Yekke
| Total population | |
|---|---|
| 70,000 (2012) | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
| Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, Haifa, Netanya, Ashdod, Beersheba and many other places | |
| Languages | |
| Hebrew, German, Yiddish | |
| Religion | |
| Judaism |
A Yekke (also Jecke) is a Jew of German-speaking origin.[1] The term carries the connotation that German Jews are notable for attention to detail and punctuality.
Demography
The wave of immigration to British Mandatory Palestine in the 1930s and 1940s known as the Fifth Aliyah had a large proportion of Yekkes, around 25% (55 000 immigrants). Many of them settled in the vicinity of Ben Yehuda Street in Tel Aviv, leading to the nickname "Ben Yehuda Strasse." Their struggle to master Hebrew produced a dialect known as "Yekkish." The Ben Yehuda Strasse Dictionary: A Dictionary of Spoken Yekkish in the Land of Israel, published in 2012, documents this language.[1]
A significant community escaped Frankfurt after Kristallnacht, and relocated to the Washington Heights neighborhood of New York City, where they still have a synagogue, Khal Adath Jeshurun, which punctiliously adheres to the Yekkish liturgical text, rituals, and melodies.[2]
See also
References
- ^ a b Aderet, Ofer (7 September 2012). "Take a Biss of This Book!". Haaretz. Retrieved 1 October 2019.
- ^ Lowenstein, Steven M. (1989). Frankfurt on the Hudson: The German-Jewish Community of Washington Heights, 1933–1983, Its structure and Culture. Wayne State University Press. ISBN 978-0814323854.
Further reading
- Gold, David L. (1981). "The Etymology of Yiddish Yeke". Zeitschrift für Dialektologie und Linguistik (in German). Franz Steiner Verlag. 48 (1): 57–59. JSTOR 40502725.
- Weinbaum, Laurence; McPherson, Colin (2000). "No Milk and No Honey: The Yekkes and the Ostjuden". Jewish Quarterly. 47 (3): 25–30. doi:10.1080/0449010X.2000.10705191 (inactive 31 July 2022).
{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: DOI inactive as of July 2022 (link)
External links
- Machon Moreshes Ashkenaz
- The American Yekkes (Yisrael Kashkin, 2016)
- K'hal Adas Yeshurun of Jerusalem Nusach Project
