Shalom and thank you for your question! You have come across or heard of orthodox communities where people speak Yiddish as opposed to Hebrew, or other languages, and this disturbs you. Are you concerned that these communities have something against the Hebrew language?
When observing behaviors in orthodox communities one must differentiate between Jewish law, Jewish custom that is accepted as accessory to Jewish law, and social norms with religious reasons.
An example of Jewish law is keeping the Sabbath, which involves things like not lighting fire on the Sabbath and not using electricity, as well as making Kiddush over wine or grapejuice. These things are not negotiable, except for circumstances like medical necessity, in which case there are more laws about how to do these things in a permissible manner in hospitals or for sick persons.
An example of Jewish custom that is accessory to law is the dipping of apples in honey to celebrate the Jewish New Year, Rosh HaShana. Ahkenazic custom is to dip apples in honey, say a certain prayer, and have a fish head (or animal head) on the table, while Sephardic custom involves using a variety of vegetables over which prayers are said as well as what the Ashkenazim do. On Chanukah many communities have a custom to light the Chanukah menorah at the window, while others light it in doorways, or even outdoors in a special metal box with glass sides.
An example of social norms with religious reasons is clothing styles. The Talmud teaches us that in the merit of certain actions the Jewish people were redeemed from Egypt. Among these actions are the fact that the Jewish people in Egypt did not change their Jewish style of dress or their Jewish names. Therefore there were communities in Europe who took upon themselves not to change their style of clothing, which included certain hats for example that non-Jews forced them to wear to distinguish them as Jews. These communities decided to wear them as a symbol of Jewish pride rather than shame.
Along the same lines, they remained speaking Yiddish, as a language distinct to Jews. (If you say – but it is based on German – it is based on but also different. It was established as a Jewish language centuries before the Nazis, may their names be erased.)
So what about Hebrew?
The Hebrew language is the Holy Tongue in which the Torah was given. These communities not only do not have something against Hebrew, they save it for praying and learning Torah!
Some people feel Hebrew should not be used for mundane matters, only holy things like prayer and learning Torah.
I hope this has been helpful and wish you a healthy winter!
