Inherent elietism.

There is a new teacher at my school who took over for the old AP Language and Composition teacher. Although I doubt he will find this particular blog, he would be pleased to know that I've learned something from his class.

Typing youtube.com into my browser, I think, is far removed from an elitist activity: everyone does it and everyone understands it.

Next, I look up a video. "A peace made for our ancestors," a song by some NFTY-SAR kids made with a Jewish audience in mind. Yet my mind drifts from the song to what my teacher said just the other day. Shalom Rav and Yad b'yad are hardly references that any non-Jew will readily understand, but they make up some of the beginning verse of the song.

Then I click around Singer's blog and make my way to Mah Rabu, from there to another Jewish blog. As I sit there learning, I am again reminded of what my teacher said. I, a reasonably knowledgeable (or so I like to think), am having to look up the meaning of some of the more dense, less common Hebrew.

Now I am annoyed.

Why don't I know about these things? I should know the Hebrew for these familiar concepts, dammit!

All I can do is sit here and think. Think that I should be learning these things and it's the right thing to do for me. Think about those that have less motivation to study these things for whatever reason. Think about those who aren't willing to put forth the effort to learn these terms and what they mean. Think about the lack of resources we give to let those with less motivation understand.

No one is more or less guilty of this. But when someone comes across a "Jewish" blog with vocabulary they don't understand, they are likely to dismiss it. It's only right that we keep ourselves from going down this path. It is best to write understandably or offer some more common phrase for what one means. Unless it is your choice to write specifically for a learned Jewish audience, in which case, I feel we exclude many valuable opinions.

What my teacher said I still feel is right. Using language not everyone understands in a scholarly work is elitist. You exclude those that don't understand even when you may not mean to.

Food for thought. I want to write for everyone so plain English (or at least an explanation) will always come from me.