Editing Yiddish (section)

===== 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>