Re: Yiddish in Israel--a post script

[Eliezer Kaplan <zelwel...>]

I believe there was a real attempt by the early Labor Zionists to get as far 
away from the image of the shtetelized European Jew as possible, but those who 
know more can say more.
                            ek 

  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: MaxwellSt (at) aol(dot)com 
  To: World music from a Jewish slant 
  Sent: Saturday, May 04, 2002 7:38 PM
  Subject: Yiddish in Israel--a post script


  Many moons ago, this group was discussing the question of Yiddish and its 
prestige (or lack thereof) in Israel/by Israelis.  I thought that this quote 
that I came across on the Jewish Women's Archive while reading about Molly 
Picon was relevent to that discussion, in terms of the yichis of this 
conflicted attitude.  (The italics are quoting Molly directly).
  Lori


  In 1932, the couple visited the renowned author and poet, Chaim Nachman 
Bialik, in Palestine. Publicly challenging the community’s "Hebrew only" 
policies, Picon performed exclusively in Yiddish. “At that time, Palestinians 
were adamant about speaking only Hebrew. Yiddish was outlawed, and very 
often-bloody fights occurred between those who spoke only Hebrew and those who 
spoke only Yiddish.”