Yekke

The term Yekke (adjective: Yekkish) (alt: Jecke or Yecke) is a generally jovial, mildly derogatory term primarily used by Jews to refer to their coreligionists from Germany or who adhere to the Western-European minhag.

See History of the Jews in Germany

Today, very few original Yekkes are still German residents, but they remain in regions such as Switzerland, Eastern France (Alsace and Lorraine), and Luxembourg. A significant community managed to escape Frankfurt after Kristallnacht, and relocated to the Washington Heights region of New York City, where they still have a synagogue, K'hal Adass Jeshurun, which punctiliously adheres to the Yekkish liturgical text, rituals, and melodies. Most of the 200.000 jews living in Germany today emigrated from the former USSR after 1990 and only 105.000 are registered members of jewish communities.

A group of Yekkes established kibbutz Chofetz Chaim in the Gedarim region of Israel just south of Tel Aviv. Recently a few new Yekkish communities have been started in Israel by "Machon Moreshet Ashkenaz," and one of the leading communities is K'hal Adas Yeshurun of Jerusalem, which is running a "Nusach Project", a project of preserving the special Yekkish melodies.

Etymology

"Jackets"

There are a number of theories regarding the etymology of the word. The best known is that it originates from the cultural differences in dress that developed between the more westernized Western European Jews who wore shorter "jackets" ("yekke", cf. German Jacke with an initial y-sound instead of the English j-sound) from the traditional longer coats while the outer clothing worn by the Eastern European Jews was typically longer.

Jacob

Another theory is that the word derives from "Yekkef", the Western European pronunciation of the name "Jacob" or "Jack", which differs from the Eastern European pronunciation, "Yankef" or "Yankev" (also see German Jäckel, pronounced "yekkel", the German diminutive form of Jakob).

German jeck(e)

Furthermore, since Yiddish is derived from German, German sources occasionally note that Yiddish yekk(e) is largely homophone with jeck(e), the Rhenish dialectal form of Standard German Geck of uncertain origin but in contexts relating German jeck(e) to Yiddish yekk(e) attributed to patriarch Jacob in the Bible as does above-mentioned Yekkef theory.

Rhenish Jeck(e) as a noun denotes a "fool", "jester", or "crazy person" (both in a general sense, and in particular in association with the Rhenish carnival where the term describes a traditional folkloric stage figure akin to the Italian harlequin as well as merely a reveler celebrating the carnival season in a "foolish" manner due to ebriety) and as an adjective means "crazy", "mad", "insane", whereas the dated High German word Geck originally meant a "fool" as well but later transformed to particularly signify a "dandy" or "fop".

However, the broader usage of the Rhenish noun Jeck(e) in the Rhineland area has even given the term a general meaning resembling "person", "(mere) mortal", or "humble sinner" with a particularly (self-)ironic connotation, such as in the common saying Jeder Jeck is anders (lit. "Every fool is different", with an idiomatic meaning of "Different strokes for different folks" or "Live and let live"). From there, a transformation into an ethnonym such as for Jewish people would be akin to the fate of similar terms such as Germanic man (word) and *þiuda-, and the equivalent words for "person" or "human being" in many other languages around the world.

Usage

The term is often used in a slightly derogatory or cynical manner, although it is also used as a badge of honour. It is used mainly in reference to the German Jews’ legendary attention to detail and punctuality. This sense for detail extends into the strict adherence to minhagim (religious customs, especially when pertaining to the synagogue service). Oberlanders—Jews originating from parts of Austria, the Czech Republic, and Slovakia—are often confused with yekkes due to similar minhagim.

A classic example of how exacting and detailed oriented Yekkes can be, is in the following parable: A Yekke says to his wife on the evening of 4 December, "I'll be home from synagogue services a little late tonight." Explanation: at the evening prayer on the 4th of December, the words "V'seyn Tal Umotor" (Give us dew and rain) are added to the prayers for the upcoming winter season. The addition of these few words causes the Yekke to be "late" coming back home.

See also

• List of German Jews
• Chuts

External links

• The source of the word Yekke
• Yekkish Nusach, and Discussion Forum
• Machon Moreshet Ashkenaz