Itsye Mordkhe Schaechter ( yi, איציע מרדכי שעכטער; December 1, 1927 – February 15, 2007) was a leading
Yiddish
Yiddish (, or , ''yidish'' or ''idish'', , ; , ''Yidish-Taytsh'', ) is a West Germanic language historically spoken by Ashkenazi Jews. It originated during the 9th century in Central Europe, providing the nascent Ashkenazi community with a ve ...
linguist
Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. It is called a scientific study because it entails a comprehensive, systematic, objective, and precise analysis of all aspects of language, particularly its nature and structure. Linguis ...
, writer, and educator who spent a lifetime studying, standardizing and teaching the language.
[Saxon, Wolfgang (February 16, 2007).]
Mordkhe Schaechter, 79, Leading Yiddish Linguist
. ''The New York Times''. p. A21.
Schaechter, whose passion for
Yiddish
Yiddish (, or , ''yidish'' or ''idish'', , ; , ''Yidish-Taytsh'', ) is a West Germanic language historically spoken by Ashkenazi Jews. It originated during the 9th century in Central Europe, providing the nascent Ashkenazi community with a ve ...
dated to his boyhood in Romania, dedicated his life to reclaiming Yiddish as a living language for the descendants of its first speakers, the
Ashkenazic
Ashkenazi Jews ( ; he, יְהוּדֵי אַשְׁכְּנַז, translit=Yehudei Ashkenaz, ; yi, אַשכּנזישע ייִדן, Ashkenazishe Yidn), also known as Ashkenazic Jews or ''Ashkenazim'',, Ashkenazi Hebrew pronunciation: , singu ...
Jewry of central and eastern Europe. He was also the third editor of ''Afn Shvel'' (1957–2004), a Yiddish magazine.
In Europe
He was born Itsye Mordkhe Schaechter in the then-
Romanian
Romanian may refer to:
*anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Romania
**Romanians, an ethnic group
**Romanian language, a Romance language
*** Romanian dialects, variants of the Romanian language
** Romanian cuisine, tradition ...
town of
Czernowitz
Chernivtsi ( uk, Чернівці́}, ; ro, Cernăuți, ; see also other names) is a city in the historical region of Bukovina, which is now divided along the borders of Romania and Ukraine, including this city, which is situated on the up ...
(in German and Yiddish; known in Romanian as Cernăuţi, and in Ukrainian as
Chernivtsi).
[ His father was a businessman. Schaechter became fascinated with Yiddish as a student, and he decided to study ]linguistics
Linguistics is the science, scientific study of human language. It is called a scientific study because it entails a comprehensive, systematic, objective, and precise analysis of all aspects of language, particularly its nature and structure ...
at the University of Bucharest
The University of Bucharest ( ro, Universitatea din București), commonly known after its abbreviation UB in Romania, is a public university founded in its current form on by a decree of Prince Alexandru Ioan Cuza to convert the former Princel ...
. He earned his doctorate
A doctorate (from Latin ''docere'', "to teach"), doctor's degree (from Latin ''doctor'', "teacher"), or doctoral degree is an academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism ''li ...
in Linguistics at the University of Vienna
The University of Vienna (german: Universität Wien) is a public research university located in Vienna, Austria. It was founded by Duke Rudolph IV in 1365 and is the oldest university in the German-speaking world. With its long and rich hist ...
in 1951.
From 1947 to 1951, Schaechter lived in the Arzbergerstrasse Displaced persons (DP) camp in Vienna
en, Viennese
, iso_code = AT-9
, registration_plate = W
, postal_code_type = Postal code
, postal_code =
, timezone = CET
, utc_offset = +1
, timezone_DST ...
. During this period he worked for the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research, as a ''zamler,'' or collector, for the YIVO Archives.
In the United States
When Schaechter came to the United States in 1951, he served in military intelligence
Military intelligence is a military discipline that uses information collection and analysis approaches to provide guidance and direction to assist commanders in their decisions. This aim is achieved by providing an assessment of data from a ...
in the United States Army
The United States Army (USA) is the land warfare, land military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight Uniformed services of the United States, U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army o ...
during the Korean War
, date = {{Ubl, 25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953 (''de facto'')({{Age in years, months, weeks and days, month1=6, day1=25, year1=1950, month2=7, day2=27, year2=1953), 25 June 1950 – present (''de jure'')({{Age in years, months, weeks a ...
