האם צריך ללמד ילדים ביידיש?

00:00 Speaker 1 This is Igris, and today we are looking at a letter that was recommended, a series of letters on a topic that were recommended by one of our regulars in the in-person, Shear, uh, Rabbi Witkus. He, uh, he has re-- And by the way, I would like to remind you that if you are listening or watching that, uh, you can recommend topics, and then we'll dive into them. And sometimes that's easier for me. Sometimes it's harder if you pick a hard topic, but sometimes it's easier because it's easier than going through maftechas to find one. So Rabbi Witkus suggested that we go into the topic of whether schools should be teaching in Yiddish, whether there's something gained, something lost, what the net positives or net negatives are of deciding to teach in Yiddish specifically, especially nowadays, where most people don't speak Yiddish at home. And Rabbi Witkus not only suggested it, he also was kind enough to send me a, uh, a, a, uh, essay on it, a collection of letters and discussions on it that made things a lot easier. I put that in the, um... Uh? Okay. I put that in the, um, in the chat so you can read it. It's incredible. It was written by Rabbi Levi Goldstein, so that is also very good. Uh, so I wanna thank Rabbi Levi Goldstein for the thing he wrote even though I didn't speak with him and Rabbi Witkus for directing me in the right direction on this. Let me show you some letters

01:02 Speaker 1 now that we've said thank you to everybody. Uh, the first letter we're looking at is Beis, Reish, Ayin, Aleph. It's from Tuvshin Yad Dalet, and this was written to the Anhalo of Yeshiva Vital Mutera in Kfar Chabad. They write to the Rebbe asking if they can switch. They had been learning in Yiddish for a while, and presumably, they wanted to switch to Ivrit, Lashon HaKodesh, to, uh, to help the students who speak Hebrew, Shalom HaBracha, or for other reasons. So these several classes have been, have been, uh, educated in Yiddish up until now. They're not sure whether that should, uh, whether that should continue in the coming zman, in the coming semester. So they're writing to the Rebbe asking, are they-- should they switch from Yiddish to another language in Kfar Chabad. And the Rebbe writes, . So he says, "Despite the reasons that you've given me," we don't know what the reasons were, "but despite the reasons that you've given me, I still think that you should continue these classes being educated in Yiddish specifically as they have been up until now." We see that the other side, the bad guys, that is the Yetezhara and the side of Tumah is fight-- the way that it fights, it fights bad, it fights for every detail. And it doesn't care about anything besides winning. That's not the way that we operate. Our Torah is not like that. We're careful even about shoelaces. So the Rebbe's saying here something very interesting. It's not an argument I've

02:42 Speaker 1 ever seen made before, and it is that the way that the, uh, the way that Torah fights a battle and the way that the Lumazed, that the other side fights a battle, is different in what they're willing to lose. The Torah is willing to lose nothing. We don't have acceptable casualties when it comes to from kite, when it comes to Torah observance. We're willing to be Mesonefesh over the, over the way that we tie our shoes, over the color of our shoes. It's, uh, unclear in that Gemara Masach Sanhedrin what exactly they're talking about. But it's a Gemara in Sanhedrin that says that during a Shas Hashmad, you will, uh, you, you sacrifice your life to protect even small Jewish customs because by us, there are no small Jewish customs. Our goal is not only to win, but to not give up anything. When it comes to the other side, who are the, the, the, the Lumazed, the Kaya Hatoma, the sources of impurity in the world, they're willing to give up anything in order to win. They don't care if they take heavy losses. We don't compromise the same way the rest of the world compromises. So on that note, says the Rebbe, uh, "When we're talking about something as serious as Chinuch, which is something we really can't compromise on, uh, you can give me the best reasons in the world, and I don't think we should, uh, we should change the way we're doing things. The classes should be taught in Yiddish

