Tag Archives: jewish

“The Hebrew Baby-naming ceremony” 

Nationality: American

Age: 22

Occupation: Student 

Residence: Orange County, CA, USA

Date: 4/30/2025

Language: English

Description: 

When you’re Jewish and you’re a baby, your parents are supposed to take you to Temple for, like the baby naming ceremony. What that means is you get your Hebrew name. It’s like a really big deal, and you do it in front of the whole congregation, and they give you like a little pamphlet thing that has your name. So, when I did it, I did it with my sister who was a baby at the time, which means that I was a lot older, which is not super common. But it was also just kind of like there was something very collective about doing it with my sister that made it kind of nice. When you have your baby naming thing, they have a blessing, but I can’t really remember what it is. And then you get your name. So essentially, like, my dad had his baby name. Which I don’t really remember what it was…it’s bat Matityahu something. So, basically, what they do is they’ll take your dad’s name if you’re a girl, and they’ll translate your name from English into, like Hebrew, and then they’ll name you after your father. So, like my Hebrew name is bat Matityahu, which means daughter of Matthew. I don’t remember what my sisters is…her name is Alexa, daughter of Matthew, too. 

Subject’s opinion:

Subject: I always have issues with that, because I always wanted my own name. I wanted to be separate from my dad. Because when you’re a boy, you get your own name. It’s separate from your parent. So, my dad’s is different from his dad’s, etc, etc, etc. Um, I think it’s. 

Interviewer: How does that reflect on the culture? 

Subject: It’s a very communal experience. So when you’re named when you have your Hebrew name at your Bat Mitzvah. When you’re called to read the Torah, you’re called by your Hebrew name. So, like when I had to go up for my Bar Mitzvah, they didn’t say. Uh, reading passage three is [redacted subject name], it was…they have a chant that they sing, and then they sing, uh, your name. It is kind of one of those things that plays into every facet of your life as you get older in the temple or, like, in the cult Hebrew culture. And it’s not something that’s talked about a lot until it’s kind of…necessary to be talked about. So, like when my dad had to come up and read a blessing from my Bat Mitzvah, he was called by his Hebrew name, his. His brother was called by his Hebrew name. It’s just that’s kind of how it is, so it’s when you’re in that space. Everyone also has that alternate name in a way. Oh yeah, just kind of, I don’t know. It’s kind of communal, and it’s not really ever talked about. It’s just. You’re kind of aware that if you’re there and you’ve had a Bat Mitzvah, you have a Hebrew name. 

Analysis: 

The subject highlighted both her intimacy with this Jewish tradition as well as her sense of emotional distance from the roots of the ritual. By reflecting on her role as a passive participant in this communal experience urged on by her family, the subject’s exposure to her cultural heritage is palpable, which clearly led to increased curiosity about her family’s past as a Jewish-American.

Dybbuk Box

Nationality: American
Age: 67
Occupation: Retired
Residence: United States
Language: English

Text:

“The Dybbuk Box is said to house a malicious spirit. Spirit is said to be trapped in the box until someone helps set it free. Box is said to haunt any person who owns it. Said to cause strange things to happen around it. People who own the box are said to see shadow figures. I learned about it from this show by Zak Bagans, where he was given this box and then some of his workers died upon receiving it or just having bad luck. Said they had nightmares a lot or getting into bad accidents or almost dying.”

Context:

The informant remembers hearing about this from tv shows about the supernatural and interprets it as a story about demons and evil entities. They find it interesting to learn, but also factors in the fear that they feel when getting close to the object.

Analysis:

The Dybbuk Box, in this case, seems to take root from a mix of Jewish culture and American culture. A Dybbuk is from Jewish culture, a wandering spirit that seeks to possess something. The American portion is from the idea of trying to find meaning to that which we can’t explain as well as the fear of the unknown. This also represents an urban legend as its value is spread heavily through media and now takes a more modern approach. The idea also comes from a haunted, or possessed object, that is said to curse those around it. The theme that it could inhibit is to be mindful of one’s surroundings and of what you mess around with as something terrible might happen if you’re not careful. This also holds magical properties through contagious magic as whoever owns it is passed down a curse even after being separated. The opening of the box symbolizes a taboo, or a warning, and prohibiting the action or else misfortune will ensue.

Apples & Honey: Jewish New Year Ritual

Age: 63
Occupation: Retired
Language: English

Informant Information:

Age: 63

Date of Performance: 2/18/2025

Language: English

Nationality: American

Occupation: Retired

Primary Language: English

Residence: Alameda, California

Text:

“Both my parents were Jewish, and at the new year—which, in Judaism, is a holiday in the fall when apples are in season—you cut apple slices, dip them in honey, and that will give you a sweet, prosperous new year.”

Context:

The informant, a California native from a fully Jewish background, grew up celebrating the Jewish New Year with her parents.

