This is the Forward’s coverage of the Yiddish language historically spoken by Ashkenazi Jews in Europe and still spoken by many Hasidic Jews today.
For more stories on Yiddishkeit, see Yiddish World, and for stories written in Yiddish,…
Yiddish
The Latest
-
Culture Difference Between a Slob and a ‘Zhlob’
Judith Ronat writes from Kfar Saba in Israel: “The etymologies in my dictionary don’t support any connection, but I would like to hear your opinion. Is there any connection between the Yiddish word zhlob and the English ‘slob’?” There is a connection, but it’s not etymological. Rather, it’s that English “slob” has influenced the meaning…
-
The Schmooze Yiddish Theater on PBS
It is no small feat to recreate the world and emotions of a bygone era. But in his astonishing show celebrating his grandparents, Boris and Bessie Thomashefsky, who were superstars of the Yiddish theater, conductor Michael Tilson Thomas has done it. And it is a joy. PBS’s “Great Performances” is broadcasting “The Thomashefskys: Music and…
-
The Schmooze Q&A: Yiddish Singer Elmore James
When you Google Elmore James the first hits that pop up refer to a blues singer from the 1940s. That is not the same Elmore James who stars in the National Yiddish Theatre — Folksbiene production of “Soul to Soul.” But Yiddish-singing James, 57, thinks the Southern bluesman would see similarities between what the two…
-
Culture Looking Back: March 30, 2012
100 Years Ago in the Forward Late on a Friday night, Jacob Goldstein was sitting in his Suffolk Street apartment on Manhattan’s Lower East Side when there was a knock at the door. Without thinking about it too much, Goldstein got up and answered it. When he opened the door, three men were standing there…
-
Books Welcome to the Dybbuk Revival
The Dibbuk Box By Jason Haxton Truman State University Press, 192 pages, $19.95 Yiddish revival? That’s so 2011. This year is all about the Dybbuk revival. That is, insofar as a disembodied spirit can be revived, and monetized. So far the Dybbuk revival includes a book (“The Dibbuk Box”) and a movie set for summer…
-
The Schmooze Historic Yiddish Newspaper Now Online
For Yiddish enthusiasts — among them academics, writers, and history buffs — it may seem that there is a perpetual dearth of good news. It would be silly to try and argue against such negativity — after all the evil eye is always watching. Still, even the darkest among us finds comfort in the rare…
-
The Schmooze Yiddish Actress Chayale Ash-Fuhrman Dies at 90
In Yiddish there are some professions or positions that use the diminutive form of a name as a sign of popular endearment. These include Hasidic rebbes, cantors, thieves and actors. This was true of the beloved Yiddish actress Chayele Ash-Furman, who died on March 8 in Northern California at the age of 90. According to…
-
Culture Looking Back: March 23, 2012
100 Years Ago in the Forward With dozens of detectives on the case, the police currently have no suspects and no clues about who threw a bomb into the home of Judge Otto Rosalsky. The judge doesn’t believe any of the theories the police have put forward. The police presented, without evidence, the theory that…
Explore
Most Popular
- 1
Opinion It’s time for the pro-Palestinian movement to make a radical change
- 2
News Should synagogues remove the Israeli flag from bimahs now? How a New York shul made the decision
- 3
Opinion JD Vance just made a critical error in Israel — and time to curb Hamas is running short
- 4
Film & TV What the new season of ‘Nobody Wants This’ gets right — and very wrong — about Judaism
In Case You Missed It
-
Fast Forward As 1000+ rabbis sign anti-Mamdani letter, others decry mounting ‘red lines’ in Jewish communities
-
News Mamdani has created ‘great fear,’ and Jewish voters are ‘more motivated than I have ever seen,’ Cuomo says
-
Fast Forward The World War II origins of the White House East Wing, now demolished
-
Opinion Can an idyllic dream of Israel ever be reality? She says: ‘Coexistence, My Ass’
-
Shop the Forward Store
100% of profits support our journalism
