Spell check

We’re flattered, we really are, that at least two words from Jewish tradition were among the challenges at this year’s Scripps National Spelling Bee in Washington, DC. But is there a word for the vague regret one feels for asking school-age kids to spell the kinds of words that have baffled Jewish philologists and copy editors for decades?

New Jersey’s own Kerry Close, a 13-year-old from Spring Lake, won the bee without having to spell a Yiddish or Hebrew word, unless you count Galilean (which you shouldn’t, mister). But Rajiv Tarigopula of St. Louis had to spell “yizkor,” and poor Saryn Hooks of North Carolina got stuck with “hechsher,” a word meaning rabbinic approval. Rajiv nailed his word, but Saryn — well, therein lies the tale.

Saryn went with “hechsher” and got dinged. According to the moderator, the correct spelling was “hechscher.” But after a fast-typing audience-member with a laptop checked, Saryn’s parents lodged an official challenge — and got the red-faced judges to admit that “hechsher” was a perfectly legitimate variant spelling.

Oy vey (or vay, as the case may be). As anyone who ever tried to spell Hanukka, or Chanukah, can tell you, once you get started with variant spellings of Hebrew and Yiddish words, you can’t stop. Some organizations, like YIVO, have tried to establish some order on transliteration but, outside of the academy, with little success. Besides, even the original words being transliterated have undergone an orthographic evolution. When YIVO, then in Vilna, established the so-called standard Yiddish orthography in the 1930s, it led to bitter arguments and a near riot by detractors.

So come on, bee keepers. Promote Hebrew and Yiddish, but within reason. Let them try “shalom,” “amen,” and “hallelujah.” But when it comes to anything more complicated, please show some rachmones.