FREEDOM THEN & NOW; IT'S ALL IN THE DEFINITION
The usage of the word 'frei' to describe Jews that are not observant goes back to this comment of mine.‘Youths’ then were saying the same things [as others are] today (identical, actually), and called themselves 'frei' - they threw off the shackles of the ‘suffocating and oppressive shtetl mentality' and freed themselves from the religion that came with that package.
Those that remained 'frum', scoffed at the 'so called frei' or 'frei' for short. And that’s how ‘frei’ became the word ‘frei’ we all know and love (to use). But in terms of the concept, of course... a Jew respects the concept of freedom, but has a definition of it that is not in accord with the ideals of the Age of Enlightenment. A Jew believes instead that ein lecho bein choirin elo me sheoisek baTeiroh.
berl, crown heights 11.16.05 - 12:00 pm #
'Freedom' as a western sensibility is covered by another maamar chaza'l: "avdo behefkeiro nicho leih".
berl, crown heights 11.16.05 - 12:14 pm #
SWFI: It was not my intention to moralize in any way - lo bosi elo leforeish peshuto shel milo. I was only answering a language question. Period. No hidden agendas (or is it agendae?).
berl, crown heights 11.16.05 - 12:20 pm #
Posted at mentalblog.com / Thread: The Lyricist Sholom Keller
posted by MEKUSHOR @ 9:01 AM
2 comments
2 Comments:
In Lithuania it was said a Yid is erlich , nit frum , frum iz der galach, A Jew is "erlich" not frum , the RC priest is frum.
That says it all.
Prof. Mendelsohn an expert on East European jewish history at the Hebrew U worte years ago there was no less frum group of Jews in the 20th centruy In Europe than Lithuanian jews but no more Jewish group of Jews (use of Yiddish, identification as ethnic Jews, Zioinsm, almost no intermarriage as compared to Polish Jews , posative attitude towards hebrew etc.)
Of course evn as late as 1940 there were many many orthodox Jews in Lithuania and White Russia.
Frumkeit (German: Frömmigkeit) is simply Yiddish for piety/devoutness.
Ehrlich is Yiddish(/German) for: Honest, Faithful, straightforwardly, earnest, aboveboard, plain, square, candid, downright...
See: http://dict.tu-chemnitz.de/dings.cgi?o=3003;service=de-en;style=;dlink=self;iservice=de-en;query=Fr%f6mmigkeit
The latter was definitely once a more Jewish ideal - I don't know if that can be said today...
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