The Jerusalem Bridge

צימעסtsimes meaning in Yiddish

sweet carrot stew; a big fuss over nothing · noun (masculine)

Also spelled in English: tzimmes, tzimmis, tsimmes

Illustration for the Yiddish word tsimes

It starts as a pot of carrots cut into coins. It ends up as what your aunt makes of one stain on the tablecloth, or, the way I heard it growing up, what someone is about to make of you: ער וועט מאַכן פֿון דיר צימעס.

די מומע האָט געמאַכט אַ גאַנצן צימעס פֿון איין פֿלעק אויפֿן טישטעך.

“The aunt made a whole tsimes out of one stain on the tablecloth.”

When you heard tsimes at home, was it about a stain on the tablecloth or about a person?

Yiddish words for food and drinkYiddish words for mess and confusion

Published 1 November 2026

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Yaacov, native Jerusalemite

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Related Yiddish words

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to crave, to have a yen for
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slush, sleet, foul wet weather
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drunkard, drunk