Yiddish Language Program
Once considered moribund, Yiddish, the language of Jews from Eastern and Central Europe, is alive and kicking across college campuses in the U.S. UVA's Jewish Studies Program, in cooperation with the German Department, is in the vanguard of the Yiddish revival.
Gabriel Finder has been teaching introductory Yiddish since 2002 to UVA students eager to explore the riches of Eastern European Jewish culture and history. For the first time in the 2007-2008 academic year, he is teaching not only introductory Yiddish but also intermediate Yiddish to a class of undergraduates, graduate students, and auditing professors. In addition to basic language instruction, both introductory Yiddish (YIDD 105 & 106) and intermediate Yiddish (YIDD 205 & 210) feature a lively dose of Yiddish folksongs and films.
It goes without saying that Yiddish classes don't go hungry. Hardly a week goes by that students aren't "noshing" Eastern European Jewish delicacies such as "lokshn kugel" (noodle kugel) in class while mastering the intricacies of Yiddish grammar. Every year students perform a medley of Yiddish songs in a holiday Channukah concert for a charitable cause and give themselves group names in Yiddish in honor of the occasion. This year's first-year Yiddishists call themselves "Di heyse bulbes" (The Hot Potatoes) and the second-year veterans are popularly known as "Di paykldike payklers" (The Drumming Drummers).
The study of Yiddish is paying dividends for students in other Jewish Studies Program courses. Some students in the fall course "The Culture and History of the Jews of Eastern Europe," taught jointly by Gabriel Finder and Jeffrey Grossman, are reading memoirs and even operettas in Yiddish for their term papers. We wonder what Mr. Jefferson would say if he knew that students are chattering in "mame loshn" on the Lawn and in their dormitories! Long live Yiddish at UVA!