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This Hebrew Word Is Like the Opposite of Schadenfreude

JL;DR SUMMARY Firgun is a Hebrew word reflecting joy in others' achievements, akin to selfless generosity and the opposite of schadenfreude, which relishes in others' misfortunes. A way out west there was a fella, fella I want to tell you about, fella by the name of Jeff Lebowski. At least, that was the handle his lovin' parents gave him, but he never had much use for it himself. This Lebowski, he called himself the Dude. Now, Dude, that's a name no one would self-apply where I come from. But then, there was a lot about the Dude that didn't make a whole lot of sense to me. And a lot about where he lived, likewise. But then again, maybe that's why I found the place s'durned innarestin'.

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Tags

Jewish CultureYiddishInfluenceHebrewCommunitySelf CareLanguageGenerositySchadenfreudeFirgun

Places mentioned

Israel
"Lefargen, which has become a pretty ubiquitous word in modern Hebrew, making it into music, poetry and literature, as well as everyday conversations, actually comes from the Yiddish word farginen."

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Cairo Item ID 84387
Cairo Source ID 33
Retrieved 2026-06-09 05:31:23 UTC
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