03:37 Speaker 1 exclusively as they have been up until now." So the very strong letter about maintaining Yiddish in schools that have been, have been teaching Yiddish up until now. The second half of this, of this letter, although he doesn't say it, implies that this was something somewhat governmental, that this wasn't coming from the school deciding for, uh, for Chinuch reasons they wanted to switch out of Yiddish. It implies that somebody was pushing back for whatever reason. So in response to people who wanna push back and get rid of Yiddish in the schools, the Rebbe stands very strong. Uh, the Rebbe's love for Yiddish is apparent, as are all our Rebbe's love for Yiddish. It's not always apparent when I talk because I don't love Yiddish all that much. But, uh, but it's, it's hard to miss in the Rebbe's work. The Rebbe has, uh, has one sikha that is effectively a love letter to the Yiddish language. I, I hate to call it that 'cause that sounds almost heretical, but at the same time, it really is a sikha that is a love letter to Yiddish. Uh, it's in volume chaf alef in the Hayyei Sarah in the back. Believe it or not, Ohel Chachmah, and I'm saying this on the recording in hopes that somebody who knows people at Ohel Chachmah can fix this, they are missing chelek chaf alef of Likutei Sichos. They just forgot it. So, uh, I had to find it in my, uh, in mafteach and then take it from my phone

04:34 Speaker 1 to the computer. I'm telling you that to tell you that that's why it looks horrible on your screen. But this is a sikha that's in the back in the Hayyei Sarah of chelek chaf alef of Likutei Sichos, and here the Rebbe describes the unique ma'alah of the Yiddish language over all other languages. And he mentions up top, uh, at the top of this, uh, at the top of this, uh, we're in entry daled, we're in sif daled of this, of this sikha. The Rebbe says that the Alter Rebbe brings in, in, uh, Igeres HaKodesh that the Baal Shem Tov would give Divrei Torah in Lashon Yiddish and not in Lashon HaKodesh. So the Baal Shem Tov when he taught, he would teach in Yiddish, and this is also the case with the, with the Maggid and the Tamid Maggid and the Alter Rebbe and all of our Rebbeim, that our Rebbeim specifically when it came to Chassidus, they taught Chassidus in Yiddish. And the Rebbe says there's a reason for that. The reason for that is that, uh, despite the fact that they could have taught it in any language, they certainly could have taught it in Lashon HaKodesh, they specifically chose to teach it in Yiddish, and this shows a certain, uh, a certain, uh, um, unity or a certain fitness between Yiddish and Chassidus. But then down here in He the Rebbe adds something, and he says that it's not just that the Rebbeim chose to speak in Yiddish when they were teaching

05:33 Speaker 1 Chassidus and therefore it's special to us, it's also that Chassidus and Yiddish are partners. They work together particularly well for two reasons. And the first reason that he brings in-- he does He, and then he breaks into a little alef and bais. The two reasons why it works better is that first of all, when it comes to Chassidus from the Rebbeim, uh, they use Yiddish specifically. This is a raya. Uh, and then if you go down past that parenthesis, that there's a ma'alah gabe under the that there's a ma'alah in Yiddish above other languages, and that it is . That Yiddish is for Chassidus. That there are some languages that just fit certain things. I don't know. I, I don't-- I can't think of any other examples off the top of my head. Uh, I have been-- that people tell jokes about German lullabies, you know, that it just, just, uh, just not a language that lends itself to soothing sounds. Um, there's certain things, certain languages lend themselves to certain disciplines, uh, and the language of Yiddish lends itself to the discipline of Chassidus. That's one reason. But there's a second reason here that he says. He says that the-- in addition to that, that the Rebbeim, once they spoke their Chassidus in Yiddish, it changed the fabric of the Yiddish language and made it a Chassidish language by the fact that they interacted with it. He says it's similar with what the Midrash Rabba says about any time we use something in gashmius

