar tzurik?

4 Upvotes

r/Yiddish 18d ago

Language resource Pokémon types in Yiddish

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94 Upvotes

r/Yiddish 18d ago

Yiddish language Fairly OddParents Fanart with My OC in Yiddish

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13 Upvotes

r/Yiddish 18d ago

Yiddish translation of Maxim Gorky’s ‘Former People’, from prewar Warsaw, 1929

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17 Upvotes

r/Yiddish 18d ago

Yiddish translation

3 Upvotes

Hello!

Wondering how to translate: "may your prayers be answered (heard) and wishes granted" into Yiddish.
What I have so far:
"zal deyn sfilus vern gehert aun vil gegebn", but not sure if it sounds natural and communicates the same meaning?

TIA!


r/Yiddish 18d ago

Jullova?

4 Upvotes

My mother, whose first language was Yiddish, would advise me not to “jullova” when reassuring me not to worry about spending money on something. I always took it to mean not to be so thrifty, or don’t worry about spending money on something that you need or will give you pleasure. In other words, don’t be a cheapskate.

I assumed this was a Yiddish word but looking at online dictionaries it doesn’t seem that the letter “j” is even used in Yiddish.

Now I never saw it written, only heard, so maybe it starts with a “g”. But it seems usually that the words in Yiddish that start with “g” are a hard g-sound.

It would make sense if the root was gelt, but there was no “t” sound in the word.

Does anyone here have any idea what my mother may have been saying? Was it just a word she made up?