The First Word Of The Day At The Scripps Spelling Bee Was ‘Yiddishkeit’
The first word posed in competition this morning on the first day of the storied Scripps National Spelling Bee was “yiddishkeit,” a beloved phrase from Yiddish that sums up Ashkenazi Jewish culture in a manner akin to the term Americana.
More technically, the word means “Jewish character or quality,” “Jewish way of life” or “Jewishness,” according to the Merriam-Webster dictionary.
The first word this morning at the Scripps National #SpellingBee finals: Yiddishkeit. Excited to see what other Hebrew and Yiddish words pop up in this year’s competition. pic.twitter.com/vwK2v7XnBQ
— Jewish Tweets (@JewishTweets) May 30, 2019
The contestant who got the word asked its language of origin right away. “Yiddish,” was the answer, of course.
“I don’t know what I expected,” he deadpanned in response.
“Yiddishkeit. Can I have the language of origin?”
“It’s from Yiddish.”
“I don’t know what I expected…”#SpellingBee pic.twitter.com/un1GEUjcOF
— Jewish Tweets (@JewishTweets) May 30, 2019
Yiddishkeit is used to refer to things that just ooze Jewishness — specifically Ashkenazic/Eastern European Jewishness — such as shtiebels, taking a whiskey break in the middle of Shabbat morning services, food from Russ & Daughter’s, etc.
But the word also gets ascribed to non-Jews on a fairly regular basis, for instance in these Forward articles on Pete Seeger and Nat “King” Cole.
Ari Feldman is a staff writer at the Forward. Contact him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter @aefeldman
A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.
At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse..
Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO