Mordkhe Schaechter
Encyclopedia
Itsye Mordkhe Schaechter was a leading Yiddish linguist, as well as a writer and educator who spent a lifetime studying, standardizing and teaching the language. Dr. Schaechter, whose passion for Yiddish dated to his boyhood in Romania, dedicated his life to reclaiming Yiddish as a living language for the descendants of its first speakers, the Ashkenazic Jewry of central and eastern Europe. Written in the Hebrew alphabet
and containing Semitic
, Germanic
and other components, it is one of the three major literary languages in Jewish history
, the others being Hebrew and Aramaic. He was also the third editor of Afn Shvel (1957–2004), a prestigious Yiddish magazine. He died on February 15, 2007 after a long bout of illness following a stroke in the summer of 2001.
n town of Czernowitz (in Yiddish; known in Romanian as Cernăuţi, and in Ukrainian Chernivtsi
). He became fascinated with Yiddish as a pupil and later studied linguistics at the University of Bucharest
. He completed his doctorate in Linguistics at the University of Vienna
in 1951. Starting in 1947, he worked for the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research, as a zamler, or collector, for the YIVO Archives in the post-war D.P. camps in Austria.
in New York. Besides this, he also taught Yiddish language in the intensive Uriel Weinreich
Program in Yiddish Language, Literature & Culture, a joint project of YIVO
and Columbia University, since its inception in 1968 until 2002. He has also taught Yiddish courses at the Jewish Theological Seminary of America
(1960–1962), Jewish Teacher's Seminary-Herzliah (1962–1978) and Yeshiva University
(1968–1973) and has instructed many distinguished scholars and professors of Yiddish language, literature and Jewish history throughout the world.
In the 1980s, he was associate editor of The Great Dictionary of the Yiddish Language and, from 1961 to 1972, he was associate editor of The Language and Culture Atlas of Ashkenazic Jewry.
Prize, the most prestigious Yiddish literary award, in 1994; the Khayim Zhitlowsky
Award in 1984; and the Osher Schuchinsky Award from the World Congress for Jewish Culture in 1986.
His achievements in the cultural sphere are no less impressive than those in the literary or academic sphere. He is the founder of the League for Yiddish and served as its executive director from the inception of the organization in 1979 until his retirement in 2004. In 1964 he founded Yugntruf
- Youth for Yiddish together with several of his students, and he served as its official advisor until 1974.
family has been very productive in the field of Yiddish culture. His mother, Lifshe Schaechter-Widman, wrote a memoir, Durkhgelebt a Velt (A Full Life) in 1973, and served as a resource for folksong researchers with her recording "Az Di Furst Avek" (When You Go Away). His sister, Beyle Schaechter-Gottesman
, is a Yiddish poet and songwriter; and she has published books together with Charne Schaechter, her sister-in-law. Dr. Schaechter's daughter, Gitl Schaechter-Viswanath
is also a Yiddish poet; his son Binyumen (Ben) Schaechter
is a composer and musical director in Yiddish and English; daughter Rukhl Schaechter is a journalist with the Yiddish Forward
; daughter Eydl Reznik teaches Yiddish among the ultra-Orthodox community in Tsfat
, Israel
. His nephew, Itzik Gottesman, is an editor of The Forward
and the Tsukunft
, and a scholar of Yiddish folklore. All sixteen of his grandchildren speak and read Yiddish fluently.
Hebrew alphabet
The Hebrew alphabet , known variously by scholars as the Jewish script, square script, block script, or more historically, the Assyrian script, is used in the writing of the Hebrew language, as well as other Jewish languages, most notably Yiddish, Ladino, and Judeo-Arabic. There have been two...
and containing Semitic
Semitic
In linguistics and ethnology, Semitic was first used to refer to a language family of largely Middle Eastern origin, now called the Semitic languages...
, Germanic
Germanic languages
The Germanic languages constitute a sub-branch of the Indo-European language family. The common ancestor of all of the languages in this branch is called Proto-Germanic , which was spoken in approximately the mid-1st millennium BC in Iron Age northern Europe...
and other components, it is one of the three major literary languages in Jewish history
Jewish history
Jewish history is the history of the Jews, their religion and culture, as it developed and interacted with other peoples, religions and cultures. Since Jewish history is over 4000 years long and includes hundreds of different populations, any treatment can only be provided in broad strokes...
, the others being Hebrew and Aramaic. He was also the third editor of Afn Shvel (1957–2004), a prestigious Yiddish magazine. He died on February 15, 2007 after a long bout of illness following a stroke in the summer of 2001.
