Editing Yiddish (section)

== Status as a language ==

Historically, there have been frequent debates about the extent of the linguistic independence of Yiddish from the languages that it absorbed. There has been periodic assertion that Yiddish is a dialect of German, or even "just broken German, more of a linguistic mishmash than a true language".<ref name="NYT_Johnson">{{cite web |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1996/10/29/science/scholars-debate-roots-of-yiddish-migration-of-jews.html |title=Scholars Debate Roots of Yiddish, Migration of Jews |last=Johnson |first=George |date=October 29, 1996 |work=[[The New York Times]] |access-date=April 4, 2021}}</ref> Even when recognized as an autonomous language, it has occasionally been referred to, typically by people foreign to the language, as Judeo-German, along the lines of other Jewish languages like [[Judeo-Persian]], [[Judeo-Spanish]] or [[Judeo-French]]. A widely cited summary of attitudes in the 1930s was published by [[Max Weinreich]], quoting a remark by an auditor of one of his lectures: {{lang|yi|אַ שפּראַך איז אַ דיאַלעקט מיט אַן אַרמיי און פֿלאָט|rtl=yes}} ({{lang|yi-Latn|a shprakh iz a dialekt mit an armey un flot}}<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.bisso.com/ujg_archives/pix/armyNavyFull.jpg |title=Army Navy Full |access-date=October 2, 2005 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051003053447/http://www.bisso.com/ujg_archives/pix/armyNavyFull.jpg |archive-date=October 3, 2005 }}</ref> — "[[A language is a dialect with an army and navy]]").

Today's speakers consider Yiddish a separate language, officially recognized as such in the USSR (where it was viewed as "the Jewish language"), [[Jewish Autonomous Oblast|post-Soviet Russia]] and Sweden, thus complying to Max Weinreich's notion of official state recognition. Virtually all specialists working in the field of Yiddish view it as a separate language, including researchers and teachers who study and teach Yiddish in German-speaking countries. For centuries, Yiddish has been developing in countries separated from the German language space and has its own system of dialects. Contemporary debates on this subject are almost exclusively limited to the nature of medieval and early modern texts written in Western Yiddish dialects that seem much closer to varieties of German than today's Eastern Yiddish.<ref>https://www.yivo.org/cimages/basic_facts_about_yiddish_2014.pdf Basic Facts about Yiddish by [[YIVO]]</ref><ref>https://www.jewishlanguages.org/eastern-yiddish Yiddish (Eastern), Description by William F. Weigel</ref>

=== Israel and Zionism ===
{{Rquote|1=right|2=We shall get rid of the stunted and squashed jargons which we use now, these ghetto languages. They were the furtive tongues of prisoners{{efn|
Die verkümmerten und verdrückten Jargons, deren wir uns jetzt bedienen, diese Ghettosprachen werden wir uns abgewöhnen. Es waren die verstohlenen Sprachen von Gefangenen.}}|3= [[Theodor Herzl]], {{Lang|de|[[Der Judenstaat]]}}, 1896.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Herzl |first1=Theodor |title=Der Judenstaat: Versuch einer modernen Lösung der Judenfrage |date=1896 |publisher=[[Project Gutenberg]] |location=Leipzig and Vienna |url=https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/28865}}</ref>}}{{See also|War of the Languages}}[[File:Yidish graffiti.JPG|thumb|An example of graffiti in Yiddish, Tel Aviv, Washington Avenue ({{lang|yi|און איר זאלט ליב האבן דעם פרעמדען, ווארום פרעמדע זייט איר געווען אין לאנד מצרים|rtl=yes}}—{{lang|yi-Latn|Un ir zolt lib hobn dem fremden, varum fremde zayt ir geven in land mitsraym}}). "You shall have love for the stranger, because you were strangers in the land of Egypt." (Deuteronomy 10:19)]]

The national language of Israel is [[Modern Hebrew]]. The debate in Zionist circles over the use of Yiddish in Israel and in the diaspora in preference to Hebrew also reflected the tensions between religious and secular Jewish lifestyles. Many secular Zionists wanted Hebrew as the sole language of Jews, to contribute to a national cohesive identity. Traditionally religious Jews, on the other hand, preferred use of Yiddish, viewing Hebrew as a respected holy language reserved for prayer and religious study. In the early 20th century, Zionist activists in the [[Mandatory Palestine|Mandate of Palestine]] tried to eradicate the use of Yiddish among Jews in preference to Hebrew, and make its use socially unacceptable.<ref>{{cite web |last=Rozovsky |first=Lorne |url=http://www.chabad.org/1051135 |title=Jewish Language Path to Extinction |publisher=Chabad.org |access-date=December 8, 2013}}</ref>

This conflict also reflected the opposing views among secular Jews worldwide, one side seeing Hebrew (and Zionism) and the other Yiddish (and [[internationalism (politics)|Internationalism]]) as the means of defining Jewish nationalism. In the 1920s and 1930s, {{lang|he|גדוד מגיני השפה}} {{lang|he-Latn|gdud maginéi hasafá}}, "[[Battalion for the Defence of the Language]]", whose motto was "{{lang|he|עברי, דבר עברית}} {{lang|he-Latn|ivri, dabér ivrít}}", that is, "Hebrew [i.e. Jew], speak Hebrew!", used to tear down signs written in "foreign" languages and disturb Yiddish theatre gatherings with stink bombs.<ref>Zuckermann, Ghil'ad (2009), [http://www.zuckermann.org/pdf/Hybridity_versus_Revivability.pdf Hybridity versus Revivability: Multiple Causation, Forms and Patterns]. In ''Journal of Language Contact'', Varia 2: 40–67, p. 48.</ref> In 1927, a proposal to institute a chair in Yiddish at [[Hebrew University]] was met with protests.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Halperin |first1=Liora R. |title=Babel in Zion: Jews, Nationalism, and Language Diversity in Palestine, 1920-1948 |date=2015 |publisher=Yale University Press |location=London |isbn=978-0-300-19748-8 |page=9}}</ref> However, according to linguist [[Ghil'ad Zuckermann]], the members of this group in particular, and the Hebrew revival in general, did not succeed in uprooting Yiddish patterns (as well as the patterns of other European languages Jewish immigrants spoke) within what he calls "Israeli", i.e. [[Modern Hebrew]]. Zuckermann believes that "Israeli does include numerous Hebrew elements resulting from a conscious revival but also numerous pervasive linguistic features deriving from a subconscious survival of the revivalists’ mother tongues, e.g. Yiddish."<ref>Zuckermann, Ghil'ad (2009), [http://www.zuckermann.org/pdf/Hybridity_versus_Revivability.pdf Hybridity versus Revivability: Multiple Causation, Forms and Patterns]. In ''Journal of Language Contact'', Varia 2: 40–67, p. 46.</ref>

After the founding of the State of Israel, a massive wave of [[Jewish exodus from Arab and Muslim countries|Jewish immigrants from Arab countries]] arrived. In short order, these [[Mizrahi Jews]] and their descendants would account for nearly half the Jewish population. While all were at least familiar with Hebrew as a liturgical language, essentially none had any contact with or affinity for Yiddish (some, of [[Sephardi Jews|Sephardic]] origin, spoke Judeo-Spanish, others various [[Judeo-Arabic dialects|Judeo-Arabic varieties]]). Thus, Hebrew emerged as the dominant linguistic common denominator between the different population groups.

