Re: "Weakening of Yiddishe culture"

[Ben Gidley <ucs01bg...>]

Of course you're right, Moshe, and I hope what I wrote won't be read as 
blame. It's a complex issue that I addressed perhaps far too hastily!

Ben

On Mon, 30 Nov 1998, Moshe Hochenberg wrote:

> 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 [in Britain]."
> 
>  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.
> 
> 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.
> >