The Hijacking of Heimish

It has been going on for some time already, but knowledgeable people realized that it was incorrect, or, more bluntly, a scam.

People were going around and claiming that the Yiddish word היימיש - heimish - meant, or was some type of synonym for Chasidic.

Those in the know realized that it didn't add up. Those in the dark, e.g. people lacking in knowledge of Yiddish, were vulnerable to being duped.

Occasional protests against the misuse notwithstanding, the misappropriation of the word in some circles continued and continues.

And then, I saw the internet post.

A fine and prestigious website had fallen for it.

Now is a time to speak out, I thought. Time to correct things and protest the hijacking of היימיש.

So here we go.

The real meaning of היימיש/Heimish

Looking at Yiddish dictionaries, one sees meanings such as cozy, comfortable, familiar, and intimate given for it.

(See here, and here, for example)

Applied to a person, in our context, if a person is described as heimish, or as a heimishe Yid, what it means is that the person evokes an old fashioned coziness and comfort, spiritual, psychological, as well as physical, with their behavior, mannerisms, and surroundings. Perhaps they speak Yiddish, or at least throw in some Yiddish words into their English, have a samovar in plain view, or otherwise seem like some quaint throwback to an earlier, simpler, more spiritual era. From a frum perspective it is like visiting your grandparents, or great grandparents. It is like visiting with one of the gedolim in the אלטע היים, in pre-modern Europe, for example. Or with a גדול of our era maintaining the same way of life.

The term was/is used by various types of Yidden. Litvaks, Galitzianers, Poylishe, Hungarians, Chasidim, Misnagdim.

To now claim that not only does it mean specifically חסידים, rather than any old fashioned, cozy and quaint, עהרליכע אידען, but also that it means bedavka (specifically) modernized Chasidim, as opposed to more old fashioned versions, is a linguistic crime and travesty, that should be denounced and soundly rejected.

May Hashem help us from all fraud, scam, deception, and distortion.

Chasidic Backlash Against New High Shtreimel Style Gains Momentum

A while ago, we reported on the Vizhnitz opposition to the recent trend toward high shtreimels.

Now, it seems that other Chasidic groups have also come out against the new style.

Behadrei Haredim reports that Karlin has, and notes that Bobov (see here re the Bobov 48 Rebbe's stance) has in the past as well.

See there also re shtreimel history and how they have changed over the centuries.

Yud Tes Kislev Brings Misnagdim To Light

Do Misnagdim still exist today?

Well, they do exist, I have even met some during my lifetime :), but they don't usually go around with big signs and bullhorns proclaiming their beliefs. 

However, at times Hisnagdus comes out into the open.

A few days ago, before יט כסליו, two such cases were seen on the internet. 

We share the details with you below, courtesy of Chabad-Lubavitch.

1) In London, a Satmar school issued a letter exhorting people to stay away from a Lubavitcher Yud Tes Kislev gathering.

2) A Lubavitcher blog posted a Hebrew broadside from the Dati-Leumi community about the stance of Rav Avraham Yitzchak and Rav Tzvi Yehudah Hakohein Kook z"l toward Chabad and Chasidus.

So not only do Misnagdim still exist today, they exist in places and forms that people may not be aware of, e.g. among other (non Lubavitch) Chasidim, and among Dati-Leumi Yidden. The Misnaged today is not necessarily your sterotypical Litvak.

May we be zoche to see the light bikarov.

A freilichen Chanukah.