Despite a past of marginalization and [[anti-Yiddish]] government policy, in 1996 the [[Knesset]] passed a law founding the "National Authority for Yiddish Culture", with the aim of supporting and promoting contemporary Yiddish art and [[Yiddish literature|literature]], as well as preservation of [[Yiddish culture]] and publication of Yiddish classics, both in Yiddish and in Hebrew translation.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://yiddish-rashutleumit.co.il/he/%D7%A2%D7%9C-%D7%90%D7%95%D7%93%D7%95%D7%AA-%D7%94%D7%A8%D7%A9%D7%95%D7%AA/%D7%97%D7%95%D7%A7-%D7%94%D7%A8%D7%A9%D7%95%D7%AA|title=חוק הרשות|date=1996|publisher=The National Authority for Yiddish Culture|access-date=July 11, 2020}}</ref>

In religious circles, it is the Ashkenazi [[Haredi Judaism|Haredi Jews]], particularly the Hasidic Jews and the Lithuanian yeshiva world (see [[Lithuanian Jews]]), who continue to teach, speak and use Yiddish, making it a language used regularly by hundreds of thousands of Haredi Jews today. The largest of these centers are in [[Bnei Brak]] and [[Jerusalem]].

There is a growing revival of interest in Yiddish culture among secular Israelis, with the flourishing of new proactive cultural organizations like YUNG YiDiSH, as well as [[Yiddish theatre]] (usually with simultaneous translation to Hebrew and Russian) and young people are taking university courses in Yiddish, some achieving considerable fluency.<ref name="NYT_Johnson"/><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.columbia.edu/cu/news/03/09/yiddish_studies.html |title=Yiddish Studies Thrives at Columbia After More than Fifty Years |last=Hollander |first=Jason |date=September 15, 2003 |website=Columbia News |publisher=[[Columbia University]] |access-date=April 4, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171011125248/http://www.columbia.edu/cu/news/03/09/yiddish_studies.html |archive-date=October 11, 2017 |quote=...there has been a regular, significant increase in enrollment in Columbia's Yiddish language and literature classes over the past few years.}}</ref>

=== South Africa ===

In the early years of the 20th century Yiddish was classified as a 'Semitic Language'. After much campaigning, in 1906 the South African legislator [[Morris Alexander]] won a parliamentary fight to have Yiddish reclassified as a European language, thereby permitting the immigration of Yiddish-speakers to South Africa.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Hirson|first=Baruch|title=Friend to Olive Schreiner: The Story of Ruth Schechter|journal=Collected Seminar Papers – Institute of Commonwealth Studies. University of London|publisher=Collected Seminar Papers. Institute of Commonwealth Studies, 45|year=1993|issn=0076-0773|pages=43}}</ref> While there used to be a large Yiddish press in South Africa now Yiddish has largely died out in South Africa being replaced with other languages.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2020-03-30 |title=South African Jews - BJE |work=BJE |url=https://bje.org.au/knowledge-centre/jewish-people/jewish-communities/south-africa/ |access-date=2024-09-08 |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Pimlott |first=William |date=2024-01-11 |title=The Yiddish press and the making of South African Jewry in the British world: exclusion, libel, and Jewish nationalism, 1890–1914 |url=https://journals.uclpress.co.uk/jhs/article/id/3101/ |journal=Jewish Historical Studies: A Journal of English-Speaking Jewry |language=en |volume=55 |issue=1 |doi=10.14324/111.444.jhs.2024v55.02 |issn=2397-1290}}</ref>

=== Mexico ===
In [[Mexico]], Yiddish was spoken among the Ashkenazi Jewish population and Yiddish poet [[Isaac Berliner]] wrote about the life of [[History of the Jews in Mexico|Mexican Jews]]. Isaac Berliner's Yiddishism was a way for the Ashkenazi Jews in Mexico to build a secular culture in a Mexico skeptical of religion.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Grossman |first=Rachelle |title=Mexican Yiddish and Secular Jewish Identity in Mexico |url=https://revista.drclas.harvard.edu/mexican-yiddish-and-secular-jewish-identity-in-mexico/ |access-date=2024-02-04 |website=ReVista |language=en-US}}</ref> Yiddish became a marker of Ashkenazi ethnic identity in Mexico.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Ashkenazi Jews of Mexico |url=https://yivo.org/YCLS2021-Cimet |access-date=2024-02-04 |website=YIVO Institute for Jewish Research |language=en}}</ref>

=== Former Soviet Union ===

[[File:Drive to the Collective Farm.jpg|thumb|upright=0.85|[[New Economic Policy|NEP]]-era Soviet Yiddish poster "Come to us at the [[Kolkhoz]]!" (''{{lang|yi|קום צו אונדז אין קאָלווירט!|rtl=yes}}'')]]

In the Soviet Union during the era of the [[New Economic Policy]] (NEP) in the 1920s, Yiddish was promoted as the language of the Jewish [[proletariat]]. At the same time, [[Hebrew language|Hebrew]] was considered a [[bourgeois]] and [[reactionary]] language and its use was generally discouraged.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Ben-Eliezer |first=Moshe |date=1980 |title=Hebrew and the Survival of Jewish Culture in the Soviet Union |journal=ETC: A Review of General Semantics |volume=37 |issue=3 |pages=248–253 |issn=0014-164X |jstor=42575482}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Yiddish |url=http://www.encyclopediaofukraine.com/display.asp?linkpath=pages%5CY%5CI%5CYiddish.htm |access-date=July 29, 2020 |website=www.encyclopediaofukraine.com}}</ref> Yiddish was one of the recognized languages of the [[Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic]]. Until 1938, the [[Emblem of the Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic]] included the motto ''[[Workers of the world, unite!]]'' in Yiddish. Yiddish was also an official language in several agricultural districts of the [[Galician Soviet Socialist Republic]].

The use of Yiddish as the primary spoken language by Jews was heavily encouraged by multiple Jewish political groups at the time. The [[Evsektsiia|Evsketsii]], the Jewish Communist Group, and The [[General Jewish Labour Bund|Bund]], the Jewish Socialist Group, both heavily encouraged the use of Yiddish. During the Bolshevik Era these political groups worked alongside the government to encourage the widespread Jewish use of Yiddish. Both the Evsketsii and the Bund supported the Jewish movement towards assimilation and saw Yiddish as a way to encourage it. They saw the use of Yiddish as a step away from the religious aspects of Judaism, instead favoring the cultural aspects of Judaism.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Gitelman |first=Zvi Y. |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/606432500 |title=A century of ambivalence : the Jews of Russia and the Soviet Union, 1881 to the present |date=2001 |publisher=Indiana University Press |via=Yivo Institute for Jewish Research |isbn=978-0-253-01373-6 |edition=2nd expanded |location=Bloomington |oclc=606432500}}</ref>{{page needed|date=July 2023}}

[[File:Emblem of the Byelorussian SSR (1927–1937).svg|thumb|upright=0.85|State emblem of the [[Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic|Byelorussian SSR]] (1927–1937) with the motto ''Workers of the world, unite!'' in Yiddish (lower left part of the ribbon): {{Lang|yi|״פראָלעטאריער פון אלע לענדער, פאראייניקט זיך!״|rtl=yes}}—{{Lang|yi-Latn|Proletarier fun ale lender, fareynikt zikh}}''!'' The same slogan is written in Belarusian, Russian and Polish.]]