06:37 Speaker 1 or a thing could be used for gashmius, that it automatically-- excuse me, that we use something in gashmius for ruchnius or anything in gashmius that's mutar that can be used for ruchnius, that once it has that status, it's sort of permanently elevated. So we have two big ideas in this sikha. One is that the Rebbeim specifically used Yiddish 'cause it's the best language for Chassidus, and second of all, the Rebbeim specifically-- but, but because the Rebbeim specifically used Yiddish, it became the best language for Chassidus. But either way, there's a strong connection between the Chassidus and Yiddish and the power of Yiddish as a language over all other languages. It's not just the fact that, uh, that as the Rebbe brings in other places in the sikha, that this is something that, uh, that Ashkenazi Jewry, which is the major-- which has for a long time been the majority of Jewry, great, great Rabbonim who came out from all different suggim of Ashkenaz all spoke this language. Uh, there, there are a lot of reasons why the Rebbe feels very fondly about Yiddish. So perhaps explaining our letter back here, where he says, "Don't switch from the Yiddish language," part of that is that Yiddish is specifically . It's been mashir by our Rebbeim. It's been mashir by generations of Yidden. Believe it or not, Yiddish is much older than most people think. Yiddish is, uh, probably about a thousand years old. It could be even older than a thousand years old. Uh, the Yiddish

07:37 Speaker 1 language goes way, way back to, like, spice routes. There's articles about this in, in secular-- there's been secular studies in recent years trying to trace how old Yiddish is. It's a very old language, a near ancient language that our people have been speaking for a very long time. It is wonderful and important. Why am I telling you all of this? Because I'm about to spend the next few letters telling you why, nonetheless, we should not be teaching Yiddish in our schools, or at the very least, our schools should not be teaching in Yiddish according to the Rebbe. So for that, for that, for that hard turn, which surprised me, I wanna show you a letter. This letter is labeled Tes Tuv Tav Alef. I'm gonna show you three letters to this effect and three, uh, recorded Yechiduses. Yechidusin, Yechidios, Yechidusin. See, maybe that's why we should speak Yiddish. Tes-- This oneis from Tes Vav Yar of Tav Shin Kaf Tes, and this was written to, uh, Ɣod Bo, Ɣarechei HaTalmidim, Talmud Torah of Kfar Chabad, written to the parents and those who are involved in the, uh, in the Talmud Torah of Kfar Chabad. And the Rebbe writes, "I received your letter, and you ask, 'Shelas Hasafah BaYilmadu Im Tamidei HaTalmud Torah?' You asked me what language should be used in the education, in the school in Kfar Chabad." And the Rebbe says, "Ki Amada Besichat Telephoneis," as I responded on our telephone call. "Da At Yasha Kem SheIkker Tachlis HaTalmud Torah Hu LeChanech

08:41 Speaker 1 HaTalmidim BeYiras Hashem VeAhavasai." What is the point? We spoke about this on the phone, says the Rebbe. The point of a school, of a Talmud Torah specifically, is to give Chinuch for the students in Yiras Hashem and Ahavasai, in love and fear of Hashem. And also, Lamdam Torah Hashem Mitzos Avodah, to teach them the Torah of Hashem and Mitzvah. So what's the there to do? Teach Avah, teach Yirah, teach Torah, teach Mitzvahs. Asher Ruch HaMe'aretz Mad-- Mi-Midav Rachamim Min HaYam. This is, uh, this is considerable. It is, uh-- He's using, he's using the language of the Nach here, but this is a lot of material to cover, is what that means. Shelachen Isaranu Kol Kach Rachmeni Zam Avital Tinekesh BeBes Raben Achai Seruah Filabin BeBeis Hamikdash. And since there's a lot to cover, and there's a lot of ground we gotta get through with the students, the Chacham were very careful, and they told us we are not allowed to have any distractions when it comes to students, the d-- uh, the children. Tinekesh BeBes Raben. Children learning in school, you're not allowed to have them stop learning, even if it comes to building the Beis Hamikdash. It's more important they keep on learning. So we have a klal here that there's a lot they have to cover, very important things, and we're not allowed to have any distractions from these important things. Now the Rebbe explains. Hine Lo Pi Amur Muvan SheHasafah Ba-- SheHasafah BaYilmadu Tamidim LeZea Hu Ikker. That shows us that the

