"Weakening of Yiddishe culture"

[Moshe Hochenberg <gcz23...>]

Earlier  today,  one  of  the  contributors  suggested  that

"Sephardic Jews were very in the dominant position vis a vis Ashkenazim and
this was a major factor, in the early years of  this century, for the rapid
weekening of Yiddish culture here."

 It  seems  unfair  to  rationalise  away  the  abandonment  of  tradition
and  culture  by  certain  Ashk'nazim  by  simply  blaming  their  Sfaradi
co-religionists.  The  culture  was  previously  maintained  through  (or
perhaps,  because  of)  all  sorts  of  adversarial  times  and  situations.
Some  change,  perhaps  suggested  by  the  "ruling"  community,  was
nevertheless  willingly  adopted  and  embraced  by  the  Ashk'nazim
themselves.

Moshe  Hochenberg
London,  UK


-----Original Message-----
From: richard_wolpoe (at) ibi(dot)com <richard_wolpoe (at) ibi(dot)com>
To: World music from a Jewish slant. <jewish-music (at) shamash(dot)org>
Date: 30 November 1998 16:21
Subject: Historical footnote


>In the 1880's and 1890's when Eastern European Jews were coming to the USA
in
>droves, there were Jews and Non-Jews who distinguished the old-timers (i.e.
>Sephardic and German Jews) by using Hebrew as opposed to the newcomers who
were
>referred to as Jews.
>
>Restricted Hotels in the Catskills (yes the Catskills was most unJewish
about
>100-120 years ago!) would allow "Hebrews", but not "Jews".
>
>Both the Spanish Portuguese and the German Jews did NOT speak Yiddish.
Yiddish
>speaking Jews were not accepted for a long time.
>
>
>My souce is the late Professor Hyman Grinstein OBM.
>
>Regards,
>Rich Wolpoe
>
>
>______________________________ Reply Separator
_________________________________
>Subject: Re: Film, "The Governess"
>Author:  <jewish-music (at) shamash(dot)org> at Tcpgate
>Date:    11/30/98 10:35 AM
>
>
>
>
>        5. In Britain, Sephardic Jews were very in the dominant position
>vis a vis Ashkenazim and this was a major factor, in the early years of
>this century, for the rapid weekening of Yiddish culture here. The
>Jewish community's cultural elite were very worried about the bad name
>their newly arrived Yiddish-speaking cousins gave them - I have read of
>instances where Yiddish theatre troups were bribed to go to New York and
>printers of Yiddish newpapers like Polisher Yidl and Arbeiter Fraint
>were bribed to sabotage their products!
>
>Benjamin
>
>