A public educational system entirely based on the Yiddish language was established and comprised kindergartens, schools, and higher educational institutions (technical schools, [[rabfak]]s and other university departments).<ref name=":2">{{Cite web|title=YIVO {{!}} Soviet Yiddish-Language Schools|url=https://yivoencyclopedia.org/article.aspx/Soviet_Yiddish-Language_Schools|access-date=July 29, 2020|website=yivoencyclopedia.org}}</ref>  These were initially created in the [[Russian Empire]] to stop Jewish children from taking too many spots in regular Russian schools. Imperial government feared that the Jewish children were both taking spots from non-Jews as well as spreading revolutionary ideas to their non-Jewish peers. As a result, in 1914 laws were passed that guaranteed Jews the right to a Jewish education and as a result the Yiddish education system was established.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Polonsky |first=Antony |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/149092612 |title=The Jews in Poland and Russia |date=2010 |publisher=Littman Library of Jewish Civilization |isbn=978-1-874774-64-8 |location=Oxford |oclc=149092612}}</ref>{{page needed|date=July 2023}} After the Bolshevik revolution in 1917 even more Yiddish schools were established. These schools thrived with government, specifically Bolshevik, and Jewish support. They were established as part of the effort to revitalize the Soviet Jewish Community. Specifically, the Bolsheviks wanted to encourage Jewish assimilation. While these schools were taught in Yiddish, the content was Soviet. They were created to attract Jews in to getting a Soviet education under the guise of a Jewish institution.<ref name=":3">{{Cite book |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/869736200 |title=Antisemitism : a history |date=2010 |first1=Albert S. |last1=Lindemann |first2=Richard S. |last2=Levy |isbn=978-0-19-102931-8 |publisher=Oxford University Press|location=Oxford, UK|oclc=869736200}}</ref>{{page needed|date=July 2023}}

While schools with curriculums taught in Yiddish existed in some areas until the 1950s, there was a general decline in enrollment due to preference for Russian-speaking institutions and the declining reputation of Yiddish schools among Yiddish speaking Soviets. As the Yiddish schools declined, so did overall Yiddish culture. The two were inherently linked and with the downfall of one, so did the other.<ref>{{Cite web |title=YIVO {{!}} Documents |url=https://yivoencyclopedia.org/documents.aspx?query=russian+yiddish+schools |access-date=2022-12-12 |website=yivoencyclopedia.org}}</ref><ref name=":3" />{{page needed|date=July 2023}} General Soviet denationalization programs and secularization policies also led to a further lack of enrollment and funding; the last schools to be closed existed until 1951.<ref name=":2" /> It continued to be spoken widely for decades, nonetheless, in areas with compact Jewish populations (primarily in Moldova, Ukraine, and to a lesser extent Belarus).

In the former Soviet states, recently active Yiddish authors include [[Josef Burg (writer)|Yoysef Burg]] ([[Chernivtsi]] 1912–2009) and [[Olexander Beyderman]] (b. 1949, [[Odessa]]). Publication of an earlier Yiddish periodical ({{lang|yi|דער פֿרײַנד|rtl=yes}} – {{lang|yi-Latn|der fraynd}}; lit. ''The Friend''), was resumed in 2004 with {{lang|yi|דער נײַער פֿרײַנד|rtl=yes}} ({{lang|yi-Latn|der nayer fraynd}}; lit. ''The New Friend'', [[Saint Petersburg]]).

==== Russia ====

According to the [[Russian Census (2010)|2010 census]], 1,683 people spoke Yiddish in Russia, approximately 1% of all the Jews of the Russian Federation.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.gks.ru/free_doc/new_site/population/demo/per-itog/tab6.xls |title=Информационные материалы всероссийской переписи населения 2010 г. Население Российской Федерации по владению языками |access-date=December 8, 2013 |archive-date=October 6, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211006173252/http://www.gks.ru/free_doc/new_site/population/demo/per-itog/tab6.xls |url-status=dead }}</ref> According to [[Mikhail Shvydkoy]], former Minister of Culture of Russia and himself of Jewish origin, Yiddish culture in Russia is gone, and its revival is unlikely.<ref name="Lechaim.ru">{{cite web|url=http://www.lechaim.ru/ARHIV/112/geyzer.htm |title=журнал "Лехаим" М. Е. Швыдкой. Расставание с прошлым неизбежно |publisher=Lechaim.ru |access-date=December 8, 2013}}</ref>

{{blockquote|From my point of view, Yiddish culture today isn't just fading away, but disappearing. It is stored as memories, as fragments of phrases, as books that have long gone unread. ... Yiddish culture is dying and this should be treated with utmost calm. There is no need to pity that which cannot be resurrected – it has receded into the world of the enchanting past, where it should remain. Any artificial culture, a culture without replenishment, is meaningless. ... Everything that happens with Yiddish culture is transformed into a kind of cabaret—epistolary genre, nice, cute to the ear and the eye, but having nothing to do with high art, because there is no natural, national soil. In Russia, it is the memory of the departed, sometimes sweet memories. But it's the memories of what will never be again. Perhaps that's why these memories are always so sharp.<ref name="Lechaim.ru"/>}}

===== Jewish Autonomous Oblast =====
{{Main|Jewish Autonomous Oblast|Birobidzhan|History of the Jews in the Jewish Autonomous Oblast}}

[[File:RussiaJewish2007-07.png|thumb|The [[History of the Jews in the Jewish Autonomous Oblast|Jewish Autonomous Oblast]] in Russia]]

The Jewish Autonomous Oblast was formed in 1934 in the [[Russian Far East]], with its capital city in Birobidzhan and Yiddish as its official language.<ref>{{cite book |last=Grenoble |first=Lenore A. |year=2003 |title=Language Policy in the Soviet Union |location=New York |publisher=Kluwer Academic Publishers |page=75}}</ref> The intention was for the Soviet Jewish population to settle there. Jewish cultural life was revived in Birobidzhan much earlier than elsewhere in the Soviet Union. Yiddish theaters began opening in the 1970s. The newspaper {{lang|yi| ביראָבידזשאַנער שטערן|rtl=yes}} ({{lang|yi-Latn|[[Birobidzhaner Shtern]]}}; lit: ''Birobidzhan Star'') includes a Yiddish section.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://gazetaeao.ru/idish |title=Birobidzhaner Shtern in Yiddish |publisher=Gazetaeao.ru |access-date=August 7, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160414072458/http://www.gazetaeao.ru/idish/ |archive-date=April 14, 2016 |url-status=dead }}</ref> In modern Russia, the cultural significance of the language is still recognized and bolstered. The First Birobidzhan International Summer Program for Yiddish Language and Culture was launched in 2007.<ref>{{cite web |last=Rettig |first=Haviv |url=http://fr.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull&cid=1176152810577 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120708090302/http://fr.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull&cid=1176152810577 |url-status=dead |archive-date=July 8, 2012 |title=Yiddish returns to Birobidzhan |work=The Jerusalem Post |date=April 17, 2007 |access-date=October 18, 2009 }}</ref>

