It’s that time of year again: no matter which supermarket you enter or storefront you pass by, it’s the same old Christmas carols on the PA system. But what if you heard them in Yiddish, celebrating Hanukkah instead? It may sound gimmicky but in his debut album, “Yiddish Hanukkah Carols”, Orthodox singer-songwriter Yossi Desser has…
If you’d like to learn or brush up on your knowledge of Yiddish Hanukkah songs, you might consider joining an online workshop and sing-along, led by the conductor of the Yiddish Philharmonic Chorus, Binyumen Schaechter. Schaechter is a brother of Forverts editor, Rukhl Schaechter. Sessions will take place on November 7 and 14, culminating in…
Read this article in Yiddish Wolf Younin, whose yortsayt was this week, was a Yiddish poet, folklorist, book collector and columnist for several Yiddish newspapers, including the Forverts. A number of his poems were set to music and because they sound so much like folk songs, few people know he wrote them. One of these…
A Forverts reader has informed us that two former Ukrainian pop stars, known as The Alibi Sisters, recently performed the Yiddish song “Chiribim-Chiribom” at the blind auditions on the Ukrainian version of “The Voice.” In the video, the judges, presumably none of them Jewish, initially appear mystified by the act – some sporting a slightly…
Read this article in Yiddish. This week marks the 250th anniversary of what is believed to be the birthday of Ludwig van Beethoven, one of the most influential composers of all time, and a favorite among the Jews in Eastern Europe. Beethoven’s popular “Moonlight Sonata,” for example, is the topic of a wonderful children’s tale…
This article originally appeared in the Yiddish Forverts. A Yiddish-language album “Yiddish Glory: The Lost Songs of WWII” was nominated for a Grammy for Best World Music Album. The unusual honor is only the second time that an album of Yiddish songs has been nominated for music’s most esteemed prize. The first was the soundtrack…
This article originally appeared in the Yiddish Forverts. Aaron Bendich, a young reader of the Yiddish Forverts, spends a lot of time hanging out with his 103-year-old grandfather Max. Max Bendich, a child of Jewish immigrants from Ukraine and a WWII-veteran, remembers a plethora of rare Yiddish songs, including novelty songs that were popular on…
This article originally appeared in the Yiddish Forverts. In the traditional Jewish betrothal ceremony (called tnoyim in Yiddish), the bride and groom barely play a role. The parents of both sides draw up a document detailing all the prenuptial conditions; the parents then sign that document, alongside two “kosher” witnesses. But at the recent engagement…
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