Welcome to 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 Forverts in English, and for stories written in…
Yiddish
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Yiddish World How Paul Robeson Learned Yiddish And Battled Fascism
This article originally appeared in the Yiddish Forverts. And in English February 21, 2018. The Forward is republishing April 9, 2019 in honor of Robeson’s 121st birthday. The American singer Paul Robeson is mostly remembered today for his hauntingly beautiful bass voice, his groundbreaking career as an actor and his political activism and involvement in…
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Culture In Finland, A Yiddish Resurgence
This article originally appeared in the Yiddish Forverts. Part of my work as Forverts editor is to speak at Jewish conferences, community centers and synagogues about the Forverts and Yiddish culture, which is what brought me to the Finnish capital of Helsinki in early February. I had been invited to this year’s Limud Conference Helsinki…
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Culture The USSR Turned Against The Jews. But First, It Was A Yiddish Intellectual Haven.
This article originally appeared in the Yiddish Forverts. It’s not every day that a manuscript gets discovered in an attic, let alone a complete book written by a distinguished Yiddish author. Well, in the world of Yiddish, where even published books are often relegated to synagogue basements, occasions like these are not entirely unusual. Nonetheless,…
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Yiddish World After 122 Years In Print, The Forverts Moves Forward
This article originally appeared in the Yiddish Forverts. The Forward Association recently made the difficult but unavoidable decision to end the printed editions of the English and Yiddish Forward. Beginning in April, both periodicals will exist exclusively online. The reason is sadly understandable: The cost of maintaining a traditional news organization is simply too high….
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Culture WATCH: Vermont State Representative Avram Patt Greets Us In Yiddish
This article originally appeared in the Yiddish Forverts. Avram Patt was sworn in on Wednesday, January 9, for a two-year term in the Vermont House of Representatives. He had previously served there from 2015-2016. In the video above, made especially for the Forverts, Patt greets his constituents and Forverts readers in Yiddish. “Politics is in…
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Culture At Greek Yiddish Week, Karaoke, Folk Dance And A Wedding
This article originally appeared in the Yiddish Forverts. If you enjoy strenuous physical activity in your free time you’ll be happy to know that the Yiddish world recently ran its own marathon. A Yiddish marathon is a bit different than the others, though. Here, it’s not feet but time that flies, even if the exertion…
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Opinion Ashkenormativity? What about Israel-Centrism?
This article originally appeared in the Yiddish Forverts. I first heard complaints about Ashkenormativity in March 2009, five or six years before the term was apparently coined. I was attending a conference in Chicago for young Yiddish speakers and college students interested in studying the language. While explaining how learning Yiddish as a teenager and…
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The Schmooze Michael Douglas Shouts ‘Alte Kakers Rule!’ As He Accepts His Golden Globe
Accepting the Golden Globe award for best actor in a TV or musical comedy for his role in Netflix’s “The Kominsky Method,” Michael Douglas dedicated his win to his father, legendary actor Kirk Douglas. “I guess this has to go to my 102-year-old dad,” Douglas beamed. “Alte Kakers rule!” Will Google searches for this Yiddish…
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