{{As of|2010}}, according to data provided by the Russian Census Bureau, there were 97 speakers of Yiddish in the JAO.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://evrstat.gks.ru/wps/wcm/connect/rosstat_ts/evrstat/resources/0b58c68041a3e4a79a38de2d59c15b71/6.+%D0%A1%D1%82%D0%B0%D1%82%D0%B8%D1%81%D1%82%D0%B8%D1%87%D0%B5%D1%81%D0%BA%D0%B8%D0%B9+%D0%B1%D1%8E%D0%BB%D0%BB%D0%B5%D1%82%D0%B5%D0%BD%D1%8C+%C2%AB%D0%9D%D0%B0%D1%86%D0%B8%D0%BE%D0%BD%D0%B0%D0%BB%D1%8C%D0%BD%D1%8B%D0%B9+%D1%81%D0%BE%D1%81%D1%82%D0%B0%D0%B2+%D0%B8+%D0%B2%D0%BB%D0%B0%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BD%D0%B8%D0%B5+%D1%8F%D0%B7%D1%8B%D0%BA%D0%B0%D0%BC%D0%B8%2C+%D0%B3%D1%80%D0%B0%D0%B6%D0%B4%D0%B0%D0%BD%D1%81%D1%82%D0%B2%D0%BE+%D0%BD%D0%B0%D1%81%D0%B5%D0%BB%D0%B5%D0%BD%D0%B8%D1%8F+%D0%95%D0%B2%D1%80%D0%B5%D0%B9%D1%81%D0%BA%D0%BE%D0%B9+%D0%B0%D0%B2%D1%82%D0%BE%D0%BD%D0%BE%D0%BC%D0%BD%D0%BE%D0%B9+%D0%BE%D0%B1%D0%BB%D0%B0%D1%81%D1%82%D0%B8%C2%BB.rar |at=In document "5. ВЛАДЕНИЕ ЯЗЫКАМИ НАСЕЛЕНИЕМ ОБЛАСТИ.pdf" |script-title=ru:Статистический бюллетень "Национальный состав и владение языками, гражданство населения Еврейской автономной области" |trans-title=Statistical Bulletin "National structure and language skills, citizenship population Jewish Autonomous Region" |language=ru |format=RAR, PDF |date=October 30, 2013 |publisher=[[Russian Federal State Statistics Service]] |access-date=May 1, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140502005744/http://evrstat.gks.ru/wps/wcm/connect/rosstat_ts/evrstat/resources/0b58c68041a3e4a79a38de2d59c15b71/6.+%D0%A1%D1%82%D0%B0%D1%82%D0%B8%D1%81%D1%82%D0%B8%D1%87%D0%B5%D1%81%D0%BA%D0%B8%D0%B9+%D0%B1%D1%8E%D0%BB%D0%BB%D0%B5%D1%82%D0%B5%D0%BD%D1%8C+%C2%AB%D0%9D%D0%B0%D1%86%D0%B8%D0%BE%D0%BD%D0%B0%D0%BB%D1%8C%D0%BD%D1%8B%D0%B9+%D1%81%D0%BE%D1%81%D1%82%D0%B0%D0%B2+%D0%B8+%D0%B2%D0%BB%D0%B0%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BD%D0%B8%D0%B5+%D1%8F%D0%B7%D1%8B%D0%BA%D0%B0%D0%BC%D0%B8%2C+%D0%B3%D1%80%D0%B0%D0%B6%D0%B4%D0%B0%D0%BD%D1%81%D1%82%D0%B2%D0%BE+%D0%BD%D0%B0%D1%81%D0%B5%D0%BB%D0%B5%D0%BD%D0%B8%D1%8F+%D0%95%D0%B2%D1%80%D0%B5%D0%B9%D1%81%D0%BA%D0%BE%D0%B9+%D0%B0%D0%B2%D1%82%D0%BE%D0%BD%D0%BE%D0%BC%D0%BD%D0%BE%D0%B9+%D0%BE%D0%B1%D0%BB%D0%B0%D1%81%D1%82%D0%B8%C2%BB.rar |archive-date=May 2, 2014 |url-status=dead }}</ref> A November 2017 article in ''[[The Guardian]]'', titled, "Revival of a Soviet Zion: Birobidzhan celebrates its Jewish heritage", examined the current status of the city and suggested that, even though the Jewish Autonomous Region in Russia's far east is now barely 1% Jewish, officials hope to woo back people who left after Soviet collapse and to revive the Yiddish language in this region.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/sep/27/revival-of-a-soviet-zion-birobidzhan-celebrates-its-jewish-heritage|title=Revival of a Soviet Zion: Birobidzhan celebrates its Jewish heritage|first=Shaun|last=Walker|newspaper=The Guardian |date=September 27, 2017|access-date=April 3, 2019|via=www.theguardian.com}}</ref> Despite the small number of local speakers, the weekly state-run newspaper ''[[Birobidzhaner Shtern]]'' contains 2-4 pages in Yiddish, largely written by authors who live in other cities and countries, and its online version attracts international readership. Yiddish often appears in the local TV program Yiddishkeit, also available online.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://biratv.ru/category/nashi-programmy/idishkajt/ | title=Идишкайт }}</ref>

==== Ukraine ====

Yiddish was an official language of the [[Ukrainian People's Republic]] (1917–1921).<ref name="Ukraine: Birth of a Modern Nation">{{cite book |last=Yekelchyk |first=Serhy |author-link=Serhy Yekelchyk |title=Ukraine: Birth of a Modern Nation |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yZLtAAAAMAAJ |year=2007 |publisher=OUP USA |isbn=978-0-19-530546-3}}</ref><ref name=HoUJsntui>{{cite book |last=Magocsi |first=Paul Robert |author-link=Paul Robert Magocsi |title=A History of Ukraine: The Land and Its Peoples |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BNUtdVrw6lIC&pg=PA537 |year=2010 |publisher=University of Toronto Press |isbn=978-1-4426-4085-6 |page=537}}</ref> But due to the holocaust, assimilation, and migration of [[History of the Jews in Ukraine|Ukrainian Jews]] abroad today only 3,100 of the remaining Jews speak Yiddish as their first language.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Congress |first=World Jewish |title=World Jewish Congress |url=https://www.worldjewishcongress.org/en/about/communities/UA |access-date=2024-09-07 |website=World Jewish Congress |language=en}}</ref> The Southeast dialect of Yiddish has many Ukrainian loanwords due to the long contact between Yiddish speakers and Ukrainian speakers.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Yiddish |url=https://www.encyclopediaofukraine.com/display.asp?linkpath=pages%5CY%5CI%5CYiddish.htm |access-date=2024-09-07 |website=www.encyclopediaofukraine.com}}</ref>

=== Council of Europe ===
Several countries that ratified the 1992 [[European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages]] have included Yiddish in the list of their recognized minority languages: the Netherlands (1996), Sweden (2000), Romania (2008), Poland (2009), Bosnia and Herzegovina (2010).<ref name=":1" /> In 2005, Ukraine did not mention Yiddish as such, but "the language(s) of the Jewish ethnic minority".<ref name=":1">[https://www.coe.int/en/web/conventions/search-on-treaties/-/conventions/treaty/148/declarations European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. List of declarations made with respect to treaty No. 148], Status as of: April 29, 2019</ref>

=== Sweden ===

[[File:Jidische.Folkschtime.jpg|thumb|Banner from the first issue of the {{lang|yi|יודישע פאלקסשטימע|rtl=yes}}—{{lang|yi-Latn|Jidische Folkschtime}} (''Yiddish People's Voice''), published in Stockholm, January 12, 1917]]

In June 1999, the Swedish Parliament enacted legislation giving Yiddish legal status<ref>{{in lang|sv}} [http://regeringen.se/download/f5c9eed7.pdf?major=1&minor=2218&cn=attachmentPublDuplicator_0_attachment Regeringens proposition 1998/99:143 Nationella minoriteter i Sverige]{{dead link|date=December 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes}}, June 10, 1999. Retrieved October 17, 2006.</ref> as one of the country's [[official minority languages of Sweden|official minority languages]] (entering into effect in April 2000).