09:41 Speaker 1 language that the students are taught in is not the most important thing. Kim L'koda Amuras, the most important thing is what we just mentioned. Ya'ilu Ve'ariba BeKamos BeEichas V'Yiras V'Torah V'Mitzvahs, making sure that there is more quality and quantity of the proper education. And then the Rebbe says in this parenthesis, I'm not sure exactly what he means, but he says that this is particularly relevant in places where the language of-- with the language that children are taught in has an impact on the Yiras Shamayim. Now, I'm gonna skip down here 'cause here the Rebbe makes his point, uh, about a page down. Ma SheMaspidim Ma'alas MiYachedes MiNegele Sfas Yiddish. Now you write to me that, uh, Sfas Yiddish matters. Yiddish has all these incredible ma'alas. We talked about them a second ago. It's the lesh-- It's the language that is Mochsid V'Chasidim and that has been Machsid V'Chasidim. We saw back here, the Rebbe says it's something we don't sacrifice. It's like, uh, Arka Des Misana. It's something that we don't sacrifice in Shas Hashmad. These-- It's important. So the parents are pushing back into the-- pushing back. The Rebbe's telling them it's very important that we, that we focus on the things that really matter in a Cheder, which is, uh, Ahavas Hashem, Yiras Hashem, Torah, and Mitzvahs. And here the parents are saying, "But what about the importance of Yiddish?" And the Rebbe says back, Ma SheMaspidim Ma'alas MiYachedes MiNegele Sfas Yiddish. You're telling me that Yiddish has special ma'alas, has special advantages

10:45 Speaker 1 as a language. Tarich Ian Im Rechishas Ma'alas Elu Hi Metafkid HaTalmud Torah, HaMechavesh Al HaHorim V'Avira B'Bayis V'Kal HaAvin. The Rebbe says, "I'm not sure that's the school's responsibility to impart that valuable message of Yiddish." The Rebbe says it's a Tarich Ian if whether this important, uh, whether, whether getting these va-- whether getting this valuable thing, which is Yiddish, is the job of a school or whether it's the job of the t-- parents or the aver in the home. What the Rebbe is saying throughout this letter, though we jumped around a little, and you're gonna see it again in a few more letters, is that given i-- the importance of students learning Torah, we can't spend time or waste time on them learning a language or struggling through a language, given that every moment that they have is precious and the most important priority is to make sure that they know Torah, Mitzvahs, and Av and Yirah. And as for the claim that Yiddish is very special, the Rebbe says, "I agree. Do it at home." Who said that this was the school's job? The school has exactly one job, which is to make sure the students leave with Ahavas Hashem, Yiras Hashem, Torah, and Mitzvahs, and we can't be mevatal that even for the Binyan Beis Hamikdash, let alone to teach them a second language. You'll see this a little bit more clearly in this letter over here. This letter is labeled Hey Tuf Daled. It's from Chaf Ches Nissan of Tav Shin Yud

11:45 Speaker 1 Zayin. It is difficult to read 'cause it's a bad photocopy, but I'll make it a little bigger for you. The Rebbe says, "Shalom Ubraham." We're going to skip down here. Ma SheKalav Be'eiza Lashon Yilmadim BaChurim VeHaTalmidim. You ask me what language you should use when you are learning with the Bachurim and the, and the students. Kemich Tzedekhem LaIdem Es Mitzvas Hashem. What is your job as a teacher? We're seeing a theme here. Your job is to teach them the Mitzvas of Hashem. Ve'eila SheLo Asanah, and the things that they're not allowed to do. BeNegele Payel, practically. Your job is to teach them practically how to be a Yid. Muvan, so therefore it should be understood. She'ein Zman L'chaches BeLimudim Elu We don't have time for them to figure out a language that they don't know already. So the school should be teaching the language that the students speak right now, their first languages. The time should be used not to teach them another language that they don't know already, but to instill in them a and this is simple to understand, easy to understand. So we're seeing between these two letters a, uh, a sort of, uh, a footnote on the importance of Yiddish. We have back here that the Rebbe says, "If they already are speaking Yiddish in their classrooms, absolutely stick with it. Let nothing get in the way of it." If people speak Yiddish and are learning in Yiddish, there's something special about Yiddish. Don't let the system, the government, or any

