April 26, 2021 This fall, Cornell's new Yiddish program is setting its sights higher, riding a generational trend in interest and changing attitudes towards the language. Yiddish textbooks Currently, Yiddish classes meet one evening a week. Starting with the Fall 2021 semester, Elementary Yiddish will be offered for four credit hours and held four days per week. As of Fall 2022, with the addition of a redesigned Intermediate Yiddish class, students will be able to fulfill the College of Arts & Sciences’ language requirement by taking Yiddish. “Many people think of Yiddish as the language of humor and shtick, but students quickly learn that it’s a complete language, able to express the subtlest, most profound things,” said David Forman, Yiddish language instructor in the Department of Near Eastern Studies.