Yiddish language socialization across communities: Religion, ideologies, and variation

•This review article analyzes key trends in Yiddish language socialization research.•It considers the use of Yiddish within a multilingual repertoire across communities.•It demonstrates how religious affiliation and language contact affect language use.•It examines language ideologies and motivations among Yiddish learners and users.•Cross-cutting identities, hybrid forms of language, and creativity are highlighted.

This review article analyzes key themes and trends in recent research on Yiddish language socialization. It considers the use of Yiddish within a multilingual repertoire across communities, highlighting the positive contributions of ethnographic literature in particular. Specifically, it demonstrates how degree of religious affiliation and language contact in diverse communities can play a role in Yiddish language use. The article also examines the central role of language ideologies and language learning motivations among those who learn, learn about, and/or use Yiddish. The discussion illuminates individuals' and groups' cross-cutting identities, hybrid forms of language, and creativity in language use across contexts.