E118 The Birth of Yiddish ft. Wilf

E118 The Birth of Yiddish ft. Wilf

From Gladio Free Europe by Gladio Free Europe

December 10, 2025 · 1h 22m

About this episode

This episode explores the origins and development of the Yiddish language with scholar Wilf.

⁠ ⁠Support us on Patreon⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ --- At the dawn of the Middle Ages, small numbers of Jewish families ventured across the frozen Alps, seeking a new life in a foreign land they called Ashkenaz. In their workshops, at the market, and around the shabbat table, these people created a new language in secret: one that joined together the Hebrew writing system of ancient Palestine with the Germanic vocabulary of their Christian neighbors. Despite its obscure and polygenic medieval origins, this neighborhood speech would grow to become a fundamental element of Jewish history and identity and a true world language: Yiddish. This episode of Gladio Free Europe explores the origins and development of Yiddish with the help of Wilf, esteemed circumpolar Yiddish scholar and longtime friend of the pod. Wilf guides Liam and Russian Sam through the complexities of the language's development and grammar. The many influences on Yiddish, from its Semitic alphabet to its Slavic grammatical structures and its unexpected Romance loans, tell the story of the Ashkenazi Jewish people. So too does the resilience and growth of Yiddish in spite of centuries of hostility and, in the 20th…

People in this episode

Hosts: Liam, Russian Sam

Guest: Wilf

Topics covered

  • Yiddish language
  • Jewish history
  • Ashkenazi culture
  • medieval origins
  • linguistic development

Keywords

  • Yiddish
  • Hebrew
  • Ashkenaz
  • Jewish identity
  • linguistics
  • medieval history
  • rabbinical Judaism

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Gladio Free Europe

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