Pastrami, Verklempt, and Tshoot-spa: Jewish Influences in American English with Professor Sarah Bunin Benor

Join us for a landmark virtual series as we commemorate 250 years of the Jewish experience in America, exploring the profound ways Jewish identity and the American story have shaped one another. Through a series of monthly conversations with the nation’s leading historians, we will journey from the arrival of the first colonial settlers to the vibrant, diverse communities of the modern era.

Jews in the United States use many Hebrew and Yiddish words in their English conversation. To what extent do non-Jews pick up these linguistic markers? This multimedia talk explains how words like klutz, shpiel, and kibbitz have become part of the broader American lexicon, sometimes popularized by comedians. Politicians use Hebrew and Yiddish words in diverse ways, from Bill Clinton’s “Shalom, chaver” to Michele Bachmann’s mispronunciation of chutzpah. A much more sinister use of Jewish language is white nationalists mocking Jews with words like Goyim and Shoah. Several video clips are shown, from James Cagney as a Yiddish-speaking Irish taxi driver to Barack Obama “getting all verklempt” while honoring Barbra Streisand.                                                                              

More About Sarah Bunin Benor

Sarah Bunin Benor is Professor of Contemporary Jewish Studies at Hebrew Union College and Adjunct Professor in the University of Southern California Linguistics Department. She received her B.A. from Columbia University in Comparative Literature in 1997 and her Ph.D. from Stanford University in Linguistics in 2004. She is the author of Becoming Frum: How Newcomers Learn the Language and Culture of Orthodox Judaism (Rutgers University Press, 2012) and Hebrew Infusion: Language and Community at American Jewish Summer Camps (Rutgers University Press, 2020), as well as many articles about sociolinguistics, Jewish names, and Jewish languages (especially Jewish English, Hebrew, Yiddish, and Ladino). Dr. Benor has received several fellowships and prizes, including the Wexner Graduate Fellowship, the Sami Rohr Choice Award for Jewish Literature, the National Jewish Book Award in Education and Jewish Identity, and election to the American Academy for Jewish Research. Dr. Benor is founding co-editor of the Journal of Jewish Languages and co-editor of Languages in Jewish Communities, Past and Present, and We the Resilient: Wisdom for America from Women Born Before Suffrage. Sarah founded and leads the HUC Jewish Language Project.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

So how does this all work? 

• By purchasing our 250 Years of Jewish Life in America series, you are gaining access to a year’s worth of events with the nation’s top Jewish historians. You will be able to watch them all live on Zoom, and they will also be recorded for later viewing. Each event will be one hour long.

Can I purchase a ticket to individual events if I don’t want to buy the full package? 

• Yes. (But the entire package for just $54 is quite a deal!)

How many events will there be?

• At least eight, spread out throughout the year.

What if I have more questions about how this works? 

• You can email events@70facesmedia.org.