Yiddish is written with the Hebrew alphabet, but people did not write letters in the printed block letters you see in books. They used a cursive script, and every writer had a hand of their own. Add a century of fading ink, folds and stains, and even a fluent reader can be stuck on a single word.
Why it is so difficult
- Letters that look alike. In handwriting, pairs such as ו and ן, or ס and ם, can be nearly identical.
- Old spelling. Before Yiddish spelling was standardized, many writers used German-style spellings. In the Brooklyn sample you can see אונד for “and” and דיא for “the”.
- English in Yiddish letters. Immigrants in America wrote English words with Hebrew letters: מיטינג is “meeting” and סעמעטערי is “cemetery”. A translator who only knows standard Yiddish will miss them.
- Hebrew inside Yiddish. Letters are full of Hebrew words, blessings and abbreviations such as ב״ה or נ״י.
- Names and places. Family names and small towns are the most important words in a letter and the easiest to misread.
How I work
I always transcribe first. Every word is typed out in the original language, exactly as written, before I translate anything. This way the reading can be checked, and the family has a searchable copy of the original text.
Where a word cannot be read with confidence, I say so. You will see [illegible] or my best reading with a question mark. I would rather tell you a word is uncertain than guess quietly.
Tip: tell me the names and towns you already know. Knowing that a grandmother was called Reizel, or that the family came from near Pinsk, often unlocks a word that would otherwise stay unclear.
What you receive
- A typed transcription in Yiddish (or Hebrew), line by line
- A translation into English or Hebrew
- Notes on dates, abbreviations, names and places
- A Word document laid out next to your scan
See how this looks on a real page in the samples, or read why old Yiddish handwriting is so hard to read.