Matchmaker, Matchmaker (Accuracy in Yiddish Edition)

In my experience, the New York Times provides far more editorial input on opeds than any other newspaper.  The few times I have had pieces appear in the Times, they have gone through multiple iterations, as the very thoughtful editor raised issues, suggested changes, and checked facts. 

With that in mind, one would think that the Times, of all papers, would pay attention to an oped writer’s use of Yiddish.  I mean, careful editing + New York ought to = accurate Yiddish. 

But no.

In an otherwise excellent and informative oped on “Sexual Freelancing in the Gig Economy,” Moira Weigel wrote that old fashioned courtship sometimes occurred when “parents sought out a yenta to introduce their children at a synagogue mixer.” 

“Yenta,” however, was the name of the matchmaker in Fiddler on the Roof, not her occupation.  In Yiddish, a matchmaker is a shadkhn.  A yenta, on the other hand, is a gossip or a busybody.  Joseph Stein, who wrote the book for Fiddler, was thus making a play on words by naming his character Yenta, not unlike Charles Dickens’s use of Mr. Bumble for the officious beadle in Oliver Twist (or Jarndyce v. Jarndyce as the lawsuit in Bleak House), though of course meant more affectionately. 

In any case, shadkhn is a venerable profession in Jewish tradition, which these days may or may not be practiced by a yenta.  Traditionally, however, shadkhanim were men.  The writer Joseph Stein invented the female matchmaker for the purpose of the Broadway show.  In Sholem Aleichem’s original stories – collected as Tevye and His Daughters – the shadkhn was a man named Efrayim.

Yes, it’s a small thing.  But for all you Yiddish fans out there, let’s keep in mind that Yenta no more means matchmaker than Motl means tailor or Nachum means beggar.

Comments

[Captain Hruska Carswell, Continuance King]

A mistake like that is cringe worthy and detracts from the flavor of the piece, its a defect. A scratch and dent. I once read a book about Chicago land use and development. The book started out strong and then the author wrote "Michigan Street." (It's Michigan Ave or Blvd for you non-Chicagoans) I just rolled my "internal eyes," stopped reading it and donated it to Brandeis. To make such an error was fatal, especially from an author who should have had an intimate knowledge of geography and local lexicon. Same thing when traffic reporters refer to Chicago expressways as "freeways" or State's Attorneys as District Attorneys. Details, Details, Details...

[Hi there]

Actually, Yiddish and the stereotypical chicken soup was a symbol of European Ashkenazi jews. Since mosy US jews ate ashkenazim, they wrongly believe that their perspective is the only one that exists. Sephardic jews - those from morroco, tunisia, iraq, the Arabian peninsula and of course Isreal, have little or no connection to aNY of the cmom only held jewish symbols lIke gefilte fis aND yiddish. Actually, in Isreal, a majority of the populaton is already Sephardic and the older European Ashkenazis are a dwindling minorirty. You cannot hear Yiddish in Isreal except in very few places. Terms like yenta, gefilta fish and the like do not exist in Isreal except for a tiny percentage of seniors. That's good actually, Hebrew is the natural language of Jewish folk.

[Patrick S. O'Donnell]

"Hebrew is the natural language of Jewish folk." That's utter nonsense [be it modern or ancient Hebrew]: for most Jews, in particular those outside the state of Israel, their "natural" (native) language is English, French, Arabic, Russian, what have you (even, though less frequently, Yiddish, although today more as a written than spoken language). And even though Hebrew is (along with Arabic) an official language of the state of Israel, "According to a 2011 Government Social Survey of Israelis over 20 years of age: 49% report Hebrew as their native language, Arabic 18%, Russian 15%, Yiddish 2%, French 2%, English 2%, 1.6% report Spanish and 10%; other languages (among others Romanian, German and Amharic, which were not offered as answers by this survey). This study also noted that 90% of Jews and over 60% of Arabs have a good understanding of Hebrew." More than a few Mizrahi Jews in Israel have an Arabic dialect as their first language. Among most Jews in the U.S., familiarity with Hebrew owes largely to its liturgical use in synagogues.

[Captain Hruska Carswell, Continuance King]

Mr. O'Donnell is correct. My dad immediately before my Bar Mitzvah told me not to worry about "screwing up" because "none of our relatives will know what the hell your saying." Shalom everybody.

[Hi there]

You just proved the point...only 2% of Isreal jews use yiddish. Plus, the majority of the world's jews live in Isreal so the fact that Hebrew is the language not yiddish proves my point.
Again, Ashkenazi who dominate America think gefita fish and yiddish but it has no connection to Israeli culture or life. The american jews and their Ashkenazi culture are fast waning. The fact the American jews know little about Mizrahim speaks volumes.

[Hi there]

Oh captain, they didn't understand you because they don't know Hebrew. I doubt most have ever set foot in their homeland.

[Patrick S. O'Donnell]

Your are neither a careful reader nor a thoughtful observer (and you might proofread before you post): Less than 50% of Jews (over 20 yrs. of age) in the State of Israel in which Hebrew is an official language (self-)report(ed) Hebrew as their native tongue. While more Jews live in the state of Israel than in any other country (the number in the U.S. is fairly close but still thought to be less) in the world, the total number of Jews living outside the state of Israel, according to most estimates, is more than those living within the state (therefore, it is not true that 'the majority of the world's jews live in Isreal'). In any case, nobody of sound mind has ever claimed Yiddish is "_the_ language of the Jews." Moreover, one can hold Mizrahi Jews in equal regard to their Ashkenazim counterparts and admire the creative adaptability of so-called diasporic Jews generally as exemplified in developing languages like Yiddish...and Ladino for that matter. Finally, more or less homogeneous or self-contained cultures (an eminently contestable and if not perhaps silly notion) are on the wane throughout the world, so there would be nothing unique or unusual about "Ashkenazi culture" or any culture (save 'capitalist'; and provided we keep in mind with Raymond Williams that the word is 'one of the two or three most complicated words in the English language') being described as precipitously declining or quickly waning (indeed, the adjectival assessment with regard to Jews in North America might have been made long ago). So, what is your (credible or reasonable or plausible) point?

[Patrick S. O'Donnell]

correction: (an eminently contestable if not perhaps silly notion)