“RABBI’S MUSINGS (&
AMUSINGS)”

Erev Shabbos Kodesh parshas Vayishlach

14 Kislev 5782/November 19, 2021

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לרפואה שלימה נטע יצחק בן רחל

LINGO SHPRACH

            Recently,
Rav Shaul Alter, the Gerrer Rosh Yeshiva of Yerushalayim, visited the New York
area. When it was announced that he was coming to Monsey and speaking at Sheiner’s
shul at 4 pm one afternoon, I decided to attend. Aside from the fact that my
family roots are in Ger, it was an opportunity to see a renown talmid chochom.

            The tent
that he spoke in was packed. At exactly 4 o’clock he entered and briskly walked
to the podium and immediately began without any fanfare.

            Although
I hoped he would be speaking in Hebrew, he spoke in Yiddish. I have always
wished I was more fluent in Yiddish. But I was confident that I would be able
to understand much of his shiur because in recent months I have been practicing
Yiddish, thanks to Duolingo.

            Duolingo
is a popular free language-learning app, with lessons that require a mere 5-10
minutes a day. The makers of the app recently announced that users can now
learn Yiddish.

            Developing
the Yiddish course wasn’t easy. There are three basic dialects of Yiddish –
Galician, Lithuanian and Romanian/Ukrainian Yiddish. Then each dialect has
sub-dialects. Most contemporary Yiddish speakers are Chassidim, so the team of
developers included Jews who grew up speaking Chassidish Yiddish.

            The
developers decided to provide different synonyms to include different dialects.
For pronunciation they decided to base it on the accent of the Satmar
community.

            Fortified
with a few Duolingo Yiddish lessons, I thought I was ready for a Yiddish shiur.
But I’ve come to realize that language isn’t only about words, it’s also about
knowing the correct vernacular. For example, although dank means
thank you, most Yiddish speakers say yasher koach (or Shkoiach).
From the app I learned that bileten means ticket, guitarin means
guitar, garten is garden, and royz is rose. But, surprisingly,
Rav Shaul Alter didn’t use any of those words in his shiur about hilchos
tzedakah.

            For the
app to be more effective, they should use words like geshmak, gefilte
fish, heimishe, and gezunt.

            I am
fortunate to spend my mornings as a rebbe in Heichal HaTorah in Teaneck. I try
to teach my talmidim Torah and they try to teach me contemporary lingo, so I
could be a hip Rabbi (though some of them assert that I legit have no shot). Twice
a week during the afternoon I teach a class in Government and Law in more
yeshivish yeshivos. Aside from the fact that it keeps me balanced, I get a kick
out of the contrast between the contemporary lingo the boyz in Heichal use and the
yeshivishe shprach of the more yeshivish bochurim.

            The
morning after someone gets a haircut, I might hear someone quip that he has a
“fresh cut,” while in the afternoon someone would say “shayne haircut!”
Someone who makes an outlandish comment in the morning may be told “you’re
trippin bro”, while in the afternoon he would be told that he has “no shaychus”.
Say something untrue and you might be told that you’re “capping” versus “that’s
shekker v’chazav”. The opposite of capping/shekker is fax/emes!
If someone says a sharp line, someone may say “Oh snap! Shots fired!” as
opposed to “you just got shtuched out!” If a kid is good on the
basketball court, he is a “baller” or a “shtark player”. A fun night can
be litty or a geshmake matzav.

            Maybe
one day I’ll be able to blend the two worlds. People will learn that being
salty is the same as being kvetchy, and that a T4 is the same as a subtle flex.
Whether you are vibing and feeling shtultzy, or even on days when you’re
just not down, if you don’t want to be a grubbah am ha’aretz, you gotta
push yourself beyond your comfort zone.

            It’ll be
obvious how you identify yourself depending on if your reaction to this article
is “Pshhhh!” or “Sheeesh!” (Or “shtusim!” versus “very sus!”)

            One of
the rules in public speaking is the need for the speaker to know how to speak
to his crowd. It’s not only about the language, but also about the dialect and
vernacular. If a speaker presents using words that are uncomfortable or
unfamiliar to his listeners, he will lose the crowd. In our world, there are
crowds in which it is necessary to translate every quoted pasuk or statement
from a gemara/Medrash. There are other crowds in which doing so can come across
as boring or even demeaning.

            The
truth is that the lingo is constantly changing and by the time you read this
some of these phrases might not even be a thing anymore. Still, everyone has
their own way of speaking. Whether your listener is a Karen or a Yoeli, make
sure you know whether to speak the lingo for the boyz or the shprach for
the chevra.

            Shabbat
Shalom & Good Shabbos

            R’ Dani and Chani Staum