Jan 6, 2016
The Maiden of Ludmir, coming to a street near you
The City of Jerusalem has decided to name a street after Chana Rachel of Ludmir, who was known by the nickname "The virgin (maiden) of Ludmir".
Chana Rachel, as Wikipedia describes, lived in the 1800s and was the only independent female rebbe. in the history of the hassidic movement. Intriguing description, no?
Anyways, Jerusalem has decided to name a street after her, though has not yet decided which street or in which neighborhood it would be.
It turns out that for the past year and a half, while the issue has been on the table, the Haredi councilmen in Jerusalem have opposed the proposition, specifically because of the proposed name. The original proposed name was "הבתולה מלודמיר" - the "Maiden of Ludmir" as per the name she was famously known for. Those opposing the proposal were opposed to the use of the word maiden/virgin. Once the submitters agreed to drop that word from the proposal, they agreed to name a street Chana Rachel of Ludmir.
source: Mynet
What a silly thing to fight over.
And, it is not like the Haredi community shies away from the word virgin. Many wedding invitations of a first-time married couple, including in the Haredi community and especially in the hassidic communities, describes the bride as a virgin.
Not every little thing needs to be a fight. At most they could easily have asked that the street not be located in a haredi neighborhood.
Though, on the other hand, I guess it is good that they eventually agreed to the name and did not insist that the street be named "Ms. Ludmir" or something like that dropping her first name...
Chana Rachel, as Wikipedia describes, lived in the 1800s and was the only independent female rebbe. in the history of the hassidic movement. Intriguing description, no?
Anyways, Jerusalem has decided to name a street after her, though has not yet decided which street or in which neighborhood it would be.It turns out that for the past year and a half, while the issue has been on the table, the Haredi councilmen in Jerusalem have opposed the proposition, specifically because of the proposed name. The original proposed name was "הבתולה מלודמיר" - the "Maiden of Ludmir" as per the name she was famously known for. Those opposing the proposal were opposed to the use of the word maiden/virgin. Once the submitters agreed to drop that word from the proposal, they agreed to name a street Chana Rachel of Ludmir.
source: Mynet
What a silly thing to fight over.
And, it is not like the Haredi community shies away from the word virgin. Many wedding invitations of a first-time married couple, including in the Haredi community and especially in the hassidic communities, describes the bride as a virgin.
Not every little thing needs to be a fight. At most they could easily have asked that the street not be located in a haredi neighborhood.
Though, on the other hand, I guess it is good that they eventually agreed to the name and did not insist that the street be named "Ms. Ludmir" or something like that dropping her first name...
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Is it tznius to name a street after a woman in the first place? People (men) might walk on it and have hirhurim!
ReplyDeleteHirhurot.
DeleteOn the other hand, maybe not.
Der Moid fun Ludmir in Yiddish is not precisely a virgin. An alte moid means an old spinster; not an old virgin. The real connotation of moid as the English title Miss, is a single , never married woman. TTBOMK a girl who'd been molested but never married would also be referred to as a moid so unless there is a modern Ivrit word that equates to the marital status rather than the anatomical presence of an intact hymen I can understand why some might find the term provocative , sexualizing and/ or offensive.
ReplyDeleteBTW I have no reason to presume that Der Moid fun Ludmir was NOT a besulah. It's just not the "point" of her title/ appellation.
English once had the cognate word "maiden." Defined as "a girl or young woman, especially an unmarried one"
DeleteIf one were looking to translate maiden, I would think עַלמָה would be as good a word as any. Google-translate agrees with me. (עַלמָה is used in the Torah by Eliezer to reference Rivkah, Ber. 24:43, and the Torah uses that term to refer to Miriam, Shemos 2:8. So she would be in good company being called that.)
So Ha'almah mi Ludmir should have worked. Surprised no one thought of it.
you mean should have worked now as a compromise or should have worked back then? if now it wouldnt work just because it wasnt her name or nickname, so it is not really naming the street after her
DeleteHer nickname in Yiddish was Der Moid fun Ludmir. The issue is how to translate that into Hebrew.
DeleteWhen streets in Israel are named "Rechov ha Admor mi____" the word Admor is a translation of Rebbe in Yiddish.
Almah has certain christian implications (per yeshayahu). Not a good idea.
DeleteWhy not 'mold'? The yiddishists might be happy.
Der X fun Y is itself a Hebraism. In Yiddish, they wouldn't say Der Rebbe Fun Ger but Der Gerrer Rebbe, or in this case Dee Ludmirer Moid.
ReplyDelete