In Europe
Dr. Schaechter was born in the then RomaniaRomania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...
n town of Czernowitz (in Yiddish; known in Romanian as Cernăuţi, and in Ukrainian Chernivtsi
Chernivtsi
Chernivtsi is the administrative center of Chernivtsi Oblast in southwestern Ukraine. The city is situated on the upper course of the River Prut, a tributary of the Danube, in the northern part of the historic region of Bukovina, which is currently divided between Romania and Ukraine...
). He became fascinated with Yiddish as a pupil and later studied linguistics at the University of Bucharest
University of Bucharest
The University of Bucharest , in Romania, is a university founded in 1864 by decree of Prince Alexander John Cuza to convert the former Saint Sava Academy into the current University of Bucharest.-Presentation:...
. He completed his doctorate in Linguistics at the University of Vienna
University of Vienna
The University of Vienna is a public university located in Vienna, Austria. It was founded by Duke Rudolph IV in 1365 and is the oldest university in the German-speaking world...
in 1951. Starting in 1947, he worked for the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research, as a zamler, or collector, for the YIVO Archives in the post-war D.P. camps in Austria.
In America
When Dr. Schaechter came to America in 1951, he served in military intelligence in the United States Army during the Korean War. Following this, he resumed his association with YIVO and began teaching and writing. He continued his work as a bibliographer and proofreader (1954–1956), and then, from the 1970s until 1986, he was a bibliographer, proofreader and finally editor of YIVO’s Yiddishe Shprakh, a journal devoted to the pronunciation, grammar and vocabulary of standard Yiddish. He also founded the Committee for the Implementation of the Standardized Yiddish Orthography in 1958. From 1981 until his retirement in 1993, he was Senior Lecturer in Yiddish Studies at Columbia UniversityColumbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
in New York. Besides this, he also taught Yiddish language in the intensive Uriel Weinreich
Uriel Weinreich
Uriel Weinreich was a linguist at Columbia University. Born in Vilnius , he earned his Ph.D. from Columbia, and went on to teach there, specializing in Yiddish studies, sociolinguistics, and dialectology...
Program in Yiddish Language, Literature & Culture, a joint project of YIVO
YIVO
YIVO, , established in 1925 in Wilno, Poland as the Yidisher Visnshaftlekher Institut , or Yiddish Scientific Institute, is a source for orthography, lexicography, and other studies related to the Yiddish language...
and Columbia University, since its inception in 1968 until 2002. He has also taught Yiddish courses at the Jewish Theological Seminary of America
Jewish Theological Seminary of America
The Jewish Theological Seminary of America is one of the academic and spiritual centers of Conservative Judaism, and a major center for academic scholarship in Jewish studies.JTS operates five schools: Albert A...
(1960–1962), Jewish Teacher's Seminary-Herzliah (1962–1978) and Yeshiva University
Yeshiva University
Yeshiva University is a private university in New York City, with six campuses in New York and one in Israel. Founded in 1886, it is a research university ranked as 45th in the US among national universities by U.S. News & World Report in 2012...
(1968–1973) and has instructed many distinguished scholars and professors of Yiddish language, literature and Jewish history throughout the world.
In the 1980s, he was associate editor of The Great Dictionary of the Yiddish Language and, from 1961 to 1972, he was associate editor of The Language and Culture Atlas of Ashkenazic Jewry.
Achievements
Dr. Schaechter received the Itzik MangerItzik Manger
Itzik Manger was a prominent Yiddish poet and playwright, a self-proclaimed folk bard, visionary, and ‘master tailor’ of the written word...
Prize, the most prestigious Yiddish literary award, in 1994; the Khayim Zhitlowsky
Chaim Zhitlowsky
Chaim Zhitlowsky was a Jewish socialist, philosopher, social and political thinker, writer and literary critic born in the Russian Empire ....
Award in 1984; and the Osher Schuchinsky Award from the World Congress for Jewish Culture in 1986.
His achievements in the cultural sphere are no less impressive than those in the literary or academic sphere. He is the founder of the League for Yiddish and served as its executive director from the inception of the organization in 1979 until his retirement in 2004. In 1964 he founded Yugntruf
Yugntruf
Yugntruf , or "Youth for Yiddish" is an organization of young Yiddish-speaking adults that is dedicated to the spread of the Yiddish language through various programs and events. It was founded by David Roskies and Gavi Trunk under the guidance of the late Dr. Mordkhe Schaechter in 1964...
- Youth for Yiddish together with several of his students, and he served as its official advisor until 1974.
