Language Mixing in Netflix’s “Rough Diamonds” (Sponsored)

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The family crime drama Rough Diamonds is set in Antwerp’s Hasidic community.

The characters speak a mix of Yiddish, Flemish, French, and English, with prayers and other excerpts in Hebrew and Aramaic. How did the show’s producers, writers, actors, and consultants work together to create this linguistic portrayal? How accurate is it? Is this kind of language mixing common in other contemporary Hasidic communities? Find answers to these questions and more in this conversation with three of the creatives behind “Rough Diamonds” and scholars of Hasidic language and communities.

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Sarah Bunin Benor, Jewish Language Project

Panelists:

Yuval Yefet, co-creator, writer, and executive producer

Ini Massez, actress (Adinah Glazer)

Mendy Cahan, actor (Speyer)

Naftali Moskowitz, translator and dialect coach

Chaya Nove, linguist

Sam Shuman, anthropologist

Jewish Language on TV Summer Event Series

Jewish representation in film, on television, and on streaming services like Netflix and Hulu may be at an all-time high.

We see Hasidim in Antwerp, Orthodox Jews in Jerusalem, and Jews of multiple backgrounds and religiosities throughout the United States.

What role does language play in this portrayal? How do these shows mix Hebrew, Yiddish, English, and other languages to represent diverse Jewish communities? The HUC-JIR Jewish Language Project is pleased to present a series of four online events about Jews on TV.

This event is presented by the HUC-JIR Jewish Language Project, co-sponsored in part by the Forward.