Disciplines

Jewish Studies

Abstract

Gitl Schaechter Viswanath was born into a Yiddish-speaking family. Her father came from Romania to the United States in 1951, becoming a renowned Yiddish linguist and Columbia professor. He and his wife wanted to raise their children speaking Yiddish within a Yiddish community, and so they created this community with two other families living near one another on Bainbridge Avenue in the north-central Bronx, the Fishmans and the Gottesmans. The families were primarily secular but focused on Jewish culture and tradition.

Schaechter Viswanath attended PS 56 and describes the school and area as primarily Jewish. After school, she went to Sholem Aleichem School 21, a Yiddish school right across the street on Bainbridge Avenue. During the summers, she went to Camp Hemshekh, a Yiddish camp. Schaechter Viswanath discusses attending Yiddish school and camp with her sister, despite her sister being older. They did a lot together, including attending Evander Childs High School, though by the time Schaechter Viswanath was there, they no longer had honors classes, and the demographics had started to change. As a result, she graduated high school early and started at Barnard with her sister.

By age 12, her father hired her to help document Yiddish words for the Comprehensive English-Yiddish Dictionary, which she herself worked to complete after his death. After graduating from Sholem Aleichem, Schaechter Viswanath also attend Yiddish high school, mitlshul, and the Jewish Teachers Seminary, a Yiddish college that closed upon her graduation. She was also a member of Yugntruf (Youth for Yiddish) and is the long time organizer of the Yidish-Vokh summer program, where she met her husband. Despite her continued love for Yiddish, including writing Yiddish poetry, chairing the board of the League for Yiddish, and singing in a Yiddish choir, Schaechter Viswanath decided to pursue a career in the nursing and retired after 35 years in the industry.

Schaechter Viswanath raised her children speaking Yiddish, as did her siblings, and they all continue pursuing their passion for Yiddish in some way. The Sholem Aleichem School has become a cultural center, still holding events in Yiddish. Schaechter Viswanath herself became more religious, eventually modern Orthodox. She remembers her childhood in the Bronx positively, within a structured, bilingual community.

Keywords: Yiddish, Bainbridge Avenue, religion, Orthodox, Sholem Aleichem School, PS 56, JHS 80, Evander Childs High School, Camp Hemshekh, Jewish Teachers Seminary, education, Yidish-Vokh, League for Yiddish, Yugntruf, antisemitism, Holocaust, World War II, Teachers Strikes 1967-1968, crime, gender

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