zxcvbob > wrote:

> Isn't knaidel (another word for dumpling) a transcription from Yiddish
> and therefore has no standard spelling?

Sometimes spelling means a lot more than an entry in a random
dictionary:

Jewish Identity, Spelled in Yiddish
By DARA HORN

<http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/05/opinion/jewish-identity-spelled-in-yiddish.html>