What is Yiddish? For many of us, it is the language our parents, or grandparents, spoke. It was the language that we understood, but could never speak. It was the language of Oi vai iz mir! and meshugass, the language of kreplach and lakshen. We knew when to laugh, because every joke we heard had a punch line in Yiddish. It was the language our ancestors used in Eastern Europe, but not a language necessary for our modern lives.