Rob Reiner uses Yiddish word ‘kokhlefl’ in Emmys tribute to Jewish comedy legend Norman Lear
“For all you non-Jews out there, kokhlefl is a ladle, a ladle that stirs the pot,” Reiner said

Rob Reiner and Sally Struthers on a mock set for the sitcom “All in the Family,” during a tribute to Norman Lear at the 75th Primetime Emmy Awards on January 15, 2024 in Los Angeles. Photo by Getty Images
(JTA) — To fete the creator of the TV series that made him famous, Jewish actor and director Rob Reiner turned to Yiddish during the Emmys on Monday night.
Reiner was paying tribute to Norman Lear, the Jewish creator of pioneering TV comedies who died last month at 101. Reiner came to prominence for his role as Michael Stivic on All in the Family, one of the shows that Lear created.
“There’s a Yiddish word that describes Norman’s genius: It’s kokhlefl,” Reiner said. “For all you non-Jews out there, kokhlefl is a ladle, a ladle that stirs the pot. And when Norman the kokhlefl stirred that pot, he wound up changing American culture.”
Reiner, 76, is the son of Carl Reiner, a comedy legend who died in 2020. He is a producer on a forthcoming documentary about the rise of Christian nationalism, which he has denounced.
The Emmys were delayed by last year’s Hollywood strikes, so some shows that finished airing more than a year ago were up for prizes. Two shows about Jewish families, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel and Fleishman is in Trouble, had been nominated for multiple awards but were shut out.
Watch Rukhl Schaechter, the Forward’s Yiddish editor, explain kokhlefl and related words:
This article originally appeared on JTA.org.
The Forward is free to read, but it isn’t free to produce

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward.
At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.
Readers like you make it all possible. We’ve started our Passover Fundraising Drive, and we need 1,800 readers like you to step up to support the Forward by April 21. Members of the Forward board are even matching the first 1,000 gifts, up to $70,000.
This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism, because every dollar goes twice as far.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
2X match on all Passover gifts!
Most Popular
- 1
News A Jewish Republican and Muslim Democrat are suddenly in a tight race for a special seat in Congress
- 2
Film & TV What Gal Gadot has said about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict
- 3
Fast Forward The NCAA men’s Final Four has 3 Jewish coaches
- 4
Culture How two Jewish names — Kohen and Mira — are dividing red and blue states
In Case You Missed It
-
Fast Forward ‘Another Jewish warrior’: Fine wins special election for U.S. House seat
-
Fast Forward A Chicagoan wanted to protest Elon Musk — and put a swastika sticker on a Jewish man’s Tesla
-
Fast Forward NY attorney general orders car wash to stop ripping off Jews with antisemitic ‘Passover special’
-
Fast Forward Cory Booker proclaims, ‘Hineni’ — I am here — 19 hours into anti-Trump Senate speech
-
Shop the Forward Store
100% of profits support our journalism
Republish This Story
Please read before republishing
We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines.
You must comply with the following:
- Credit the Forward
- Retain our pixel
- Preserve our canonical link in Google search
- Add a noindex tag in Google search
See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.
To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.