Additional legislation was enacted in June 2006 establishing a new governmental agency, the Swedish National Language Council, whose goal is to "collect, preserve, scientifically research, and spread material about the national minority languages." These languages include Yiddish.

The Swedish government has published documents in Yiddish detailing the national action plan for human rights.<ref>{{in lang|yi}} [http://regeringen.se/download/098c9eb4.pdf?major=1&minor=67638&cn=attachmentPublDuplicator_0_attachment אַ נאַציאָנאַלער האַנדלונגס־פּלאַן פאַר די מענטשלעכע רעכט]{{dead link|date=December 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes}} A National Action Plan for Human Rights 2006–2009. Retrieved December 4, 2006.</ref> An earlier one provides general information about national minority language policies.<ref>{{in lang|yi}} [http://www.manskligarattigheter.gov.se/dynamaster/file_archive/050216/24a99c86fd734f15c9f722b343cc152e/FaktaJu%5f0415ji.pdf נאַציאַנאַלע מינאָריטעטן און מינאָריטעט־שפּראַכן] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070926131653/http://www.manskligarattigheter.gov.se/dynamaster/file_archive/050216/24a99c86fd734f15c9f722b343cc152e/FaktaJu%5f0415ji.pdf |date=September 26, 2007 }} National Minorities and Minority Languages. Retrieved December 4, 2006.</ref> On September 6, 2007, it became possible to register Internet domains with Yiddish names in the national top-level domain [[.se]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.idg.se/2.1085/1.119665 |title=IDG: Jiddischdomänen är här |publisher=Idg.se |access-date=October 18, 2009 |archive-date=February 7, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090207204801/http://www.idg.se/2.1085/1.119665 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

The first Jews were permitted to reside in Sweden during the late 18th century. The Jewish population in Sweden is estimated at 20,000. According to various reports and surveys, between 2,000 and 6,000 Swedish Jews have at least some knowledge of Yiddish. In 2009, the number of native speakers was estimated by linguist Mikael Parkvall to be 750–1,500. He says that most native speakers of Yiddish in Sweden today are adults, many of them elderly.<ref>Mikael Parkvall, ''Sveriges språk. Vem talar vad och var?''. RAPPLING 1. Rapporter från Institutionen för lingvistik vid Stockholms universitet. 2009 [http://www.språkförsvaret.se/sf/fileadmin/PDF/Parkvall_spraakstatistik.pdf] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140920233246/http://www.xn--sprkfrsvaret-vcb4v.se/sf/fileadmin/PDF/Parkvall_spraakstatistik.pdf|date=September 20, 2014}}, pp. 68–72</ref>

After the war Yiddish theater enjoyed great popularity in Sweden and all the great stars performed there. Since the recognition of Yiddish as an official minority language, Swedish schoolchildren have the right to study Yiddish at school as a mother tongue, and there are public radio broadcasts and television shows in Yiddish.<ref>{{Cite news |title=Why a Yiddish Renaissance Is Underway in Sweden, of All Places |url=https://www.haaretz.com/world-news/2024-02-23/ty-article-magazine/.highlight/why-a-yiddish-renaissance-is-underway-in-sweden-of-all-places/0000018d-d36b-d5f7-a3ff-d3ffea4f0000 |access-date=2024-03-06 |work=Haaretz |language=en}}</ref>

=== United States ===

[[File:Free Classes in English.jpg|thumb|Poster by the [[Government of New York City|City of New York]] advertising free English classes for Yiddish speakers, 1930s:<br/>"Learn to speak, read and write the language of your children."]]

[[File:Women voter outreach 1935 English Yiddish.jpg|thumb|Women surrounded by posters in English and Yiddish supporting [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]], [[Herbert H. Lehman]], and the [[American Labor Party]] teach other women how to vote, 1936.]]

[[File:Yiddish language distribution in the United States.svg|thumb|Yiddish distribution in the United States {{legend|blue|More than 100,000 speakers}} {{legend|cyan|More than 10,000 speakers}}

{{legend|red|More than 5,000 speakers}}

{{legend|yellow|More than 1,000 speakers}}

{{legend|#cccccc|Fewer than 1,000 speakers}}]]
In the United States, at first most Jews were of [[Sephardi Jews|Sephardic]] origin, and hence did not speak Yiddish. It was not until the mid-to-late 19th century, as first German Jews, then Central and Eastern European Jews, arrived in the nation, that Yiddish became dominant within the immigrant community. This helped to bond Jews from many countries. {{lang|yi|פֿאָרווערטס|rtl=yes}} ({{lang|yi-Latn|Forverts}} – ''[[The Forward]]'') was one of seven Yiddish daily newspapers in New York City, and other Yiddish newspapers served as a forum for Jews of all European backgrounds. In 1915, the circulation of the daily Yiddish newspapers was half a million in New York City alone, and 600,000 nationally. In addition, thousands more subscribed to the numerous weekly papers and the many magazines.<ref>{{cite book|author=Robert Moses Shapiro|title=Why Didn't the Press Shout?: American & International Journalism During the Holocaust|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=I3lItIwOzCkC&pg=PA18|year=2003|publisher=KTAV|page=18|isbn=978-0-88125-775-5}}</ref>

The typical circulation in the 21st century is a few thousand. The ''Forward'' still appears weekly and is also available in an online edition.<ref>{{in lang|yi}} [http://yiddish.forward.com/ פֿאָרווערטס]: ''[[The Forward]]'' online.</ref> It remains in wide distribution, together with {{lang|yi|דער אַלגעמיינער זשורנאַל|rtl=yes}} ({{lang|yi-Latn|der algemeyner zhurnal}} – {{lang|yi-Latn|[[Algemeiner Journal|Algemeyner Journal]]}}; {{lang|yi-Latn|algemeyner}} = general), a [[Chabad]] newspaper which is also published weekly and appears online.<ref>{{in lang|yi}} [http://www.algemeiner.com/generic.asp?cat=4 דער אַלגעמיינער זשורנאַל] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110106211758/http://www.algemeiner.com/generic.asp?cat=4 |date=January 6, 2011 }}: ''Algemeiner Journal'' online</ref> The widest-circulation Yiddish newspapers are probably the weekly issues {{lang|yi-Latn|[[Der Yid]]}} ({{lang|yi|דער איד|rtl=yes}} "The Jew"), {{lang|yi-Latn|[[Der Blatt]]}} ({{lang|yi|דער בלאַט|rtl=yes}}; {{lang|yi-Latn|blat}} 'paper') and {{lang|yi-Latn|[[Di Tzeitung]]}} ({{lang|yi|די צייטונג|rtl=yes}} 'the newspaper'). Several additional newspapers and magazines are in regular production, such as the weekly {{lang|yi|אידישער טריביון}} ''Yiddish Tribune'' and the monthly publications {{lang|yi|דער שטערן|rtl=yes}} ({{lang|yi-Latn|Der Shtern}} ''The Star'') and {{lang|yi|דער בליק|rtl=yes}} ({{lang|yi-Latn|Der Blik}} ''The View''). (The romanized titles cited in this paragraph are in the form given on the masthead of each publication and may be at some variance both with the literal Yiddish title and the [[Yiddish orthography#Transliteration|transliteration rules]] otherwise applied in this article.) Thriving Yiddish theater, especially in the New York City [[Yiddish Theatre District]], kept the language vital. Interest in [[klezmer]] music provided another bonding mechanism.