.[ Following this, he resumed his association with YIVO and began teaching and writing.][ He continued his work as a bibliographer and proofreader (1954–1956), and then, from the 1970s until 1986, he was a bibliographer, proofreader, and finally editor of YIVO's '' Yiddishe Shprakh,'' a journal devoted to the pronunciation, grammar and vocabulary of Standard Yiddish.][ He also founded the Committee for the Implementation of the Standardized Yiddish Orthography in 1958.][
From 1981 until his retirement in 1993, he was Senior Lecturer in Yiddish Studies at ]Columbia University
Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...
in New York. Besides this, he also taught Yiddish language in the intensive Uriel Weinreich
Uriel Weinreich ( yi, אוריאל ווײַנרײַך ''Uriel Vaynraykh'', ; May 23, 1926 – March 30, 1967) was a Jewish–American linguist.
Life
Uriel Weinreich was born in Wilno, Poland (since 1945, Vilnius, Lithuania), the first child of ...
Program in Yiddish Language, Literature & Culture, a joint project of YIVO
YIVO (Yiddish: , ) is an organization that preserves, studies, and teaches the cultural history of Jewish life throughout Eastern Europe, Germany, and Russia as well as orthography, lexicography, and other studies related to Yiddish. (The word '' ...
and Columbia University, since its inception in 1968 until 2002. He has also taught Yiddish courses at the Jewish Theological Seminary of America (1960–1962), Jewish Teacher's Seminary-Herzliah (1962–1978) and Yeshiva University
Yeshiva University is a private Orthodox Jewish university with four campuses in New York City.["About YU]
on the Yeshiva Universi ...
(1968–1973) and has instructed many distinguished scholars and professors of Yiddish language, literature and Jewish history throughout the world.
In the 1980s, he was associate editor of '' The Great Dictionary of the Yiddish Language'' and, from 1961 to 1972, he was associate editor of '' The Language and Culture Atlas of Ashkenazic Jewry''.
Achievements
Schaechter received the Itzik Manger Prize, the most prestigious Yiddish literary award, in 1994; the Khayim Zhitlowsky Award in 1984; and the Osher Schuchinsky Award from the World Congress for Jewish Culture in 1986.
His achievements in the cultural sphere are no less impressive than those in the literary or academic sphere. He was the founder of the League for Yiddish and served as its executive director from the inception of the organization in 1979 until his retirement in 2004. In 1964 he founded '' Yugntruf – Youth for Yiddish'' together with several of his students, and he served as its official advisor until 1974. Following his death, his daughter Gitl Schaechter-Viswanath
Gitl Schaechter-Viswanath (born 1958) is a Yiddish-language poet and author.
Early childhood and education
Gitl Schaechter was born in The Bronx New York. She grew up in a Yiddish-speaking home and attended Yiddish schools as a child. She att ...
and former student and colleague Paul Glasser
Paul may refer to:
*Paul (given name), a given name (includes a list of people with that name)
* Paul (surname), a list of people
People
Christianity
*Paul the Apostle (AD c.5–c.64/65), also known as Saul of Tarsus or Saint Paul, early Chri ...
published the Comprehensive English Yiddish Dictionary based on his lexical research.
Family
The entire Schaechter-Gottesman family has been very productive in the field of Yiddish culture. His mother, Lifshe Schaechter-Widman, wrote a memoir, ''Durkhgelebt a Velt'' (A Full Life) in 1973, and served as a resource for folksong researchers with her recording ''Az Di Furst Avek'' (When You Go Away). His sister, Beyle Schaechter-Gottesman
Beyle (or Bella) "Beyltse" Schaechter-Gottesman (August 7, 1920 – November 28, 2013) was a Yiddish poet and songwriter.
Biography
She was born in Vienna into an Eastern-European, Yiddish-speaking family; her family left for Czernowitz, Ukrain ...
