# Yiddishkeit > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Yiddishkeit > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Yiddishkeit.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yiddishkeit > Source revision: 1347495732 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) Ashkenaz Jewish culture and religious practice For other uses, see [Yiddishkeit (disambiguation)](/source/Yiddishkeit_(disambiguation)). **Yiddishkeit**, also spelled **Yiddishkayt** ([Yiddish](/source/Yiddish_language): ייִדישקייט, [romanized](/source/Romanization_of_Yiddish): *Yidishkayt*, [lit.](/source/Literal_translation) 'Jewishness', i.e. "a Jewish way of life"),[a][2] is a term that can refer broadly to [Judaism](/source/Judaism) or specifically to forms of [Orthodox Judaism](/source/Orthodox_Judaism) when used particularly by religious and Orthodox Ashkenazim. In a more general sense, it has come to mean the "Jewishness" or "Jewish essence" of [Ashkenazi Jews](/source/Ashkenazi_Jews) in general and the traditional [Yiddish-speaking](/source/Yiddish) Jews of [Eastern](/source/Eastern_Europe) and [Central Europe](/source/Central_Europe) in particular. According to *[The Jewish Chronicle](/source/The_Jewish_Chronicle)*, "Yiddishkeit evokes the teeming vitality of the *[shtetl](/source/Shtetl)*, the singsong of [Talmud](/source/Talmud) study emanating from the *[cheder](/source/Cheder)* and the ecstatic spirituality of [Chasidim](/source/Chasidim)." More so than the word "Judaism," the word 'Yiddishkeit' evokes the Eastern European world and has an authentic ring to it. "Judaism suggests an ideology, a set of definite beliefs like socialism, conservatism or atheism. The suffix *-keit* in German, on the other hand, means -ness in English, which connotes *a way of being.* ... Not merely a [creed](/source/Creed) but an organic and all-encompassing, pulsing, breathing way of life."[3] ## Culture Lack of understanding concepts of the Yiddish way of life have been compared to "kissing through a screen door." [4] From a more secular perspective, it is associated with the [popular culture](/source/Popular_culture) or [folk](/source/Folk_culture) practices of Yiddish-speaking Jews, such as popular religious traditions, Eastern European [Jewish cuisine](/source/Jewish_cuisine), [Yiddish humor](/source/Jewish_humor#Eastern_European_Jewish_humor), [shtetl](/source/Shtetl) life, and [klezmer](/source/Klezmer) music, among other things. ## History Before the [Haskalah](/source/Haskalah) and the [Jewish emancipation](/source/Jewish_emancipation) in Europe, central to Yiddishkeit were [Torah study](/source/Torah_study) and [Talmudical](/source/Talmud) studies for men, and a family and communal life governed by the observance of *[halakha](/source/Halakha)* (Jewish religious laws) for men and women. Among [Haredi](/source/Haredi_Judaism) Jews of Eastern European descent, comprising the majority of Jews who still speak Yiddish in their everyday lives, the word has retained this meaning.[5] But with [secularization](/source/Secularization), Yiddishkeit has come to encompass not just traditional Jewish religious practice, but a broad range of movements, ideologies, practices, and traditions in which Ashkenazi Jews have participated and retained their sense of "Jewishness." Yiddishkeit has been identified in manners of speech, in styles of humor, in patterns of association, in culture and education.[*[citation needed](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed)*] Another quality often associated with Yiddishkeit is an emotional attachment and identification with the [Jewish people](/source/Jewish_people).[6] ## See also - [Jewish atheism](/source/Jewish_atheism) - [Jewish secularism](/source/Jewish_secularism) - [Jewish culture](/source/Jewish_culture) - [Jewish life cycle](/source/Jewish_life_cycle) - *[The Joys of Yiddish](/source/The_Joys_of_Yiddish)* - [Pintele Yid](/source/Pintele_Yid) - [Who is a Jew?](/source/Who_is_a_Jew%3F) - [Yiddishkeit (TV series)](/source/Yiddishkeit_(TV_series)) ## Notes 1. **[^](#cite_ref-2)** Competing ways of [transcription](/source/Phonetic_transcription) exist for the [suffix](/source/Suffix): *-keit*, based on the orthography of Standard Modern [German](/source/German_language), and *-keyt* using the standardized [YIVO](/source/YIVO) transliteration. In Northeastern (Lithuanian) and Central (Polish) [dialects of Yiddish](/source/Dialects_of_Yiddish), the suffix is pronounced with the [diphthong](/source/Diphthong) [ai] (as in English *kite*), but in Southeastern (Ukrainian) dialects with the diphthong [ei] (as in English *Kate*).[1] Therefore the spelling ***Yiddishkayt*** is often used as well. ## References 1. **[^](#cite_ref-1)** [Max Weinreich](/source/Max_Weinreich): *Geshikhte fun der yidisher shprakh. Bagrifn, faktn, metodn*, vol. 2. YIVO, New York 1973, p. 356 (English translation by Shlomo Noble from 1980: p. 692–693). 1. **[^](#cite_ref-3)** ["Reconstructing Yiddishkeit - Evolve"](https://evolve.reconstructingjudaism.org/reconstructing-yiddishkeit/). 2022-03-23. Retrieved 2023-05-31. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-4)** [Yiddishkeit](https://www.thejc.com/judaism/jewish-words/yiddishkeit-1.8050). By Rabbi Julian Sinclair. *The Jewish Chronicle*, July 5, 2018. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-5)** Duane Noriyuki (December 11, 2003). ["A celebration of Yiddishkeit"](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2003-dec-11-wk-culturebright11-story.html). *[Los Angeles Times](/source/Los_Angeles_Times)*. Retrieved June 9, 2024. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-6)** Jewish Unpacked:[What is Yiddishkeit? Unpacked](https://jewishunpacked.com/what-is-yiddishkeit-unpacked/) 1. **[^](#cite_ref-7)** [Orthodox Union](/source/Orthodox_Union): [Yiddishkeit](https://www.ou.org/judaism-101/glossary/yiddishkeit/) ## External links - [California Institute for Yiddish Culture and Language](http://yiddishinstitute.org) --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Yiddishkeit](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yiddishkeit) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yiddishkeit?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.