With the weekly Torah cycle about to begin anew, it ought to come as no surprise that the Yiddish language is far from speechless. While scholars have spent centuries attempting to understand meanings of biblical words and phrases, Yiddish linguists came up with phrases containing the word “Torah” to show their profound understanding of people as well as life in general. The following Yiddish aphorisms not only furnish us with an insight to those Yiddish armchair philosophers of yesteryear but provide us with much food for thought.
A yossem hott dehr tatteh im yoh gemahcht, obber a Ben-Torah, leider nisht (His father succeeded in turning him into an orphan; but unfortunately, could not turn him into a Torah scholar). Torah cannot be inherited. While it is true that Torah dynasties exist producing generations of Torah scions, it is also true that there are sons who are simply incapable of following in their father’s footsteps. Just as character traits are not necessarily transmitted through a parent’s DNA, so too is the case with mastery of Torah.
Kennen Torah maint nisht ahz meh kenn nisht zindiken (Mastery of Torah does not mean that one is incapable of sinning). Just as there are criminals who possess law degrees, so too, are there sinners who possess proficiency in Torah. The following two ludicrous axioms have run rampant within Jewish America for far too long: “There are no Jewish alcoholics”; “There are no Jewishly observant criminals.” Knowledge of Torah should never be seen as a safeguard against improper behavior. Unfortunately, there has always existed a great divide between knowledge of the mitzvot and performance of mitzvot.
Torahs lokshin (Balderdash or poppycock. Literally, “Torah of noodles”). Torahs lokshin began as a retort to Torahs emmes (the Torah of truth). Whereas Torahs emmes is the equivalent of the contemporary idiom, “God’s honest truth,” Torahs lokshin would be the equivalent of retorting: “Fraud’s honest truth.” How noodles became an antonym to Torah or God, I will never know. An example of Torahs lokshin would be a pseudo scholarly paper demonstrating how on the first Shabbat of the Torah cycle one may begin reading from anywhere in the Torah that one pleases.
Vu Torah, dort iz chochmeh (Where there is Torah, there is wisdom). Many years ago, I recall telling a group of non-Jewish nursing students what Judaism has to say about death and dying. The overwhelming response I received was, “What your religion has to say makes so much sense.”
Torah iz di besteh schorah (Torah is the best merchandise). Over the centuries, whenever Jews were permitted to live in an open society, Torah was a hard sell to fellow Jews. In the Talmud we find teachings that tout the Torah as an elixir guaranteed to set everything right. One cannot help but see these teachings as a polemic against fellow Jews of that era rushing to embrace Hellenism. Torah iz di besteh schorah is pretty much a Yiddish restatement of that Talmudic teaching. Should anyone ever wish to engage you in a discussion that Torah is not the best merchandise, you might point out that Torah has impacted civilization more than any other text.
Although it will take 14 weeks until we encounter the word “Torah” in the weekly readings, let’s preempt that first occurrence with the above Yiddish aphorisms, reminding us that A yossem hot dehr tatteh in yoh gemacht, obber a Ben-Torah, leider nisht, Kennen Torah maint nisht ahz meh kenn nisht zindiken, Torahs lokshin, Vu Torah dort iz chochmeh, and Torah iz di besteh schoran.
Rabbi Shawn Zell has recently returned to New Jersey, after serving at a pulpit in Dallas. He possesses certification in teaching Yiddish. Rabbi Zell is the author of three books.
