Origin of Yekke
Judith Romney Wegner
>nickname due to their garments (they use to wear Jackets=suits, a very
>unusual garment in Palestine of those days)
Whoops! Germany, yes! Austria, most definitely no! My husband (and
others who stem from a
Viennese Jewish background) pride themselves on not being Yekkes --
Yekkishkeit is considered part of the "preussiche Ordnung" that
distinguishes Germans from the far more easy-going Austrians! But you are
correct about Jacke being the likeliest origin of the term Yekke (the
German for jacket is Jacke).
However, I can't resist reporting a naughty little joke that circulated in
the politically-incorrect Hebrew-speaking circles of my youth; it was
claimed that Yekke (spelled Yod-Qof-Heh), stood for "Yehudi Qesheh
Havanah" (lit., "a Jew who is hard of understanding" -- meaning one who
"just doesn't get it" ). In particular, Yekkes were thought (with some
justification, in my experience) to be somewhat lacking in a sense of
humor!
Judith Romney Wegner
MODERATOR NOTE: End of thread.
mailto:j...@Brown.edu
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