Most of the Jewish immigrants to the New York metropolitan area during the years of [[Ellis Island]] considered Yiddish their native language; however, native Yiddish speakers tended not to pass the language on to their children, who assimilated and spoke English. For example, [[Isaac Asimov]] states in his autobiography ''[[In Memory Yet Green]]'' that Yiddish was his first and sole spoken language, and remained so for about two years after he emigrated to the United States as a small child. By contrast, Asimov's younger siblings, born in the United States, never developed any degree of fluency in Yiddish.

Many "Yiddishisms", like "Italianisms" and "Spanishisms", entered [[New York City English]], often used by Jews and non-Jews alike, unaware of the linguistic origin of the phrases. [[Yiddish words used in English]] were documented extensively by [[Leo Rosten]] in ''[[The Joys of Yiddish]]'';<ref>{{cite book |author-link=Leo Rosten |last=Rosten |first=Leo |title=Joys of Yiddish |publisher=Pocket |date=2000 |isbn=0-7434-0651-6}}{{page needed|date=November 2023}}</ref> see also the [[list of English words of Yiddish origin]].

In 1975, the film ''[[Hester Street (film)|Hester Street]]'', much of which is in Yiddish, was released. It was later chosen to be on the Library of Congress [[National Film Registry]] for being considered a "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant" film.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.loc.gov/item/prn-11-240/2011-national-film-registry-more-than-a-box-of-chocolates/2011-12-28/|title=2011 National Film Registry More Than a Box of Chocolates|website=Library of Congress|access-date=April 3, 2019}}</ref>

In 1976, the Canadian-born American author [[Saul Bellow]] received the [[Nobel Prize in Literature]]. He was fluent in Yiddish, and translated several Yiddish poems and stories into English, including [[Isaac Bashevis Singer]]'s "Gimpel the Fool". In 1978, Singer, a writer in the Yiddish language, who was born in [[Poland]] and lived in the United States, received the Nobel Prize in Literature.

Legal scholars [[Eugene Volokh]] and [[Alex Kozinski]] argue that Yiddish is "supplanting Latin as the spice in American legal argot".<ref>{{cite journal |last=Volokh |first=Eugene |author2=Kozinski, Alex |year=1993 |title=Lawsuit, Shmawsuit |journal=Yale Law Journal |volume=103 |issue=2 |pages=463–467 |doi=10.2307/797101 |publisher=The Yale Law Journal Company, Inc. |jstor=797101 }}</ref><ref>Note: an updated version of the article appears on Professor Volokh's UCLA web page, {{cite web|url=http://www.law.ucla.edu/volokh/yiddish.htm |title=Judge Alex Kozinski & Eugene Volokh, "Lawsuit, Shmawsuit" <*> |publisher=Law.ucla.edu |access-date=October 18, 2009}}</ref>

==== Present U.S. speaker population ====

In the [[2000 United States Census]], 178,945 people in the United States reported speaking Yiddish at home. Of these speakers, 113,515 lived in [[New York (state)|New York]] (63.43% of American Yiddish speakers); 18,220 in [[Florida]] (10.18%); 9,145 in [[New Jersey]] (5.11%); and 8,950 in [[California]] (5.00%). The remaining states with speaker populations larger than 1,000 are [[Pennsylvania]] (5,445), [[Ohio]] (1,925), [[Michigan]] (1,945), [[Massachusetts]] (2,380), [[Maryland]] (2,125), [[Illinois]] (3,510), [[Connecticut]] (1,710), and [[Arizona]] (1,055). The population is largely elderly: 72,885 of the speakers were older than 65, 66,815 were between 18 and 64, and only 39,245 were age 17 or lower.<ref>[http://www.mla.org/map_data_states&lang_id=609&mode=lang_tops&a=&ea=&order=r Language by State: Yiddish] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150919151951/http://www.mla.org/map_data_states%26lang_id%3D609%26mode%3Dlang_tops%26a%3D%26ea%3D%26order%3Dr |date=September 19, 2015}}, [[Modern Language Association|MLA]] Language Map Data Center, based on U.S. Census data. Retrieved December 25, 2006.</ref>

In the six years since the 2000 census, the 2006 [[American Community Survey]] reflected an estimated 15 percent decline of people speaking Yiddish at home in the U.S. to 152,515.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.census.gov |title=U.S. Census website |publisher=[[United States Census Bureau]] |access-date=October 18, 2009 }}</ref> In 2011, the number of persons in the United States above the age of five speaking Yiddish at home was 160,968.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.census.gov/prod/2013pubs/acs-22.pdf#page=12&zoom=auto,-265,62 |title=Camille Ryan: ''Language Use in the United States: 2011'', Issued August 2013 |access-date=January 21, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160205101044/http://www.census.gov/prod/2013pubs/acs-22.pdf#page=12&zoom=auto,-265,62 |archive-date=February 5, 2016 |url-status=dead }}</ref> 88% of them were living in four [[metropolitan area]]s – New York City and another metropolitan area [[Poughkeepsie–Newburgh–Middletown metropolitan area|just north of it]], Miami, and Los Angeles.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Basu |first1=Tanya |title=Oy Vey: Yiddish Has a Problem |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2014/09/yiddish-has-a-problem/379658/ |work=The Atlantic |date=September 9, 2014}}</ref>

There are a few predominantly [[Hasidic Judaism|Hasidic]] communities in the United States in which Yiddish remains the majority language including concentrations in the [[Crown Heights, Brooklyn|Crown Heights]], [[Borough Park, Brooklyn|Borough Park]], and [[Williamsburg, Brooklyn|Williamsburg]] neighborhoods of Brooklyn. In [[Kiryas Joel, New York|Kiryas Joel]] in [[Orange County, New York]], in the 2000 census, nearly 90% of residents of Kiryas Joel reported speaking Yiddish at home.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.mla.org/census_data_results&state_id=36&place_id=39853|title=Data center results] Modern Language Association]|access-date=April 3, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060923112824/http://www.mla.org/census_data_results%26state_id%3D36%26place_id%3D39853|archive-date=September 23, 2006|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2024/11/28/opinion/yiddish-hebrew-language-thriving.html |website=[[The New York Times]] |title=Opinion &#124; Yiddish is a Supposedly Dying Language That's Thrillingly Alive |date=November 28, 2024 |last1=McWhorter |first1=John }}</ref>