Family
The entire Schaechter-GottesmanSchaechter-Gottesman
The Schaechter-Gottesman family is a leading family in Yiddish language and cultural studies.Members include:*Lifshe Schaechter-Widman*Mordkhe Schaechter - Yiddish linguist, teacher, and writer...
family has been very productive in the field of Yiddish culture. His mother, Lifshe Schaechter-Widman, wrote a memoir, Durkhgelebt a Velt (A Full Life) in 1973, and served as a resource for folksong researchers with her recording "Az Di Furst Avek" (When You Go Away). His sister, Beyle Schaechter-Gottesman
Beyle Schaechter-Gottesman
Beyle Schaechter-Gottesman is a Yiddish poet and songwriter.-Biography:She was born in Vienna into an Eastern-European, Yiddish-speaking family; her family left for Czernowitz, Ukraine and settled there when Schaechter-Gottesman was a young child...
, is a Yiddish poet and songwriter; and she has published books together with Charne Schaechter, her sister-in-law. Dr. Schaechter's daughter, Gitl Schaechter-Viswanath
Gitl Schaechter-Viswanath
Gitl Schaechter-Viswanath is a Yiddish-language poet who was born in The Bronx, New York, USA. She grew up in a Yiddish-speaking home and attended Yiddish schools as a child. She began writing poetry, much of which was published in the journals Yugntruf and Afn Shvel, in 1980...
is also a Yiddish poet; his son Binyumen (Ben) Schaechter
Binyumen Schaechter
Binyumen Schaechter is a Yiddish composer and performer, as well as conductor of the Jewish People's Philharmonic Chorus and the Pripetshik Singers, an ensemble of native-Yiddish-speaking children. They have performed at Lincoln Center, Shea Stadium, Synagogues, and JCC's across the Northeast...
is a composer and musical director in Yiddish and English; daughter Rukhl Schaechter is a journalist with the Yiddish Forward
The Forward
The Forward , commonly known as The Jewish Daily Forward, is a Jewish-American newspaper published in New York City. The publication began in 1897 as a Yiddish-language daily issued by dissidents from the Socialist Labor Party of Daniel DeLeon...
; daughter Eydl Reznik teaches Yiddish among the ultra-Orthodox community in Tsfat
Safed
Safed , is a city in the Northern District of Israel. Located at an elevation of , Safed is the highest city in the Galilee and of Israel. Due to its high elevation, Safed experiences warm summers and cold, often snowy, winters...
, Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
. His nephew, Itzik Gottesman, is an editor of The Forward
The Forward
The Forward , commonly known as The Jewish Daily Forward, is a Jewish-American newspaper published in New York City. The publication began in 1897 as a Yiddish-language daily issued by dissidents from the Socialist Labor Party of Daniel DeLeon...
and the Tsukunft
Tsukunft
Tsukunft or Cukunft or Zukunft was the youth organization of the General Jewish Labor Union . It was founded in the year 1910 and in the year 1916 it was officially called Yugnt-Bund Tsukunft. Their newspaper was the Yugnt veker. In 1921 Tsukunft suffered a split, in which a pro-Communist group...
, and a scholar of Yiddish folklore. All sixteen of his grandchildren speak and read Yiddish fluently.
Publications
- Di Geviksn-Velt in Yidish ["Plant Names in Yiddish: A Handbook of Botanical Terminology”]. New York: League for Yiddish/YIVO Institute for Jewish Research, 2005.
- Yiddish II: An Intermediate and Advanced Textbook. Fourth Edition. New York: League for Yiddish, 2004.
- Fun Folkshprakh tsu Kulturshprakh [The History of the Standardized Yiddish Spelling], New York: League for Yiddish/YIVO, 1999.
- Kurs Fun Yidisher Ortografye [A Course of the Yiddish Orthography], 4th ed. New York: League for Yiddish, 1996.
- Trogn, Hobn un Friyike Kinder-yorn [Pregnancy, Childbirth and Early Childhood]. New York: League for Yiddish, 1991.
- Eynglish-Yidish Verterbikhl Fun Akademisher Terminologye [English-Yiddish Dictionary of Academic Terminology]. New York: League for Yiddish, 1988.
- Laytish Mame-Loshn [Authentic Yiddish]. New York: League for Yiddish, 1986.
- Mit A Gutn Apetit! Reshime Gastronomishe Terminen Bon AppétitBon AppétitBon Appétit describes itself as "a food and entertaining magazine" and is published monthly. Named after the French phrase for "Enjoy your meal", it was started by M. Frank Jones in Kansas City in 1956...
! [Yiddish Gastronomic Terminology]. New York-Hamden-Philadelphia: Foundation for a Living Yiddish, 1976. - Elyokum Tsunzers Verk: Kritishe Oysgabe, [The Works of Elyokum Zunser: A critical edition]. New York: YIVO Institute for Jewish Research, [2 volumes], 1964.
- Guide to the Standardized Yiddish Orthography. YIVO, 1961.
- Aktionen im Jiddischen: Ein sprachwissenschaftlicher Beitrag zur Bedeutungslehre des Verbums. Phil. Diss. Vienna 1951.