CHRISTIAN AND JUDAIC DIALOGUE

JEWISH ROOTS IN AFRICA

YIDDISH UN YIDDISHKAIT

AND GOD CREATED WOMAN...

Yiddish. For many of us it is the language spoken by grandmother and grandfather when they wanted their grandchildren not to know what they were speaking about. Those who know this language since childhood find it helpful learning German and at the initial stage can use it as a substitute. Most of us came to know this language from a couple of popular songs, say, "Tum balalaika" and consider it not a language of full value but a chaotic mixture of German, Russian, Polish and Hebrew.

The 13th annual seminar on Yiddish and culture of the East-European Jewry was held in the town of Otvotsk (not far from Warsaw) on July 9-30. The seminar was organized in collaboration with a social and cultural association of Jews in Poland "Shrudborovyanka". 65 participants attended it. 29 were representatives of Poland, 36 - came from Ukraine, Russia and Israel. One participant was a citizen of Great Britain studying in Poland. One more was a citizen of Japan.