=== United Kingdom ===

There are well over 30,000 Yiddish speakers in the United Kingdom, and several thousand children now have Yiddish as a first language. The largest group of Yiddish speakers in Britain reside in the [[Stamford Hill]] district of North London, but there are sizable communities in northwest London, [[Leeds]], Manchester and [[Gateshead]].<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.thetimes.com/travel/destinations/uk-travel/england/london-travel/yiddish-once-again-speaks-for-itself-27bcvlf2qc9 |title=Yiddish once again speaks for itself |first=Jack |last=Shamash |date= March 6, 2004}}</ref> The Yiddish readership in the UK is mainly reliant upon imported material from the United States and Israel for newspapers, magazines and other periodicals. However, the London-based weekly ''[[Jewish Tribune (UK)|Jewish Tribune]]'' has a small section in Yiddish called {{lang|yi|אידישע טריבונע|rtl=yes}} {{lang|yi-Latn|Yidishe Tribune}}. From the 1910s to the 1950s, London had a daily Yiddish newspaper called {{lang|yi|די צײַט}} ({{lang|yi-Latn|Di Tsayt}}, {{IPA|yi|dɪ tsaɪt}}; in English, ''The Time''), founded, and edited from offices in [[Whitechapel Road]], by Romanian-born Morris Myer, who was succeeded on his death in 1943 by his son Harry. There were also from time to time Yiddish newspapers in Manchester, [[Liverpool]], [[Glasgow]] and Leeds. The bilingual Yiddish and English café [[Pink Peacock]] opened in Glasgow in 2021 but closed down in 2023.

=== Canada ===

[[Montreal]] had, and to some extent still has, one of the most thriving Yiddish communities in North America. Yiddish was Montreal's third language (after French and English) for the entire first half of the twentieth century. {{lang|yi-Latn|Der [[Keneder Adler]]}} (''The Canadian Eagle'', founded by [[Hirsch Wolofsky]]), Montreal's daily Yiddish newspaper, appeared from 1907 to 1988.<ref>CHRISTOPHER DEWOLF, "A peek inside Yiddish Montreal", ''Spacing Montreal'', February 23, 2008.[http://spacing.ca/montreal/2008/02/23/a-peek-inside-montreals-yiddish-universe/]</ref> The [[Monument-National]] was the center of Yiddish theater from 1896 until the construction of the Saidye Bronfman Centre for the Arts (now the [[Segal Centre for Performing Arts]]), inaugurated on September 24, 1967, where the established resident theater, the [[Dora Wasserman Yiddish Theatre]], remains the only permanent Yiddish theatre in North America. The theatre group also tours Canada, US, Israel, and Europe.<ref>Carol Roach, "Yiddish Theater in Montreal", ''Examiner'', May 14, 2012.[[MediaWiki talk:Spam-whitelist/Archives/2023/05#examiner.com|www.examiner.com/article/jewish-theater-montreal]]; "The emergence of Yiddish theater in Montreal", "Examiner", May 14, 2012 [[MediaWiki talk:Spam-whitelist/Archives/2023/05#examiner.com|www.examiner.com/article/the-emergence-of-yiddish-theater-montreal]]</ref>

Even though Yiddish has receded, it is the immediate ancestral language of Montrealers like [[Mordecai Richler]] and [[Leonard Cohen]], as well as former interim city mayor [[Michael Applebaum]]. Besides Yiddish-speaking activists, it remains today the native everyday language of 15,000 Montreal Hasidim.

=== Religious communities ===

[[File:Brooklyn Posters 1.jpg|thumb|A typical poster-hung wall in a Jewish section of [[Brooklyn]], New York]]

Major exceptions to the decline of spoken Yiddish are found in [[Haredi Judaism|Haredi]] communities all over the world. In some of the more closely knit such communities, Yiddish is spoken as a home and schooling language, especially in Hasidic, [[Lithuanian Jews|Litvish]], or Yeshivish communities, such as [[Brooklyn]]'s [[Borough Park, Brooklyn|Borough Park]], [[Williamsburg, Brooklyn|Williamsburg]], and [[Crown Heights, Brooklyn|Crown Heights]], and in the communities of [[Monsey, New York|Monsey]], [[Kiryas Joel, New York|Kiryas Joel]], and [[New Square, New York|New Square]] in New York (over 88% of the population of Kiryas Joel is reported to speak Yiddish at home.<ref>[http://www.mla.org/census_data_results&state_id=36&place_id=39853 MLA Data Center Results: Kiryas Joel, New York] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151016053859/http://www.mla.org/census_data_results%26state_id%3D36%26place_id%3D39853 |date=October 16, 2015 }}, Modern Language Association. Retrieved October 17, 2006.</ref>) Also in [[New Jersey]], Yiddish is widely spoken mostly in [[Lakewood Township, New Jersey|Lakewood Township]], but also in smaller towns with [[yeshiva]]s, such as [[Passaic, New Jersey|Passaic]], [[Teaneck, New Jersey|Teaneck]], and elsewhere. Yiddish is also widely spoken in the Jewish community in [[History of the Jews in Antwerp|Antwerp]], and in Haredi communities such as the ones in [[London]], [[Manchester]], and [[Montreal]]. Yiddish is also spoken in many Haredi communities throughout Israel. Among most Ashkenazi Haredim, Hebrew is generally reserved for prayer, while Yiddish is used for religious studies, as well as a home and business language. In Israel, however, Haredim commonly speak [[modern Hebrew]], with the notable exception of many Hasidic communities. However, many Haredim who use Modern Hebrew also understand Yiddish. There are some who send their children to schools in which the primary language of instruction is Yiddish. Members of anti-Zionist Haredi groups such as the [[Satmar (Hasidic dynasty)|Satmar Hasidim]], who view the commonplace use of Hebrew as a form of Zionism, use Yiddish almost exclusively.

Hundreds of thousands of young children around the globe have been, and are still, taught to translate the texts of the [[Torah]] into Yiddish. This process is called {{lang|yi|טײַטשן|rtl=yes}} ({{lang|yi-Latn|taytshn}}) – 'translating'. Many Ashkenazi yeshivas' highest level lectures in Talmud and [[Halakha]] are delivered in Yiddish by the [[rosh yeshiva]]s as well as ethical talks of the [[Musar movement]]. Hasidic [[rebbe]]s generally use only Yiddish to converse with their followers and to deliver their various Torah talks, classes, and lectures. The linguistic style and vocabulary of Yiddish have influenced the manner in which many [[Orthodox Judaism|Orthodox Jews]] who attend yeshivas speak English. This usage is distinctive enough that it has been dubbed "[[Yeshivish]]".

While Hebrew remains the exclusive language of [[Jewish prayer]], the Hasidim have mixed some Yiddish into their Hebrew, and are also responsible for a significant secondary religious literature written in Yiddish. For example, the tales about the [[Baal Shem Tov]] were written largely in Yiddish. The Torah Talks of the late Chabad leaders are published in their original form, Yiddish. In addition, some prayers, such as "[[God of Abraham]]", were composed and are recited in Yiddish.

