Sunday, August 29, 2004

Should've taken German III and IV . . .

My rudimentary German and ability to read Hebrew are insufficient for me to understand this Yiddish blog post which links to my Ortho-hippie post and comments about it.

I know, for example, that in the paragraph before the link to me, he's saying something about his payot reminding him that he is an Eved Hashem, and Williamsburg vs. Manhattan, and something about being with an Italian gentile, and something about having a role in life. And then, right before the link, he's got three adjectives for my blog, but I don't know what any of them mean . . . see how I can skim along and get the basic gist, while still being lost at sea? Should've continued my German studies in college . . . but nooooooooooo, someone had to go and use Hebrew to place out of the language requirement . . . . . .

Anyone out there who can read Yiddish and translate this for me? If so, please write to chayyeisarah[at]yahoo[dot]com and tell me what it means off-list. I'll choose the best translation and post it here.

I'm especially curious to know whether the writer thinks that I'm not Orthodox. I kind of got the feeling that he thinks I'm not, but I couldn't be sure.

***UPDATE***
Again, I can't be sure, but in this subsequent post, it looks to me like YiddisherFarbreng.blogspot is apologizing for suggesting that I'm not Orthodox just because I'm not attracted to men with "long, chassidishe payot." If that's the case, apology accepted. And I wish I understood the blog better, because part of the fascination of blogs is that you get a glimpse into the inner worlds of people whom I normally wouldn't have contact with (I do have heavy connections to a Chassidic community in the US, but they speak English to each other, so I think they are a different ballgame. And I have a former roommate who worked in Kiryas Joel . . . . hey, SHE should translate the blog for me!). I hope YiddisherFarbreng continues to read my blog, and I hope I find someone who speaks Yiddish so I can continue to read his.

I'm fascinated by the concept of a Yiddish blog. If he communicates primarily in Yiddish, how does he come to have an Internet connection? And if he has internet for, say, business purposes, there is still the question of who is reading his blog. The number of non-Chassidishe Jews who can read Yiddish fluently had dwindled alarmingly. Points to ponder . . . .

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