B. Kovner
By B. Kovner
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Yiddish World In 1918, a Jewish humorist defied the health department and sneezed — or did he?
Read this article in Yiddish Editor’s Note: The more things change, the more they stay the same. This piece appeared in the Forverts, in Yiddish of course, during the influenza epidemic of 1918. Today, as the coronavirus spreads, health authorities are telling us not to touch our face, which is very difficult. Back then, they…
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News Yente at the Telephone
The Forward was known for its stable of erudite Yiddish writers, whose stories reflected the lives of the paper’s immigrant readership. One such prolific scribe was Jacob Adler, who, under the penname B. Kovner, wrote a much-loved humor column that sketched the everyday foibles of life on the Lower East Side. His most iconic character,…
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