Misplaced Pages

Mensch

Article snapshot taken from Wikipedia with creative commons attribution-sharealike license. Give it a read and then ask your questions in the chat. We can research this topic together.
(Redirected from Mentch)

Yiddish word for a person of integrity and honor For other uses, see Mensch (disambiguation).

In Yiddish, a mensch or mentsh is "a person of integrity and honor". American humorist Leo Rosten describes a mentsh as "someone to admire and emulate, someone of noble character. The key to being 'a real mensch' is nothing less than character, rectitude, dignity, a sense of what is right, responsible, decorous". The term is used as a high compliment, implying the rarity and value of that individual's qualities.

Overview

In Yiddish, mentsh roughly means "a good person". The word has migrated as a loanword into American English, where a mensch is a particularly good person, similar to a "stand-up guy", a person with the qualities one would hope for in a friend or trusted colleague. Mentshlekhkeyt (Yiddish: מענטשלעכקייט; German: Menschlichkeit) refers to the properties which make a person a mensch.

During the Age of Enlightenment, in Germany the term Humanität, in the philosophical sense of compassion, was used in Humanism to describe what characterizes a better human being. The concept goes back to Cicero's humanitas, which was literally translated as Menschlichkeit in German, from which the Yiddish word mentsh derives.

The word Mensch and the underlying concept have had an impact on popular culture. The Mensch on a Bench is a 2012 Hanukkah-themed book and doll set parodying The Elf on the Shelf. A life-size version of the doll was adopted as the mascot of Team Israel at the World Baseball Classic in 2016. According to pitcher Gabe Cramer, "The Mensch is a great way to have fun in the dugout while reminding us of why we're here and who we're representing".

See also

Notes

  1. (Yiddish: מענטש, mentsh, from Middle High German Mensch, from Old High German mennisco; akin to Old English human being, man). "Mentsh" is used less frequently than "mensch", but the former is the transliteration recommended by the YIVO.

References

  1. Michael Wex, How to Be a Mentsh (And Not a Shmuck), 2009, p. 20
  2. "mensch". Merriam-Webster.
  3. Rosten, Leo (1974). The Joys of Yiddish. Harmondsworth: Penguin. p. 240. ISBN 978-0140030686.
  4. "Israel's Mensch on the Bench mascot at World Baseball Classic". Newsday.
  5. Modern Philology
  6. Gloster, Rob (7 March 2017). "Team Israel scores another surprise baseball win – with a Marin pitcher". J. The Jewish News of Northern California. Retrieved 12 June 2022.
Categories: