Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.2 9/5/84; site aecom.UUCP Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!burl!ulysses!mhuxr!ihnp4!zehntel!tektronix!hplabs!hao!seismo!cmcl2!philabs!aecom!teitz From: teitz@aecom.UUCP (Eliyahu Teitz) Newsgroups: net.religion.jewish Subject: Re: Re: Mareet Iyeen Message-ID: <1091@aecom.UUCP> Date: Tue, 8-Jan-85 16:26:09 EST Article-I.D.: aecom.1091 Posted: Tue Jan 8 16:26:09 1985 Date-Received: Sat, 12-Jan-85 01:46:52 EST References: <838@eisx.UUCP> <297@mhuxm.UUCP> Organization: Albert Einstein Coll. of Med., NY Lines: 61 long quote a end. I really don't see your point here at all. Are you trying to say that religious people from Boro Park, or wherever they are from, are less "thinkers" than their less religious counterparts. Since when does a large vocabulary make someone smarter than another? All you do here is try to imply that Americanized Jews are better than those who live in their self imposed ghetto. One side point. Those of chassidik background happen to be just as employable as those of American background. In fact they are sometimes better workers, being more committed to doing a job right than to capitalism and trying to make a buck. Eliyahu Teitz. > Unfortunately, among the religious community there is a significant > number who are not articulate in any language. In the right-wing > yeshivas English is neglected and students commence their careers > unable to speak unaccented or proper English. Especially for the > lesser students there is great difficulty in distinguishing the > language to which a given word belongs. The result is that such > words as "bei" are incorrectly used, viz., "I stayed by the Cohens > last Shabbos." In this example, the speaker may not realize that > the German or Yiddish preposition "bei" is not the same word as > the English preposition "by." (There is no way that the use of > "by" is correct in this example) We should not be surprised that > such people are unemployable in normal American businesses such as > the ones in which most readers of this newsgroup are employed. > > The religious community, mostly in Brooklyn, NY, suffers additionally > from the handicap that it is descended from parents who themselves > did not speak English. This community, while in competition with the > mainstream of Americans in the quite external ways of conspicuous > consumption and extravagant dressing habits, has not yet picked up > on the more important ways in which it is inferior to educated Americans. > > I imagine some will say that "Torah learning" is more important than > improving one's language skills in a foreign tongue. To them I > bring up two main points: First, neither Hebrew nor any other language > compares to English. English is the most advanced language in recorded > history. There are more words in the English language by far than in any > other language and articulate speakers of English may express more with > their choice of words than speakers of other languages. But uneducated > listeners cannot discern the extent of their meaning. > > Second, thought follows language. We are able to manipulate ideas in > our minds routinely only with the help of established words. Any person > who is not articulate in any language will suffer because of it in the > quality of their thought processes. It is often observed in Israel that > Israelis are "doers" while "Anglos" (Americans, British, etc.) are > more thoughtful. While this is necessitated in the case of the Israelis > by the dire circumstances with which Israel must constantly cope, it is > also brought on by the limited nature of the Hebrew language. There is, > I would argue, superiority to the English language separate from the > military superiority of the English speakers in the United States during > WW II. This superiority commands respect among Israelis and is responsible > for the dramatic addition of English words to the Hebrew language as spoken > in Israel. >