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
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Culture I’ve Been Thinking ‘Bout the Railroad
Maurice Wolfthal writes from Houston: “I recently enjoyed Theodore Bikel’s rendition of the Yiddish song ‘Di Ban’ [‘The Train’] after not having heard it for more than 30 years. Part of the humor stems from his choice of dialect. Where most Yiddish speakers use the vowel ‘oy,’ he uses the ‘ey’ of English ‘grey,’ as…
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Culture Looking Back: February 24, 2012
100 Years Ago in the Forward A bloody war between rival gangs exploded on Manhattan’s Lower East Side. Numerous shots were fired, bringing many residents onto the streets, where chaos reigned. Although many calls were placed to the police, the gangs had scattered by the time they arrived. Two gang members, 21-year-old Nathan Levi and…
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Culture Looking Back: February 17, 2012
100 Years Ago in the Forward When Barnett Nemeth went to open his safe in his jewelry store on Manhattan’s Broome Street, he was surprised when two men rushed him, held a revolver to his head and said: “Hands up! We want a look in that safe.” While one of the bandits rifled through the…
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The Schmooze ‘Chewish’ Dog Toys (What’s Next?)
There’s a Yiddish for Dogs manual, and — as the Forward recently reported — a rescue dog who understands Yiddish commands. Now, in the latest development around canine Yiddishkeit, a Brooklyn company has unveiled a Semitic series of plush toys for pets, all inspired by Yiddish words. Copa Judaica’s “Chewish” line includes Facachta The Platypus;…
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Books Yiddish Stories Not Lost in Translation
The Association of Jewish Libraries Guide to Yiddish Short Stories By Bennett Muraskin Ben Yehuda Press, 79 pages, $14.50 The title of this small but useful book might have been lengthened to include “in the English language,” but the point is taken. We are now in a veritable golden age of translation, though the “golden”…
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Culture Dishing Some Linguistic Dirt
Lewis Kupperman writes, “There is a Yiddish expression meaning to make mincemeat of someone or something that sounds like to make ‘ushenblottie,’” and he wants to know if I’m familiar with it. Mr. Kupperman’s “to make ushenblottie” is Yiddish makhn ash un blote — that is, “to make ashes and mud” of a person or…
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Culture Looking Back: February 10, 2012
100 Years Ago in the Forward A resident of Manhattan’s Lower East Side, Freda Levinson, 19, decided to get revenge on her ex-boyfriend, William Kaufman, also from the Lower East Side, after, she claimed, he reneged on a promise to marry her. After hearing the bad news, Levinson bought a bottle of carbolic acid and…
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The Schmooze My Influences Are Showing
Earlier this week, Liana Finck let us peek behind the curtain at the source material for her comic based on A Bintel Brief. She showed us the first two pages and the second story. Her blog posts are being featured this week on The Arty Semite courtesy of the Jewish Book Council and My Jewish…
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