English-jewish Publishers Ask for Clear Transliteration of Yiddish and Hebrew Terms

In a forward step to end long-existing chaos in the transliteration of Yiddish and Hebrew terms–especially expressions of a religious significance–into English, the American Association of English-Jewish Newspapers, convened here in a two-day conference, urged presidents of America’s four leading Jewish schools of higher learning to undertake the project.

The Association, representing America’s 36 leading English-Jewish newspapers, called upon the presidents of the Jewish Theological Seminary, Hebrew Union College, Yeshiva University and the Dropsie College to make the transliterations personally or to assign a member of each faculty to standardize the translation of Yiddish and Hebrew terms into the English language.

Members of the Association pledged unanimous support to the decisions of the National Planning Conference for Israel and Jewish Rehabilitation, which also met here, and expressed the hope that the Conference would gain “the large measure of unity necessary to the achievement of the objectives set forth at this historic gathering.”