A question was recently asked of Rav Yitzchak Zilbershtein in Bnei Braq about the growing number of stores in the area of Rabbi Akva St. that use signs written in English (instead of Hebrew).

The question posed was that it does not seem right, as most residents of Bnei Braq are not English-speaking immigrants. The petitioner suggested that stores catering to Israelis with signs printed in English are broadcasting superiority and making an implicit claim that the regular stores with Hebrew signs are inferior and selling inferior goods. So, the petitioner asked, is that feeling correct, and if so, should one refrain from buying in stores with signs printed in English? And furthermore, if one goes into a regular store with the sign in Hebrew and sees something there that is more expensive - should one pay the higher price in order to buy in a store that is respectable and respectful or is one justified in going to the other store with the English signs to save that money?

Rav Zilbershtein's response was that one should refrain from shopping in such stores that "change their language" and print their signs in English, even at the price of paying more. He said it is a mitzva to shop in the Hebrew-signed store.

Rav Zilbershtein also added that it is not enough to simply shop in the store with the Hebrew sign but one should also send a letter to the owner of the store with the English sign saying that you wanted to shop in his store but because he is embarrassed by Hebrew letters and chose to write his signs in foreign languages, you cannot buy from him.

Rav Zilbershtein bases his psak on the concept of the writings of chazal that say that the Jewish nation merited redemption from Egypt due to having not changed their language (among other thnigs), and the Mishna Brura writes about not changing the text of the siddur to be written in a foreign language for the same reason. Writing signs in English is to display superiority and broadcast the image of the store as being higher quality, while in reality it shows that the owner is inferior and wants to imitate the goyim. We have the writing of Hakadosh Baruch Hu.
source: Kikar

1. I would never have even though of this to be a question, let alone such a serious issue to raise the redemption card.

2. While the original question was based on the fact that Bnei Braq has few English-speaking people (a fact that might or might not be true), the answer does not make any mention of that (at least not the portion of the answer quoted in the article) but discusses the importance of using God' language and not using other languages. Would that also apply in places with many English-speaking people? Should signs on shops in, say, Bet Shemesh and Jerusalem also be in Hebrew and not English, with a mitzvah to buy from Hebrew-signed stores? Or is it ok because that is a common language spoken in the area?

3. what about in the USA, for example? Or Europe? Or anywhere else? Should all stores owned by Jews have their signs in Hebrew? Maybe it is ok there because they want to attract non-Jewish customers as well? Though that might be a difficult argument in places that are heavy Jewish enclaves..

4. what about yiddish? is that any different than English? Can stores post signs in Yiddish or is that also changing one's language or is Yiddish ok?