![]() It was her job to translate the calls made by Israel Weingarten from jail, as well as to interpret for his wife as she gave testimony in court. A rash of sex abuse cases involving Yiddish-speaking Hasidic Jews over the last decade rattled Kohn. However, she found dealing with the subject of the legal proceedings to be even more so. It involves less grammar, but more English words and biblical references than academic Yiddish. Adapting to Hasidic Yiddish has been challenging. In the last 15 years, most of the cases Kohn has worked on have involved Hasidic Jews. After doing the work for more than 30 years, she’s come to understand a lot not only about Yiddish, but also about people. Nonetheless, it is impossible for her not to be affected emotionally by what she is exposed to. (Courtesy) A spate of emotionally trying Hasidic sex abuse casesĪs a court interpreter and translator, Kohn must remain objective as she works. Ruth Kohn (right) during her IDF service in the mid-1960s. She learned to speak Yiddish from her parents at home, but wasn’t enthusiastic about using the language. Born in Chelyabinsk in Russia’s Ural Mountains during World War II, she and her parents returned to Zhary in western Poland in 1945 when she was just five months old. A reluctant early Yiddish speakerĪs someone who spent a significant portion of her life avoiding speaking Yiddish, it is somewhat ironic that Kohn has ended up making a living (at least in part) from the language. #YIDDISH TRANSLATOR WITH VOICE PROFESSIONAL#She also does occasional Hebrew translation work for the US Department of State, and as an experienced and respected professional in her field, she has also been hired to rate court-administered tests for new interpreters. Since she works on an on-call basis, she often doesn’t know in advance what a given workday will look like for her. Self-employed, she works for the court system, as well as for interpreting agencies when they receive translation requests from lawyers and court reporters. Mostly, she translates and interprets Hebrew and Polish. ![]() In fact, only 20 percent of her work involves the language. Kohn does not rely on Yiddish translation for her living. ![]()
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