=== Modern Yiddish education ===

[[File:Yiddishsign.JPG|thumb|A road sign in Yiddish (except for the word "sidewalk") at an official construction site in the [[Monsey, New York|Monsey]] hamlet, a community with thousands of Yiddish speakers, in [[Ramapo, New York|Ramapo]], New York]]

There has been a resurgence in Yiddish learning in recent times among many from around the world with Jewish ancestry. The language which had lost many of its native speakers during the Holocaust has been making something of a comeback.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.jewishsf.com/content/2-0-/module/displaystory/story_id/9529/edition_id/182/format/html/displaystory.html |title=Yiddish making a comeback, as theater group shows &#124; j. the Jewish news weekly of Northern California |publisher=Jewishsf.com |date=September 18, 1998 |access-date=October 18, 2009}}</ref> In Poland, which traditionally had Yiddish speaking communities, a museum has begun to revive Yiddish education and culture.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/europe/09/30/poland.jewish.revival/index.html |title=Poland's Jews alive and kicking |publisher=CNN |date=October 6, 2008 |access-date=October 18, 2009}}</ref> Located in Kraków, the [[Galicia Jewish Museum]] offers classes in Yiddish Language Instruction and workshops on Yiddish Songs. The museum has taken steps to revive the culture through concerts and events held on site.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.galiciajewishmuseum.org |title=Galicia Jewish Museum |publisher=Galicia Jewish Museum |access-date=December 22, 2011 |archive-date=November 27, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201127004003/https://galiciajewishmuseum.org/ |url-status=dead }}</ref>
There are various universities worldwide which now offer Yiddish programs based on the [[YIVO]] Yiddish standard. Many of these programs are held during the summer and are attended by Yiddish enthusiasts from around the world. One such school located within [[Vilnius University]] (Vilnius Yiddish Institute) was the first Yiddish center of higher learning to be established in post-Holocaust Eastern Europe. Vilnius Yiddish Institute is an integral part of the four-century-old Vilnius University. Published Yiddish scholar and researcher Dovid Katz is among the Faculty.<ref>{{cite web |author=Neosymmetria (www.neosymmetria.com) |url=http://www.judaicvilnius.com/en |title=Vilnius Yiddish Institute |publisher=Judaicvilnius.com |date=October 1, 2009 |access-date=October 18, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061022063739/http://www.judaicvilnius.com/en |archive-date=October 22, 2006 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

Despite this growing popularity among many [[American Jews]],<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2000-may-22-cl-32637-story.html |title=A Lasting Language  |work=Los Angeles Times |date=May 22, 2000 |access-date=October 18, 2009 |first=Mary |last=Rourke}}</ref> finding opportunities for practical use of Yiddish is becoming increasingly difficult, and thus many students have trouble learning to speak the language.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.forward.com/articles/6818/ |title=In Academia, Yiddish Is Seen, But Not Heard&nbsp;– |publisher=Forward.com |date=March 24, 2006 |access-date=October 18, 2009}}</ref> One solution has been the establishment of a farm in [[Goshen, New York]], for Yiddishists.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.yiddishbookcenter.org/pakn-treger/01-13/naftali-ejdelman-and-yisroel-bass-yiddish-farmers |title=Naftali Ejdelman and Yisroel Bass: Yiddish Farmers |publisher=Yiddishbookcenter.org |date=January 10, 2013 |access-date=January 18, 2013}}</ref>

Yiddish is the medium of instruction in many Hasidic {{lang|yi|חדרים}} {{lang|yi-Latn|khadorim}}, Jewish boys' schools, and some Hasidic girls' schools.

Some American Jewish days schools and high schools offer Yiddish education.

An organization called ''Yiddishkayt (יידישקייט)'' promotes Yiddish-language education in schools.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Yiddish in the Day Schools |url=https://yiddishkayt.org/yiddish-in-the-day-schools/ |access-date=2023-12-18 |website=Yiddishkayt |language=en-US}}</ref>

[[Sholem Aleichem College]], a secular Jewish primary school in [[Melbourne]] teaches Yiddish as a second language to all its students. The school was founded in 1975 by the [[Jewish Labour Bund (Australia)|Bund movement in Australia]], and still maintains daily Yiddish instruction today, and includes student theater and music in Yiddish.

=== Internet ===

[[Google Translate]] includes Yiddish as one of its languages,<ref>{{cite web |last=Lowensohn |first=Josh |url=http://news.cnet.com/8301-27076_3-10322250-248.html |title=Oy! Google Translate now speaks Yiddish |publisher=News.cnet.com |date=August 31, 2009 |access-date=December 22, 2011 |archive-date=March 11, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120311133357/http://news.cnet.com/8301-27076_3-10322250-248.html |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://translate.google.com/?hl=en#yi%7Cen |title=Google Translate from Yiddish to English |access-date=December 22, 2011}}</ref> as does [[Yiddish Wikipedia|Wikipedia]]. Hebrew-alphabet keyboards are available, and right-to-left writing is recognized. [[Google Search]] accepts queries in Yiddish.

Over eleven thousand Yiddish texts,<ref>{{cite web |title=Digital Library & Collections |url=https://www.yiddishbookcenter.org/collections |publisher=Yiddish Book Center |access-date=May 22, 2024}}</ref> estimated as between a sixth and a quarter of all the published works in Yiddish,<ref>{{cite web |title=David Mazower, White Goat Press |url=https://www.yiddishbookcenter.org/about/white-goat-press-0/david-mazower |publisher=Yiddish Book Center |access-date=May 22, 2024}}</ref> are now online, based on the work of the [[Yiddish Book Center]], volunteers, and the [[Internet Archive]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Yiddish Book Center's Spielberg Digital Yiddish Library |url=https://archive.org/details/nationalyiddishbookcenter |publisher=Internet Archives |access-date=January 10, 2014}}</ref>

There are many websites on the Internet in Yiddish. In January 2013, ''The Forward'' announced the launch of the new daily version of its newspaper's website, which has been active since 1999 as an online weekly, supplied with radio and video programs, a literary section for fiction writers and a special blog written in local contemporary Hasidic dialects.<ref>{{cite news |title=Yiddish Forverts Seeks New Audience Online |url=http://forward.com/articles/169919/yiddish-forverts-seeks-new-audience-online/ |access-date=January 10, 2014 |newspaper=Forward |date=January 25, 2013}}</ref>

Many Jewish [[ethnolect]]s influenced by Yiddish are available via online resources such as [[YouTube]].<ref name=":4">{{Cite web |title=Jewish French |url=https://www.jewishlanguages.org/jewish-french |access-date=2023-12-18 |website=Jewish Languages |language=en}}</ref>

Computer scientist [[Raphael Finkel]] maintains a hub of Yiddish-language resources, including a searchable [[dictionary]]<ref>{{cite web |last1=Finkel |first1=Raphael |title=Yiddish Dictionary Lookup|url=http://www.cs.uky.edu/~raphael/yiddish/dictionary.cgi |website=cs.uky.edu |access-date=June 3, 2016}}</ref> and [[spell checker]].<ref>{{cite web |last1=Finkel |first1=Raphael |title=spellcheck |url=http://www.cs.uky.edu/~raphael/yiddish/checkSpellUTF.cgi |website=cs.uky.edu |access-date=June 3, 2016}}</ref>

In late 2016, [[Motorola]] Inc. released its smartphones with keyboard access for the Yiddish language in its foreign language option.

On April 5, 2021, [[Duolingo]] added Yiddish to its courses.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://forward.com/culture/467106/i-took-duolingos-new-yiddish-course-for-a-test-drive-heres-what-i-found/ |title=I took Duolingo's new Yiddish course for a test drive. Here's what I found. |last=Kutzik |first=Jordan |date=April 5, 2021 |publisher=[[The Forward]] |access-date=April 6, 2021 }}</ref>