Collina Binafard, Bina Gabbye, Shaina Sedaghat, Alex Tevonyan
Are you tired of hearing the same old “Ashkenazi versus Sephardic” debates in the Jewish community? While there’s no doubt that these two groups have rich cultural and religious differences, it’s finally time to address the elephant in the room: communication conflicts. Whether it’s differences in language, customs, or even humor, these barriers can often lead to misunderstandings, altercations, alienation, and ostracism. But fear not, by acknowledging and understanding these differences, we can foster a more inclusive and harmonious community. As a result of these differences, Ashkenazi and Sephardic Jews have often been segregated due to their varying communicative differences which isolate the two communities. The current body of knowledge focuses on their different religious practices, traditions, customs, and backgrounds. While this information is very interesting and important to take into account when considering the ostracism and alienation between the two groups, what about the specific linguistic differences that can be observed between these two groups? How exactly does their linguistic use differ? Are there any observable differences that can be analyzed in prayer to bridge this gap in information? In order to do so, our research tried to uncover these differences through the lens of prayer, using an observational approach, and pinpointing the exact methods and ways in which linguistic practices in prayer play a role in the separation between Ashkenazi and Sephardi Jews. By uncovering the aspects that change communication characteristics we can emphasize the importance of coming together and celebrating our culturally diverse backgrounds, instead of allowing them to divide us.
Introduction and Background
Observing these linguistic differences through prayer allows people to get a deeper understanding of the ways in which Ashkenazi and Sephardic communication differs. The existing literature related to this topic offered information about linguistic differences between orthodox Jews and more traditional Jews in regard to their lexical and phonological differences. The differences that we observed in the literature inspired us to compare multiple populations within Judaism and how their communication differs, especially with respect to their ability to create meaningful interactions with one another (Sacknovitz, 2007). The combination of our analysis of the literature and via our personal experiences as Jews of multiple ethnicities who have observed these limits in communication practices, we found that \t\ release was a highly relevant topic of conversation, often penetrating discussion about humor relating to the other group and ostracizing others unintentionally. The communication language aspect(s) that we will discuss focus on the various aspects of Ashkenazi and Sephardic Jewish cultures on communication preferences when discussing prayers whose pronunciation varies based on cultural and linguistic practices. Certain words in Hebrew using /t/ release have different pronunciations within Ashkenaz and Sephardi communities. In Hebrew, the letter “ת” (Tsav or Tav) can represent two contrasting sounds. This letter can either be pronounced as a “t” sound, or as a “ts” sound. Our research aimed to observe the frequency of such pronunciations in Ashkenazi and Sephardi temples. The usage of Yiddish and Ladino in communication was also a factor we considered in our research (Benor, 2011). This factor was used to attempt to show how people communicate based on their cultures. We pinpointed the differences that can be found within the linguistic factors of prayers between these two subgroups, specifically their pronunciation and incorporation of the languages that they are often associated with.
Methods
To study these aspects of communication, we visited two Jewish temples in the Los Angeles area, Ohel Moshe, a Sephradi Temple, and Temple Emmanuel, an Ashkenaz Temple. We visited each temple at the same time of day for the afternoon prayer called Mincha which is typically said anytime after midday until right before sunset, where we observed the recitation of Psalm 145, also called “Ashrei” in Hebrew (Psalms in Liturgy 10 – Psalm 145 “Ashrei”, Sefaria, 2022). We counted a total of 34 instances where the letter Tav/Tsav appeared in the Ashrei prayer and recorded the pronunciation of those words. We were specifically observing the ways in which each group made use of the /t/ release. We also recorded the amount of time words from languages such as Yiddish and Ladino appeared within prayer and with discussions around prayer. The frequency of the use of Tav and Tsav was recorded by us during prayer which sometimes proved difficult due to the quickness of the clergy members’ sermons. However, this risk of losing data was mitigated as we had prayer books with transliterations and pronunciations.
