The Jerusalem Bridge
שטיפֿער
shtifer
a mischievous, restless child; a little rascal · noun (masculine)
Illustration for the Yiddish word shtifer

The chair goes back on two legs. Your glasses vanish. Somebody is snickering behind the couch. That somebody is a shtifer.

אונדזער יונגסטער איז אַזאַ שטיפֿער, מען קען אים קיין רגע נישט אָפּלאָזן פֿון די אויגן.

Our youngest is such a shtifer, you can't take your eyes off him for a second.

Think of the one kid in your class the teacher always seated in the front row — that was the shtifer.

Published 25 August 2026

These are written by Yaacov, a native Jerusalemite who teaches Hebrew, Yiddish, Biblical Hebrew and Aramaic one-to-one.

More Yiddish words