This Yiddish Word Fills Us With So Much Pride and Contentment

When I interviewed Lena Dunham and Stephen Fry back in 2024, Fry — who people often don’t realize is Jewish — mentioned a Yiddish word he finds particularly wonderful: Naches.

I ended the interview by saying how much I “schepped naches” about both of them and the warm representation of Jewish family in their 2024 film “Treasure.”

A year later, Fry appeared on “On Life and Death,” Israeli translator Daphna Lewy’s podcast, and mentioned the word again, in connection with his late grandfather. Lewy, who translated Fry’s own books to Hebrew, asked Fry about his grandfather’s presence in his life. (The podcast is all about our relationships to death.)

Fry, who lost his grandfather as a child, initially said that growing up, he often imagined his grandfather’s ghost watching him in all his shameful childhood and early teen moments. But when Lewy pushed him a little, Fry conceded that his grandfather would also have been very proud of his achievements, like getting a scholarship to Cambridge.

“To use the excellent Yiddish phrase — he’d be kvelling with naches,” Fry tells Lewy, who then admits to him that she knows no Yiddish at all, because her proud German Jewish parents felt snobbish about the language as assimilated Jews.

Fry goes on to explain both words beautifully. “Kvelling means just bursting with pride and joy, and naches means just the pleasure you take in the success of someone in your family,” he says. To be fair, naches can apply not just to family and can even apply to yourself (though that doesn’t feel very Jewish, does it?!)!

Lewy then realizes the word has a Hebrew parallel, “nachat,” which means exactly the same thing. Fry rightfully asserts that yes, quite a few Yiddish words come from Hebrew.

Naches is indeed one of them. The word “nachat” appears in the bible and in ancient Jewish texts many times and means simply “contentment.” It can describe a sense of quietness and also stillness (as it does, for example, in this verse from the book of Isaiah). It can also describe that state in an inanimate object.

Nachat comes from the same root as the Hebrew word for rest, and therefore, at least for this native Hebrew speaker, is infused with a sense of peace. It’s also the root for the word “lehaniach” — to put an object down, in its place. In Hebrew, I’ve often found myself happily sighing in peaceful moments and commenting how much “nachat” they gave me, from watching my kids joyfully play with each other to enjoying a starry night together after a family BBQ.

In Yiddish, that brimming sense of joy and peace is directed more pointedly and perhaps more energetically at the loved ones around us. We often use it in b’nei mitzvah ceremonies or weddings but also when our kids do well in school or show particular wisdom and kindness. In Yiddish and in English, it’s often used in combination with the word “schepp,” whose root is a German word for scoop, and in this context simply means to derive.

At 70 Faces, Kveller’s parent company, we have a whole Slack channel dedicated to schepping naches, where we share birthday wishes, professional and personal achievements, and pictures and videos of our joyful celebrations, weddings, bar mitzvahs and meetings with new babies. It is such a pleasure to peruse through.

In a world where Jewish identity is often associated with strife, complaining and anxiety, schepping naches is where we find strength, pride and contentment.

If you’re ever feeling down, just ask yourself — who, or what, can I schepp naches about today?