Analysis:

Eating apples dipped in honey is a Jewish tradition during Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year. Their round shape symbolizes the cyclical nature of the year, while the honey’s sweetness represents hopes for a prosperous and joyful future.

Before eating, participants often recite a blessing expressing their wish for a “sweet new year,” reinforcing the ritual’s symbolic nature. For the informant’s family, this ritual was a celebration of their Jewish identity and means of passing down traditions to future generations. The timing, coinciding with apple season in the fall, also reflects the natural alignment between cultural customs and the regional produce available in California.

“Schmutz”

Nationality: American

Age: 21

Occupation: Student 

Residence: Orange County, CA, USA

Date: 02/22/2025 

Primary Language: English

Language: Yiddish

Description: 

“Basically, there’s a lot of like Yiddish things that we use in my family…we’ve used forever and ever and ever, and it just like, kind of continue. But I think it’s interesting that I use them because obviously, like, I don’t live my family anymore, whatever. Um…one of the things that I say all the time is Schmutz. S-c-h-m-u-t-z. Schmutz. Which basically means like…it’s like a kind of way of saying, like, you have shit on you. Like you have schmutz on you, which basically means like…like dirt. Usually, when I use it, it’s something that’s a little more like, um…lasting. Like if I get like pasta sauce on me, I go:

‘I have schmutz on me.’ If I got like, if I had like a leaf on me that I could like, brush off, you wouldn’t necessarily say that because it’s not something that’s, like, detrimental to your clothing or whatever.”

Subject’s opinion: 

Interviewer: Do you know where [the phrase] originated?

Subject: In Yiddish. Like…it’s been a term that’s been used…I’m pretty sure it’s actually a word in Yiddish, but I think it’s very Americanized. Not like Americanized…but it’s like, very like American Jew…usage. 

Interviewer: Do you know what it literally translates to? 

Subject: No…but that’s, I think, what’s interesting about it. A lot of the Yiddish words that we use, I don’t know exactly what they mean. Like “schvitzing” is sweating. “Schmear” is like a…a schmear! Like, I can’t even explain that. It’s just like a schmear…a lot of what Yiddish is, it’s like…like, schvitzing is like a lot of like, sch-vit-zing. It’s like a lot of hard letters for something that’s kind of gross. Like, you’re sweating. Schvitzing It’s kind of disgusting. Like, you go to the Schwitz is what you say if you go to the sauna. 

Analysis:  The subject’s Jewish-American background brings much complexity to the consideration of these words as folk tradition. On one hand, they are real words rooted in multiple linguistic origins, mainly Yiddish as well as German. On the other hand, based on the subject’s description, these words have taken on a life of their own in the American social context. The subject laid emphasis on the exclusivity of these words’ usage and how they’re only a shared lingo between her, her sister, and her parents. Since the subject does not speak Yiddish, she only offered her opinion on the phonetic profile of these words and its role in their effectiveness. In this context, the use of these words becomes a social performance, particularly in the special paralinguistic patterns of voice quality and vocalization as well as how they appeal to tradition—a way to stay in touch with one’s roots in a language that pulls from a greater realm of cultural heritage.

Tiferet

Context: This testimony given by SS is a former Los Angeles high-school student who shared with me her reflections on a semester spent in Israel as part of a 10th grade educational program. Her testimony sheds light on the programs commitment to the students safety, and their willingness to use realistic stories to deter the kids on the trip from misbehaving.

Text: “At my high school in 10th grade you can apply to a program and spend your second semester of 10th grade in Israel. And because there’s a lot of freedom given on the trip and you are at such a young age, there’s a strong emphasis on not being able to drink or smoke or do anything like that. When we went out we would need to be chaperoned by a madrichim which was a live-in councilor for the trip. This was always a rule but we were told it became more strongly enforced after an incident that allegedly occurred more than 5 years prior to when I went. Certain weekends would be referred to as open shabbat because you would have the option to stay with a nearby family in Israel, and a girl during this free weekend drank and got alcohol poisoning and needed to have her stomach pumped at a local hospital. As a result of her actions, she was supposedly kicked off of the program and had to immediately go home. Looking back I think they only told us this story to keep us in check and scare us out of doing anything crazy” 


Analysis: I believe the purpose of this testimony serves as a cautionary tale, aiming to teach a lesson through the consequences that the alleged girl who got alcohol poisoning suffered through. The alcohol poisoning serves as a warning to other students about the health risks of engaging in the prohibited behaviors, whilst the girl being kicked off of the trip works to further deter students from following in her actions, as that would result in them being flown back to Los Angeles from Israel and presumably additionally failing the semesters classes.  At its heart, I believe it serves as a mechanism for social control which works particularly well amongst the high schooler demographic, especially when paired with the aim to establish the authority of the madrichim by painting them out to be both guardians of the students and enforcers of the program’s rules.