12:56 Speaker 1 other, any other interests touch that because Yiddish is a language that is for Hasidism by Hasidism. At the same time, the importance of a school, a school's job is to give us Yid-- is to give children and mitzvahs, and if anything takes away from that, even the building of the and certainly the instruction of a language they're not familiar with, then it just doesn't belong in the school in the first place. Now, that doesn't mean that you don't try to push in that direction. There is one more letter I wanna show you. Zion-- Tuv Shin Pe Zion is the label on the letter. It's from Tuv Shin Daled, so it's quite an early letter. Here the Rebbe writes, and he says, in response to your question about what language to teach in, the way you've described things, uh, our advice is I think that for temporarily, temporarily you should teach the students in English. And then over time work that they will eventually know Yiddish. And then, and then transition them into speaking Yiddish. And based on what you're telling me, it sounds like you'll be able to accustom the students to Yiddish. Perhaps by doing review sessions in Yiddish. This is the Rebbe's advice, is 'cause this will also make the people who understood the first time a little bit sharper, the Rebbe says. Or set aside specific times. Or make certain times where they'll specifically learn Yiddish. Maybe do both of these things. So Rebbe's saying here that, uh, that definitely make an

14:20 Speaker 1 effort for them to pick up Yiddish in some other way, but not on the dime of their Torah studies. Either there should be time outside of their Torah studies where they're studying Yiddish as a language, and then ultimately, after a little while, you'll be able to transition them into learning in Yiddish or perhaps, uh, do the review sessions in Yiddish. So teach them the first time in a language they understand, and then go back and teach it again in Yiddish, so that they feel like they're, uh, they're slowly picking up the language. And the goal is to eventually have them speaking Yiddish because there is a real value to Yiddish. Besides the things that I mentioned, the circle that we learned together, there's a simple fact that a large amount of Torah Hasidism is written in Yiddish, and it's very difficult to access it if your Yiddish is no good. So it's important for students to ultimately figure out Yiddish. At the same time, not on the, not, not on the dime of their, of their basic Torah studies. We have, uh-- The reason why I'm reading these letters in that way, although it's not always immediately apparent from the exact wording of the letter that this is exactly what the Rebbe is saying, is because I also have these that I wanna show you. Uh, and these are on your supplemental document. Some of these-- one of these is a transcript of a recording. And once again, I pulled all of these from that

15:14 Speaker 1 document that Rabbi Witkes was kind enough to provide. Uh, Rabbi Cousin, he writes that, uh, sometime in the nineteen seventies, that would be the, uh, that would be the lameds, I believe, right? That would be the lameds. Uh, at that time in the seventies, most of the students in their school, he was the, uh, he was involved in the Chabad Yeshiva in London. Maybe it was the Rosh Yeshiva, I don't know. He said most of the students in their school spoke exclusively English, and the question-

15:32 Speaker 2 Headmaster.

15:33 Speaker 1 Huh?

15:34 Speaker 2 Headmas- headmaster.

