Center for Jewish Studies – Harvard University

Yiddish is a thousand-year-old Germanic fusion language that was once spoken by most of the world’s Jews and spread to every continent. Although the number of Yiddish speakers has decreased dramatically following the disasters of the twentieth century, Yiddish is still the mother tongue of many Orthodox and Hasidic Jewish communities. It also remains the basis of dynamic secular culture and, increasingly, a feminist revival of folk religion. Harvard students arrive at Yiddish for diverse reasons, such as: to speak with family elders, revitalize endangered languages, connect with Hasidic communities, develop an artistic practice, research history and literature, or participate in queer-affirming radical counter-culture.