Traveling and Vacationing in Yiddish

Jews are perhaps history’s most famous travelers. As a result of voluntary and involuntary dispersions in ancient times, forceful evictions throughout the middle ages and immigration to the Americas, Australia and the modern state of Israel, Jews can be found in practically every corner of every country of the world.

Despite the stereotype of the “wandering” or “traveling” Jew, however, most Jews in history lived their entire lives in the same place where their families had resided for generations. This was true for Ashkenazi Jews as well.

Although Yiddish speaking Jews in the 1800s could be found throughout all of Eastern and Central Europe, most had never ventured far from the immediate area surrounding where their family had lived for many generations. Not surprisingly, the idea of a vakatsye (vacation) was a foreign concept to all but the wealthiest Jews in Europe. With the advent of the ban (train), tsug (city to city train) and vokzal/ban-stantsye (train station), traveling was made more widely available throughout Eastern Europe and many Jews took advantage of the new technological means to experience their firstrayzes/nesyes (trips).

With frequent vacations came institutions to support forers/vegnslayt/rayzndike(different words for “travelers”) such as Jewish rayze/for-agenturn(travel agencies) which prepared tour packages for Yiddish speaking Jews. Like all for-agenturn, Jewish travel agents prepared biletn (tickets), and hotel-tsimern (hotel rooms) in advance for their klientn (clients). Jewish travel agencies also went to great lengths to provide their clients with kosher meals, which often had to be arranged for far in advance. Jewish travel agents also provided clients for Jewish kretshmes (roadhouses/inns) with whom they had longstanding relationships.

After the immigration of millions of Yiddish speaking Jews to the goldene medine, (“golden land” i.e. America) many immigrants sought to return to their hometowns to visit family and friends for a few weeks. Such visits were often festive occasions which attracted large crowds in European shtetls and were arranged by Jewish travel agencies working together on both sides of the Atlantic. Between the two World Wars such trips were conducted by shifn (ships), followed by trips by train or motor coach.

Today, Jewish travel and sightseeing is an enormous subset of the worldwide tourism industry and travel agencies catering to the specialized needs of Yiddish speaking Hasidim are a prominent (albeit often undernoted) subsector. Hasidic travelers often go on group trips endorsed and/or lead by prominent Rabbis to visit and daven bay (pray at) the kvorem (graves) of prominent Rebes throughout Eastern Europe. The town of Mezhbizh in the Ukraine is the hometown of the first Hasidic court founded by its longtime resident the Bal Shem Tov. Other major Jewish figures who have lived in the town include Rebe Nachman of Brezlov, Rebe Boruch of Mezhbizh and Hershele Ostropolyer, a Jewish payats/klaun (clown) whose role in shaping Jewish comedic tradition cannot be overstated (he will hopefully get his own entry later). Needless to say Mezhbizh is a major Hasidic tourist attraction and thousands of haymishe yidn(Hasidic Jews), take turn (tours) of Mezhbizh every year. Reklames (ads) for such trips are prominently displayed in contemporary Yiddish periodicals, especially around pesakh (Passover) or when the yortsayt (anniversary of a death according to the Jewish calendar) of a prominent Rebe approaches.

So, whether you travel to Eastern Europe with Yiddish speakers or encounter Yiddish speaking hotel staff in Israel, here is some good travel vocabulary to know in Yiddish.

Before giving a full list I should also mention that a full traveler’s phrasebook in Yiddish was published in 1958 by Dover Press and is still available in bookstores and online. It is called Say It in Yiddish. Check the online preview.

Here is a list of usefull expression and words when traveling:

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