PODCAST COMING SOON
Eitan: Welcome to the MetaShtetl, this is Eitan Binstock. I inherited the Yiddish language and culture from my parents, grandparents, and great-grandparents, and I am interested in exploring the way it’s been flourishing in the 21st century. Specifically, how technology is being used to spread and proliferate Yiddish worldwide. Before I welcome my next guest, please note the full translations of the podcast can be viewed on my blog themetashtetl.com, feel free to follow along, and thank you for coming along on this adventure with me. And now for my next guest, Sonia Dratwa-Pinkusowitz, esteemed Yiddish Professor in Belgium, as we switch to the language we both hold dear. Welcome Sonia, our honored guest, please introduce yourself and tell us a little about your personal history. Where are you from? Where did you study in general and what is your official title or profession?
Sonia: I’m called Sonia Dratwa-Pinkusowitz. I was born in Melbourne, Australia. My parents, (z”l) went to Australia after the War [Holocaust]. Yiddish is my mother tongue. I attended a Talmud-Tora kindergarten and later studied in a public school and high school. Every Sunday for ten years, I attended the Perets Yiddish School where I learned to read and write in Yiddish and I studies Yiddish literature. I come from a religious home but today I more traditional than religious. I studied Yiddish further as well as English at Hebrew University in Jerusalem where I received a degree in education. I began teaching Yiddish at the University in Jerusalem and then I taught in Columbia University in New York for almost eight years, as well as in the YIVO. Today I am an associate professor at the Universite Libre de Bruxelles, Belgium where I have been living for almost 36 years. I also taught English for children who have trouble integrating into their classes because they are moved from one international school to another every three to four years.
Eitan: What role did Yiddish play in your childhood years?
Sonia: Yiddish , as I said, is my mother tongue and the language I spoke at home. I heard Yiddish in my environment. We often attended Yiddish events, theaters and so on. There was for a time a Yiddish newspaper in our home, as well as Yiddish books
Eitan: What is your main work? Can you talk a little about your profession? Does the Yiddish language or culture relate to your profession? Or do you feel that Yiddish and your profession occupy separate channels in your mind and in your life?
Sonia: Being a teacher in any subject means one must be open to the world and the various students. But to be a Yiddish teacher means to transmit the culture which is precious to me and is my inheritance.
Eitan: What other languages do you speak? Where did you learn them? How do the various languages weave together in your life?
Sonia: I speak English from Australia, from school, and my work teaching English as a second language. French, because I live in a country where French is one of the spoken languages, and my children attended French-speaking schools. Hebrew because I lived in Israel for six years, studied and taught there. And German, which I studied in high school in Australia and I sometimes use the language here in Europe.
Eitan: What is Yiddish to you? As an adult, why is it important to you?
Sonia: That is a very difficult question to answer quickly, but I will try while standing on one foot: Yiddish is my history, my language and my “self”. I think and breath with the language. Teaching and transmitting my beloved language and observing the way my students develop with our literature is very important to me.
Eitan: I heard that you were my grandfather’s Yiddish teacher for several years. Where else did you teach Yiddish?
Sonia: Your grandfather was in my first class when I arrived in New York. In New York I also taught at Columbia University and YIVO. In Israel at the Hebrew University, and Machon for girls in Jerusalem. I also taught at the Ginogli high school in Belgium, in the Universite Libre de Bruxelles, The University of Antwerp, as well as the VUB Flemish University in Brussels. I taught English here at an international elementary school for more than thirty years.
Eitan: Do you enjoy Yiddish? Why and when?
Sonia: I particularly enjoy speaking Yiddish to my grandchild who is one and a half years old, and to see how he understands everything! I very much love to teach. The summer courses are precious to me because the classes are generally large with students from various ages and from all over the world.
Eitan: Do you have observations about Yiddish being different in today’s world than in the past? Do you think the general interest in Yiddish is growing or shrinking? Can you comment about the differences between the attitudes of Jews and non-Jews towards Yiddish? Or differences you have seen in various countries around the world?
Sonia: There is always interest for a variety of reasons. I am a little afraid that the language is being taught by teachers for whom Yiddish is a learned language. Sometimes the language gets simplified and you lose the nuances which can be found underneath the words themselves. Jews come and study for a variety of reasons, and so do non-Jews. The reasons can be colorful – intellectual, emotional, and plain interest.
Eitan: Do you have an image or vision about how Yiddish can develop further in the coming generations of the 21st century?
Sonia: I would like to see more bilingual publications of our literature – meaning we should truly train translators who will be able to proliferate our treasure.
Eitan: Truly our treasure. Sonia Dratwa-Pinkusowitz, thank you very much for taking the time to share with me and my audience about your thoughts about Yiddish in the modern world, and for participating in this project.