(Zhargon of American Jews, by Warner Bass [aka The W])
Yiddish today, in too many respects (especially among our youth), has ceased to be a language. Rather, it has devolved into a collection of funny sounding words and expressions; a zhargon. This current state of Yiddish, as a zhargon, is deleterious to our people in many ways.
Most obviously, it reduces a great language with a great cultural background to rot. While it may be fun to hear token phrases tossed around every now and then, the thought of the theatre, music, and political discourse was had in this language makes today’s usage appear weak at best.
The second, and equally deleterious, point is that Yiddish as a zhargon in fact acts as a Platonic shadow for the Jewish people of America. Zhargon gives assimilated Ashkenazi Jewry in America the illusion of a national culture and identity. For example, if a fellow Jew were to utter a few token words of Yiddish zhargon, and I understand it, we are connected but not in “real tangible life”.
The zhargon in fact provides today’s Ashkenazic-American Jewry with a connection to a lesser extent than the Zionism of Zhitlovsky’s day. Zhitlovsky said, “Zionism binds the assimilated youth with the Jewish people, but only in its thinking process, not in its real tangible life…”
Today’s zhargon fails to even bind us in our collective thinking process. I know plenty of people who can utter a few phrases of zhargon, but could they think in Yiddish?...I think not.
However, year after year there emerges some new book or product that capitalizes on our people’s fixation with their zhargon and not their language. The assimilatory current working in conjunction with the over-saturated market makes sure that the Platonic shadow of a Jewish culture and Jewish nation in America continues to exist.
This Platonic shadow functions as dangerously as any other; by keeping us content with the artificial while what is real crumbles.
Today’s zhargon is only one example of such a shadow that makes us think that Jews as a people are in good shape.
In order to put an end to the disintegration of our culture we must first reject the shadows cast before us. We must affirm that saying “oy” when we are upset constitutes neither a complete culture, nor a complete language. In doing so we must also pledge to rebuild our real culture and real language just as the Temple was rebuilt after the Babylonians destroyed the first. And just as our ancestors returned from exile to re-erect the great structure, so must today’s Jewry return from the exile of assimilation to re-erect our great culture.
In 1900 the current of the Chicago River was reversed “to make it carry and dilute the city’s sewage and industrial wastes into the Illinois River, instead of into Lake Michigan, the source of the city’s drinking water.” The Chicago River pre-1900 is very similar to assimilatory current that so afflicts our people today. Our sewage, market-saturated American culture, is being both produced and consumed by our assimilated peoples (in a most trite feedback loop). It is our duty to reverse the assimilatory current, sending its sewage off down a proverbial Illinois river never to be seen again. The fresh water of our people’s proverbial Lake Michigan will be our true Jewish culture. This true culture will not only quench the thirst of our people, but give them what they need to re-grow a magnificent nation “...worthy of being a member of equal standing in the family of nations constituting humanity!”
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This is one of many of my writtings from my journal דאָס ייִדיש שפּיגל which was handed out at my school last June. If you'd like a copy feel free to contact me (check out my profile) and I'm sure something could be arranged.
4 months ago
2 comments:
Just to play devil's advocate here, what would you say to a person who says that it is wrong to ascribe yourself to any other culture besides the one you were directly raised in, be that a culture that utlizes zhargons or not, because that is what you yourself are a product of. If you are a person that is accustomed to saying oy that is part of where you are from, rather than being fully yiddish, if you are in fact not from a yiddish speaking family, etc. I don't necissarily agree because that goes somewhat against becoming intellectually separate, but it's a point worth refutation I think...
Bertrand Russell - The History of Western Philosophy
^it's a book that cronologically covers all of western philosophys most prominant figures. it'd probably be good for you just because i know you aren't overly interested in most purely philosophical stuides, but as someone who is i think a general knowledge is at least necessary, and this is a pretty damn good book to get it from...
"Revolution minded Reaction" (as i guess one can call it) has its pecularities but surely those who would and should be attracted to it are void or semi-void of a cultural background that will best suit them For Revolution. I am of the belief that just because one was not raised with a Peticular culture doesn't mean that culture int a part of them and Should not be reclaimed. It can be a fact that the culture one is a product of is garbage... American... cough... cough...
Now don't get me wrong, American culture as an international "general human culture has the potential to be a great thing.. However, it can only reach that potential when there are "nations" to make up that international.
"saying “oy” when we are upset constitutes neither a complete culture, nor a complete language."
Your hypothetical person is justified in whatever employment of language he or she wants to do, however all I'm saying is don't act or pretend like your employment is representative of the once/ still great culture that was/is had in it.
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