Finally, as Dr. Klarberg concedes, there exists a new variety of Hebrew pronunciation known as “Yeshivish” that no one used in Europe. Although the adoption of Standard Yiddish pronunciation was documented by YIVO, the Yeshivish pronunciation has never been investigated. The arguments for the source being the Yiddish standard pronunciation are twofold: Firstly, not a single rosh yeshivah from Europe whom I have heard speak used Yeshivish Hebrew; they all used the Lithuanian or Polish pronunciation of Hebrew. If Yeshivish Hebrew were the result of the influence of Polish or Galitzianer bachurim in Lithuanian yeshivos, one would expect some of the European rashei yeshivos to have used Yeshivish Hebrew as well. Secondly, Yeshivish pronunciation is exactly the same as the Standard Yiddish pronunciation, which would be very strange assuming, as our letter writer does, that they each developed at different times by different groups.
NCSY at Sixty g
I greatly enjoyed the trip down memory lane with NCSY (“NCSY Turns Sixty,” by Bayla Sheva Brenner, spring 2014) but was disappointed that among those mentioned who were so instrumental in NCSY’s success in its early days, the name of my father, Rabbi Nachman Bulman, a”h, was not included. My father was very involved in the founding of NCSY when he was a rabbi in South Fallsburg, New York, in the fifties and also when he served as rabbi in Danville and later Newport News, both cities in Virginia, in the fifties and sixties. In the past several years, both the Danville and Newport News communities have held fiftyyear reunions that were attended by hundreds of former Virginians, many of whom were active as teenagers in the Virginia region of NCSY—which I remember as the best region there ever was! Most of those former
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teenagers are now grandparents and even great-grandparents. The shuls in those cities are but memories, and the former NCSY members are scattered in all directions, but they boast literally thousands of Torah-observant descendants living all over America and Israel. I have in my possession a letter dated October 9, 2002, that Rabbi Pinchas Stolper, the founding director of NCSY, wrote to my mother, a”h, after my father’s passing: Rabbi Bulman was a major factor in the success of NCSY, especially in the early days when the doubters outweighed the supporters. He influenced thousands of young American kids to turn to the Torah. Rav Bulman was one of the very few and first of American rabbonim who, when exposed to the NCSY phenomenon, believed in it, participated in it, understood its power, and was fully committed to do all he could to insure its success. Rav Bulman’s sessions at conventions, especially at national conventions, which both of you attended many times, were spiritually magical. He had the genius to be intellectual, scholarly, mystical, enthusiastic, warm and demanding; all at the very same time. He knew how to talk to American kids who were without [a religious] background, and to reach them. His stirring and emotional voice, filled with intellect and brilliance, reached deeply into their souls. There was always a certain magic about him. He lives in my mind, in my consciousness, and in the minds and consciousness of the untold tens of thousands on whom he left an indelible and eternal mark. When the former teenagers of NCSY tell their grandchildren about the old days, I hope my father’s name will always be remembered. TOBY KATZ North Miami Beach, Florida
Jewish Action Wins Four Rockower Awards Jewish Action won four Simon Rockower Awards for Excellence in Jewish Journalism for work produced in 2013. The prestigious awards, referred to as the “Jewish Pulitzers,” are sponsored by the American Jewish Press Association, which holds a journalism competition for leading Jewish magazines and newspapers from across the country. The entries are judged by a panel of judges with expertise in journalism, writing/reporting, editing, graphic design and cartooning in both the Jewish and non-Jewish media. Jewish Action won first place for Excellence in Single Commentary in the newspaper and magazine category for “The Decline of the Rabbinic Sermon” by Zev Eleff. The magazine also won first place for The Jacob Rader Marcus Award for Journalistic Excellence in American Jewish History for “The Guru of Kashrut: Rabbi Alexander S. Rosenberg and the Transformation of Kashrut in America” by Professor Timothy D. Lytton. The article “The Courage to Serve: A Chareidi Girl in the IDF” by Fayga Marks, won two awards: first place for Excellence in Personal Essay and second place for Excellence in Writing about Women. The awards ceremony will be held in Washington D.C. in November.