15:35 Speaker 1 Headmaster, excuse me. So most of the students then spoke English exclusively, and the question was whether they should teach Yiddish or English. Some of the parents demanded that Yiddish be taught even though the students did not speak Yiddish, and if that sounds familiar to you, all it means is that you live in an Anash community. So the-- there was a bunch of people who don't speak Yiddish in their homes, but they demand that the school teach the Yiddish. So since I didn't know what to do, I had with the Rebbe at that time, and I asked him what to do, and the Rebbe told me this. Here's the quote. Quo-quote from the Rebbe. "If they want the students to be taught the Yiddish language, then speak Yiddish with them in the lunchroom, in the yard at recess, but don't use Chumash as the tool to teach them Yiddish. They should study Chumash only in the language that they understand." What the Rebbe's saying here is that absolutely teach them Yiddish in times that don't necessarily have big implications. But if, God forbid, a student doesn't understand their Torah studies because they're trying to learn a second language, we've lost a lot more than we've gained. Speak Yiddish at recess, speak Yiddish in the lunchroom, but not Yiddish in the classroom unless the students speak Yiddish as a first language. This one is a recording, an actual transcript of a recording where you can listen to the ichidis. So this is Mr. Frank Lautenberg. I have

16:32 Speaker 1 no idea who he is or was, but I do know what the recording says. This is a transcript of the recording.

16:36 Speaker 3 He was-

16:37 Speaker 1 Huh?

16:38 Speaker 3 He, he was a senator in New Jersey, and that ichidis took place in the seventies. He was then a, a knocker in the young leadership of the, uh, UJA or one of those organizations. They, they came to ichidis 'cause Rebbe, there's a whole... So the ichidis, I, I think the recording maybe about an hour or so, but-

16:57 Speaker 1 Oh, wow. Thanks. That's who he is. Uh, the Rebbe says the following, and this is a quote. The Rebbe says, "I'm not in favor of the yeshivas that are very enthusiastic about forcing people to teach all subjects in Yiddish such as Gemara, et cetera. I'm not enthusi-- I'm not enthusiastic about it. We are spending a lot of time to learn a new language, and after they've learned it, they have a language barrier, they cannot speak fluently, and then they're thinking in English, and it's a pity on the time lost. As I said before, the building is burning. It's not a normal time, and to say it in a good way, it is a computer error. A computer must have the results in one second." The Rebbe is saying here what is the reality for people who speak a second language not that well, uh, which is that when they, they, they, they translate in their heads. So if you have a student who speaks English and they've been taught to teach from Chumash to Yiddish, but their first language is English, then what they're really doing when they learn Chumash is that they are doing Chumash, and then they're translating that in their mind to English, and then spitting back the translation in Yiddish for their teacher. That's a lost moment. So, uh, the building's burning, we don't have time for such things. And furthermore, as the Rebbe says down here, think of it like a computer. We wouldn't accept a computer that needed to,

17:52 Speaker 1 uh, that needed to s- that need to, needed to pause before giving its results. So the Rebbe is not in favor of schools doing this. One more. This is Rav Arend of Sufrin. This is the ichidis from Chaf Adar Sheni of Chaf He. And in this story, uh, most of the children in his school, which was the Lubavitch House School in London, were speaking English at home. But in class, about half the parents wanted their children to be taught in Yiddish, and one child actually left the school because, uh, their parents wanted them to teach i-- wanted them to teach in Yiddish so badly. So they, they were worried they're losing students over this. They asked the Rebbe what their policy should be. A familiar story, and the Rebbe responds, this is a quote, "Tell the parents who want everything taught in Yiddish that they most probably also want their children to grow up to be Shem ve-Et

20:15 Speaker 4 instruction, the Rebbe does not feel is justified. If people do, uh, not if, we do nonetheless want them to ultimately transition to understanding Yiddish better and the Rebbe's etza for that if they don't speak it fluently already is during recess time, during break time, perhaps when they're, uh, perhaps when there's, when a story is being told in one letter the Rebbe suggested, perhaps while reviewing classes, so when they hear things for a second time, they're able to hear it in Yiddish. But as a, uh, as a priority in the school, the Rebbe does not seem to feel it's a strong priority. The priority of a school is Torah and mitzvahs, av and yirah, and Yiddish if it works, and if it doesn't work, then absolutely not. Uh, and I think that's, uh, I think that's pretty clear from all of these letters, these sichas, and from the ichudis that we've looked at. Okay, that's it. Thank you very much. Questions, comments?