Customer Reviews

The New Joys of Yiddish: Completely Updated

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First of all you may make the mistake I made and think that just because Leo Rosten's name is emblazoned in huge letters on the cover that this book was authored by him. He is deceased. In his absence the book has been completely gutted, the innuendo removed, the vulgarity lightened. The idea in the beginning was subversive. Bring to light the Yiddish language that had been excluded for so long from the European tradition, and let the gritty coloring of yiddish words speak for themselves. Instead of busying himself with a contrived story of yiddish culture, the first Joys of Yiddish really was just words. And the words were so good that they literally spoke for themselves. Just saying them and mulling them over was enough to expose the truth of where they came from, as well the lies of those who sought to repress them. This new book, The New Joys of Yiddish has swung completely the opposite direction. Now the book is filled with a contrived culture bound representation of Yiddish where Yiddish is all things Jewish. The author's daughters along with their hired script-nurse have recast the book in terms of modern Jewish identity politics, with Yiddish playing a lead role. If you are interested in such things, if for example you need to know that cockamammy is not Yiddish but sounds like a colorful Jewish expression, read on. I for one was saddened by their wholesale destruction of a great book that was keeping the candle burning for one of history's most subversive languages.

There's no need to repeat the deservedly fine comments already posted about Rosten's book. I simply wish to recommend buying any edition PRIOR to this 2001 revision by Lawrence Bush. While Bush does preserve Rosten's witty text intact, he spoils things by adding agenda-driven footnotes throughout. Bush castigates Rosten for making Reform jokes (please! I was raised Reform, and I found them funny) and ruins the humourous "shadchan" (matchmaker) entry by going on at length about Jewish domestic abuse (a problem to be sure, but no more so than in any other ethnicity). Lighten up, Bush! Finally, he inserts commercials for Reconstructionism and Jewish Renewal, which are valid expressions of Judaism but are post-1950s American in origin and NOT a part of the old Yiddish culture Rosten celebrates. Stick with Rosten's original text if you can find it.

"America ganef!" my Grandma would exclaim upon encountering a pleasant surprise. (See JOY page 115.) That's my reaction seeing this old friend renewed, broader, more current and more liberal in its Jewish scope, and more lively and attractive because of the illustrations and layout. Yet it is still the warm, friendly, funny book I remember from nearly 30 years ago.

Somehow the New Joys of Yiddish has more meaning for me now that nearly all those family members I remember using Yiddish often - some relying on it almost entirely, others just when they used a forceful, colorful, close-to-the heart expression (which was very often) - are gone. The book evokes memories of those good people to whom we owe so much - if only for having had the wisdom to select this country for us and our children.

The book is like a warm and witty friend whose conversation brightens your home and is rarely pedantic. (At a couple of places, such as his seven page exposition on the messiah, he does go on too long.)

Two types of people will find this book enjoyable: those who read the original edition and those who didn't.

So to the Rosten family and Larry Bush - mazal tov!

I used to have an old 70s paperback of the original version of "The Joys of Yiddish", but I eventually got rid of it because I found it a bit too superficial in its coverage. Being a language nerd I wanted to come to grips with Yiddish as a real language, and not just be able to drop the odd word into my conversation.

So I was in a bookshop on my lunch hour and this revised edition was sitting on the shelf beckoning to me and smiling. I gave in. It wasn't the definitions that got me, nor was it the occasional softpedalling when it came to etymology. The late great Israeli dissident Israel Shahak observed that the entry on "shaygets", which Rosten says is of "Possible Hebrew origin", obscures the fact that it's certainly derived from the Hebrew word "sheqets", which is used in the Torah to refer to things that are unclean - which in turn means that "shaygets" has a nastier and murkier edge than Rosten was willing to admit. (However, Webster's New World Hebrew-English dictionary, which is explicitly about modern Hebrew, defines "sheygets" only as "1. non-Jewish youngster; 2. [slang] cheeky fellow or young Jew with a non-Jewish appearance", so perhaps the word has lost some of its sting over the centuries. Then again, my Pocket Ben-Yehuda Hebrew-English Dictionary, dating from 1951, defines "sheqets" as an "unclean animal". Go figure.)

Elsewhere, I am forced to quibble with Rosten's suggestion that "shamus", meaning a cop or detective, is derived from the Yiddish "shammes". "Shammes" is pronounced (according to Rosten) SHAH-mes, but "shamus" is pronounced SHAY-mus, exactly like the Irish name "Seamus", which Rosten mentions as a possible origin but appears not to agree with. Slang being an oral thing, I am inclined to agree with those who regard shamus-meaning-cop as being of Irish origin.

I for one applaud Lawrence Bush's commentary, which has the virtue of leaving Rosten's original text unchanged but adds much-needed historical perspective. I don't understand the complaint that it's ruined the book, because the book is still there (and secondhand copies of the original are not hard to find.)

No, the real pleasure of the book is Rosten's unparalleled collection of jokes. There may be more comprehensive anthologies of Jewish humour, but few of them can boast Rosten's impeccable comic timing. The book is worth the cover price for the jokes alone. My favourite one is about the two Israeli spies captured in Cairo. They are put up against the wall and the firing squad marches in. The Egyptian captain asks the first spy "Do you have any last requests?" The first spy says "A cigarette," and the captain gives him a cigarette, lights it and turns to the second one. "Do you have any last requests?" he asks, and the second spy spits in the captain's face. "Harry!" says the first spy, "please! Don't make trouble!"

If you want to learn about Yiddish, and why wouldn't you, there are plenty of excellent scholarly and popular works to consult. Dovid Katz's "Words on Fire" is an absorbing history of the language and his hard-to-find "Grammar of the Yiddish Language" is an essential resource. I am currently awaiting delivery of Uriel Weinreich's much-praised Yiddish-English/English-Yiddish dictionary. In the meantime, Bush has done a good job of updating and expanding Rosten's very entertaining book. It's not the best book on Yiddish, but it's probably the most popular one and with good reason.

I hoped there'd me more actual language and less American-isms. But I get it now that I've read it - and the introductions. It was not intended as such. But I didn't really know that before I bought it. It's a classic, and I still really had fun with it.

If you are curious about the evolution American English and have a robust sense of humor, you must have this book. In his introduction, the author clarifies that this book is about the English language, emphasizing contributions to English from Yiddish. Having your copy at hand, so you can look up the Yiddish words as you hear them will reveal another layer of humor in any Mel Brooks movie.

When I acquired my first copy 25 years ago, I found that by just flipping pages and reading what grabbed my eye at the moment, I'd quickly find something profoundly interesting, something uplifting, and something hilarous, all within ten minutes.

The Joys of Yiddish is superb. It made me kvell and gave me much nachas.
Those of us who deal with older Yiddish speakers (or who go to Jackie Mason shows)
will find this book terrific. Leo Rosten is a real mentch.

I loved this book when it first came out. I was delighted to see the re-issue and it's even better now with the updates.

I bought two copies of this book for a friend. She keeps forgetting to let me have a look at it, but I'm sure it's as great as the previous edition, which I read some years ago.

Excellent. Well done. Good job of updating original. For those not familiar, there are lots of useful words and expressions to add to your vocabulary.