, a Yiddish poet and songwriter, published books together with Charne Schaechter, her sister-in-law. Schaechter′s daughter, Gitl Schaechter-Viswanath
Gitl Schaechter-Viswanath (born 1958) is a Yiddish-language poet and author.
Early childhood and education
Gitl Schaechter was born in The Bronx New York. She grew up in a Yiddish-speaking home and attended Yiddish schools as a child. She att ...
is also a Yiddish poet; his son Binyumen (Ben) Schaechter is a composer and musical director in Yiddish and English; daughter Rukhl Schaechter
Rukhl Schaechter is the editor of the Yiddish Forverts, one of the two remaining Yiddish newspapers outside the Hasidic Jewish world (the other being Birobidzhaner Shtern in Russia, which contains 2-4 weekly printed pages in Yiddish, while the ...
is the editor of the Yiddish Forward; daughter Eydl Reznik teaches Yiddish among the ultra-Orthodox community in Tsfat, Israel
Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
. His nephew, Itzik Gottesman, is an contributor to ''The Forward
''The Forward'' ( yi, פֿאָרווערטס, Forverts), formerly known as ''The Jewish Daily Forward'', is an American news media organization for a Jewish American audience. Founded in 1897 as a Yiddish-language daily socialist newspaper, ...
'' and the online journal In Geveb, and a scholar of Yiddish folklore. His grandson, Naftali Schaechter Ejdelman, helped found Yiddish Farm, an organization that facilitates Yiddish-immersion programs on an organic farm in Goshen, NY. All sixteen of his grandchildren speak and read Yiddish fluently.
Death
He died on February 15, 2007, after a long illness following a stroke in the summer of 2001.[
]
Publications
*Di Geviksn-Velt in Yidish Plant Names in Yiddish: A Handbook of Botanical Terminology" New York: League for Yiddish/YIVO Institute for Jewish Research, 2005.
*Yiddish II: An Intermediate and Advanced Textbook. Fourth Edition. New York: League for Yiddish, 2004.
*Fun Folkshprakh tsu Kulturshprakh he History of the Standardized Yiddish Spelling New York: League for Yiddish/YIVO, 1999.
*Kurs Fun Yidisher Ortografye Course of the Yiddish Orthography 4th ed. New York: League for Yiddish, 1996.
*Trogn, Hobn un Friyike Kinder-yorn regnancy, Childbirth and Early Childhood New York: League for Yiddish, 1991.
*Eynglish-Yidish Verterbikhl Fun Akademisher Terminologye nglish-Yiddish Dictionary of Academic Terminology New York: League for Yiddish, 1988.
*Laytish Mame-Loshn uthentic Yiddish New York: League for Yiddish, 1986.
*Mit A Gutn Apetit! Reshime Gastronomishe Terminen Bon Appétit! iddish Gastronomic Terminology New York-Hamden-Philadelphia: Foundation for a Living Yiddish, 1976.
*Elyokum Tsunzers Verk: Kritishe Oysgabe, he Works of Elyokum Zunser: A critical edition New York: YIVO Institute for Jewish Research, volumes 1964.
*Guide to the Standardized Yiddish Orthography. YIVO, 1961.
*Aktionen im Jiddischen: Ein sprachwissenschaftlicher Beitrag zur Bedeutungslehre des Verbums. Phil. Diss. Vienna 1951.
References
League for Yiddish website
* Schaechter's library has been donated to the Eisenhower Library, Johns Hopkins University
Johns Hopkins University (Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private research university in Baltimore, Maryland. Founded in 1876, Johns Hopkins is the oldest research university in the United States and in the western hemisphere. It consi ...
. Books are listed in the library's catalog as "Gift of From the collection of Dr. Mordkhe and Charne Schaechter".
{{DEFAULTSORT:Schaechter, Mordkhe
Romanian Ashkenazi Jews
Romanian emigrants to the United States
American people of Austrian-Jewish descent
American people of Romanian-Jewish descent
Bukovina Jews
Writers from Chernivtsi
Linguists of Yiddish
History of YIVO
1927 births
2007 deaths
Itzik Manger Prize recipients