Der Vortsman — February 2012
Whatever. Strange: Just as one reader asked a question, another posed a query that responded to the first — almost. Reader 1: “How would you say ‘whatever’ in Yiddish? I mean, the way that word is now used, dismissively, especially by teenagers.” Reader 2: “My parents used to say ‘nit gepidlt’ when they meant to dismiss something as unimportant. Does it have anything to do with ‘piddling?’” Der Vortsman informed Reader 2 that his memory or hearing was faulty…that the phrase his parents used was actually ‘nit gefidlt’ meaning “so I/you/it...
Read More2/5 | Birthday of Zemach Szabad
Today in Yiddishkayt… February 5 Birthday of Dr. Zemach Szabad, Physician and Activist Dr. Zemach (Tsemakh in Yiddish transliteration or Cemach in Polish spelling) Szabad was born in Vilna on February 5, 1864. In 1881, he moved to Moscow where he completed his medical studies at Moscow University. In 1894 Szabad returned to Vilna and worked as a physician at the local hospital. After he supported the 1905 Revolution, he was forced to leave Vilna for several years. During World War I, he provided care and support to Jews living near the front whose shtetlach were devastated by the...
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