Lashon Hakodesh id kadosh be’etzem.Ie, it’s intrinsically holy. Histakel be’oraysah ubara alma (Hashem looked into the Torah as a blueprint and created the world from it- famous phrase from the zohar, quoted a lot in sifrei kodesh like the Nefesh Hachaim). The world was created in Lashon Hakodesh. Even if chas veshalom nobody learned a word in it, the language is still holy. The Ibn Ezra and the Mahara”l (genuine sifrei kodesh) also say that Aramaic is holy. Aramaic, the lingua franca of Jews for 1,500 years, is, according to the Mahara”l, the language of olam haba. That is why we do shnayim mikra ve’echad targum, according to the Mahara”l- the 2 readings in Lashon Hakodesh correspond to the olam ha’elyon and the olam ha’tachton, the the targum corresponds to olam haba.
Yiddish is known as “teitch”. Teitch comes from the German word Deutch, meaning “German”. Germany is known by the locals as Deutchland. In other words, Yiddish isn’t intrinsically holy- it’s a Germanic tongue. It is similar to Judeo-Fez, Judeo-Spanish (aka Ladino), Judeo-French, etc in that it’s an adaptation of the local language with Hebrew letters, a jargon similar to creole or ebonics. As previously mentioned, Rav Yisroel Salanter, a native Yiddish speaker living in Europe, referred to Yiddish in one of his letters in the Ohr Yisroel as “zargon”, ie jargon. No glossy-eyed romanticization of Yiddish as a lashon hakodesh for him.
There are several claims here that Yiddish is holy for sevaros chitzonos, even if it’s not intrinsically holy like Lashon Hakodesh. They are, in sum:
1. It’s been the lingua franca of Jews for 1,000 years
2. There is a lot of Torah that’s learned in it
3. the best shiurim are given in Yiddish
4. it keeps the Jews separate.
Reason number 1 is mufrach minei ubei (inherently specious) because :
a. It makes the language historic, but not holy,
b. Hebrew (as the form of Lashon Hakodesh, both Lashon haTorah and Lashon Chachamim), Aramaic and even Arabic have been used by Jews a lot longer than Yiddish,
c. Many Jews in the world didn’t and don’t speak Yiddish.
Rashi, the quintessential Ashkenazi, quotes words of Laa”z to translate hard words of Lashon Hakodesh. Sure enough, they’re in French, not Yiddish. so much for Yiddish being the lingua franca of the yidden for 1,000 years.
Reason #2, that much Torah is and has been learned in it, apply to Hebrew, Aramaic, Arabic, and English as well. So the difference between Yiddish and English is one of degree, not of essence. Lashon Hakodesh and Aramaic are essentially different from Yiddish because they are intrinsically holy, plus there is or was a lot of Torah learned in those languages. Furthermore, if Yiddish was so holy due to all the torah learned in it, why did the leading Yiddish-speaking Rishonim and Acharonim choose to write their seforim in Lashon Hakodesh instead of Yiddish?
Apparently Lashon Hakodesh is holier than Yiddish.
Reason #3 is a valid reason for learning Yiddish- the best Shiurim are given in Yiddish. But it doesn’t make it holy. If the best shiurim were given in French, there would be an inyan to learn French. But that doesn’t make french holy.
Reason #4 was a valid reason to speak Yiddish, even if it’s not holy. Unfortunately, the realities of our American galus make knowing only Yiddish an obstacle for parnassah. As the Gadol Reb Yaakov ZT”L pointed out, in America you must teach English. To do otherwise is to teach your son “listus” (banditry). In the shtetl is was possible to just know yiddish and make do. In America, the realities just don’t work. While many baalei battim feel otherwise, the gedolim who deal in the realities argue. Furthermore, this can be accomplished by speaking Lashon Hakodesh, a language both intrinsically and extrinsically holy.
My Rosh hayeshiva ZT”L, a native yiddish speaker from Lita, referred to Yiddish as an “amaleikishe lashon” ( a language from amaleik, referring to its Germanic core). This romanticism of Yiddish is a modern phenomenon, part of our myopic belief that Jewish history began in the shtetls of Eastern Europe. The Jewish children’s books showing moshe Rabbeinu in a streimel don’t help things.
Yiddish is and was a nice language. but let’s not turn it into a mitzvah. there are enough real Mitzvos out there.