New & Noteworthy
by Miriam Shaviv

It is often assumed, according to Dovid Katz, one of the foremost academics in Yiddish studies, that Yiddish entered the arena of Jewish history in relatively recent years. The language is usually paired with some notion of shtetl life; spoken in fairly restricted regions, associated with the uneducated masses, and often with women and the disenfranchised of traditional Jewish society. Words on Fire, however, presents an alternative and much broader account of Yiddish history. In an engaging narrative, Katz traces the origin and evolution of theYiddish language, looking back a thousand years to illustrate how Yiddish's European origins are themselves an uninterrupted continuation of three millennia of Jewish history and culture in the Near East. In addition to telling the history of Yiddish from medieval times on through its development as written literature, Katz argues a number of points, including that the resurgence of Yiddish among religious Jewish communities ensures its survival long into the future. The son of the late Yiddish poet Menke Katz, and currently head of the new Vilnius Yiddish Institute, Dovid Katz, with his breadth of knowledge and research of this remarkable language and the culture that sustained it, has written a unique book that is both dynamic and informative.

Some interesting Yiddish facts from Words on Fire:

—Some Yiddish names have survived into the 21st century. The famous Yentl is one of the oldest Yiddish names, and it is derived from Romance gentil, meaning "well-bred" or "genteel."
—Yiddish was written in the Hebrew alphabet as soon as it was spoken.
—The oldest known dated Yiddish document dates to 1272.