Results
In our results, we observed the following with regard to the presence of Ashkenazi Jewish and Sephardic Jewish communication when discussing Yiddish and Ladino. When we listened to prayers, we were shocked to find that Ladino and Yiddish were not used at all in prayer. Neither language was used in prayer, but Yiddish in contrast to Ladino was used in discussion around prayer. We observed that Yiddish words were utilized in 5 of 30, or 16.7%, of conversations that occurred before and after the service. The use of Yiddish in a minority of conversations was lower than we expected with our prediction being that one-third of conversations would have discussions in Yiddish. It is worth noting that the use of Yiddish in discussion around prayer could have been influenced by factors such as the age and background of the individuals involved in the conversation as the individuals at these synagogues were generally of an older age and thus would have higher ties to their original cultural roots. It is also possible that our sample size was too small to draw definitive conclusions about the prevalence of Yiddish in these contexts. Additionally, these results were skewed by the location as anecdotally Temples on the East Coast see a greater prevalence in the use of Yiddish words (Steinmetz, 2001). Yiddish, a language originally stemming from the intersection of German and Hebrew, is prevalent among Eastern European Jewish populations as a spoken language particularly in the Hasidic community in Brooklyn despite being considered by modern linguists as a dead language. (Roses, 1996) However, the findings we observed were more robust for the use of certain pronunciations of words when discussing /t/ release.
In our observations, we found that in regard to uses of /t/ release Ashkenazi Jews primarily use the Tsav pronunciation which would be most similar to an English “ts” sound, while Sephardi Jews make use of the Tav pronunciation, which is similar to an English “t”. This means that while the words that they are pronouncing look identical on paper, the way in which they pronounce them is different. For example, the word “בֵיתֶ֑ךָ” which appears in the first line of the Ashrei Prayer can either be pronounced as “Veitekha” or Veitsekha”. Of the 34 instances the letter Tav/Tsav appears in the Ashrei prayer, members of the Ashkenazi Temple opted for the Tsav pronunciation 32 out of the 34 times (94.12 %) and members of the Sephardi Temples opted for the Tav pronunciation 34 out of the 34 times (100%) during the prayer. We also made the prediction that Sephardi and Ashkenazi Jews would make use of the languages of their heritage within their prayers. Sephardic Jews we believed generally incorporated the Tav pronunciation more while Ashkenazi Jews used the Tsav pronunciation more which proved our prediction.
Conclusion
Our results suggest that within the Los Angeles community, there is a clear distinction between pronunciation of certain words and individual’s uses of /t/ release. Although our research had its limitations, the data we uncovered can help us understand these linguistic differences to foster a more inclusive and harmonious community. The current state being that Ashkenazi and Sephardic Jews are unable to properly communicate without encountering a seemingly invisible barrier to communication. By acknowledging and accepting these differences, we can work towards bridging the gap that separates Ashkenazi and Sephardic Jews. Our research aimed to uncover the disparities that contribute to such a gap. Although in our findings, we did not observe anything which is definitively a silver bullet to indicate that linguistic separations that exist within all Ashkenaz and Sephardi communities nationwide, we did glean valuable insights on communication components within the Los Angeles Jewish community that affect pronunciations and at times communication between Ashkenazi and Sephardic Jews. We suspect that the differences in the communication between Ashkenazi and Sephardic Jews are more tied to culture as a result of the lack of relevance with regard to the results of /t/ release and Yiddish and Ladino usage. Additionally, we were unable to answer the question of how Ashkenazi and Sephardic Jews can better communicate as a result of a lack of relevance of the variables of the use of Yiddish and Ladino. Overall, by continuing to investigate and better understand the linguistic differences between different Jewish communities, we can work towards creating a more inclusive and unified Jewish community. It is important to note that these linguistic differences are just one aspect of the rich cultural and religious diversity within the Jewish community. However, they are a significant factor that should not be ignored. Future research in this area could expand beyond the Los Angeles area to include a larger sample size and a wider geographic range. Additionally, it would be interesting to explore the role of other languages in Jewish prayer and communication, as well as how these linguistic differences impact other areas of Jewish life beyond prayer.
References
Benor, S. B. (2011). Mensch, bentsh, and balagan: Variation in the American Jewish linguistic repertoire. Language & Communication, 31(2), 141–154. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.langcom.2010.08.006
Psalms in Liturgy 10 – Psalm 145 “Ashrei” | Sefaria. (2022b, April 11). https://www.sefaria.org/sheets/398850?lang=bi
Roses. (1996). A DEAD LANGUAGE, YIDDISH LIVES. (Letter to the editor). The New York Times Magazine, 6.26–
Sacknovitz. (2007). Linguistic means of Orthodox Jewish identity construction: Phonological features, lexical features, and the situated discourse (Vol. 68, Issue 7). ProQuest Dissertations Publishing.
Steinmetz, S. (2001). Yiddish & English: The Story of Yiddish in America. University of Alabama Press.