We have been engaged in a conversation many yeshiva students who are learning, but do so without knowing a "Jewish Language". I was surprised with the suggestion by Leon Wieseltier that Yiddish could be considered an appropriate "Jewish Language" to receive and perpetuate Jewish tradition. However, according to some historians, Rashi taught his students in (Old) French, as can be seen by his use of Old French to explain some difficult terms or unknown objects.
To further the discussion I would suggest that the newest "Jewish Language" is Yeshivish English which has been used by thousands of religious students for learning. This English is so filled with Talmudic and Hebrew terms, that unless you know the meanings of those terms you will probably be unable to really understand the Shiur. Just listen to any higher level Talmud Shiur and you will see how much of it is in Aramaic or Hebrew, though the Shiur is taught in English.
There is no question in my mind that fluency in Hebrew would be a better way to learn and teach. The fact is that our primary sources are in Hebrew and Aramaic (another Semitic language) and therefore fluency in Hebrew should help the serious student better understand the material. However, teaching in the vernacular of a country such as English in the United States or Yiddish in parts of Europe, has proven quite successful in receiving and perpetuating Jewish tradition. I do hope at some time in the future all our people will be fluent in Hebrew and will be able to learn and teach in Hebrew. However, for now while many of us are in Galut, if our goal is to receive and perpetuate Jewish tradition we should not discourage teaching and having our students actively translate the sources into English, less we discourage a multitude of interested students from learning.
In both Rav Aaron Lichtenstein's class and the Rav's (Rabbi Joseph Soloveitchik) class, I was always asked to translate and explain the sources I was reading out loud for them into English. Needless to say the learning, receiving and perpetuation of Jewish tradition in those classes were taking place on a very high level, though the classes were being taught in Yeshivish English.
Rabbi Stuart Grant
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/09/2017 09:06PM by mlb.
