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
The Latest
-
The Schmooze Yiddish Godot Arrives at Last
A few months ago, we reported on the growing number of crowdfunding campaigns for Yiddish projects, including an effort to raise $40,000 for a Yiddish production of “Waiting for Godot.” That campaign didn’t meet its goal, but the play will be going forward anyway, in part thanks to the $7,370 it did succeed in raising….
-
The Schmooze Born Again in Yiddish
When I was a boy of 7, 8 and 9, I would tag along with my father pretty much everywhere. He was, among other things, the “house” rabbi for his parent’s landsmanshaft, the Kolomear Friends Association. During the 1970s many of the original Kolomears were passing on and their children were burying them. My father…
-
News Does Haunting Photo Show Singin’ Jewish Twins?
I haven’t taken a survey on this, but I feel pretty confident that the secret shame of photo archivists is that drawer full of unidentified images — the “orphans,” in archive speak. Photos that stubbornly refuse to reveal any hint of who might be in them, where they may have been taken and, most important,…
-
Opinion How Yiddish Could Save the Jewish People
The American Jewish community and its media frequently express concern about the Jewish future in America, citing mounting rates of assimilation and increasingly liberal trends in religious practice. In this discussion, intermarriage is frequently conceived of as being both the standard measure and the primary symptom of just how assimilated Jews are. What is usually…
-
News Who Are These Singing Twin Sisters?
Forward Looking Back brings you the photos and stories that were making news in the Forward’s Yiddish paper 100, 75 and 50 years ago. Check back each week for a new set of illuminating and edifying clippings from the Jewish past. 1913 •100 years ago ‘Dopey Benny’ Unhappy With Police “Dopey Benny,” a well-known gangster…
-
Culture Jewish Gangster Lured to Revenge Shooting at Restaurant on E. 14th Street
Forward Looking Back brings you the stories that were making news in the Forward’s Yiddish paper 100, 75, and 50 years ago. Check back each week for a new set of illuminating, edifying and sometimes wacky clippings from the Jewish past. 1913 •100 years ago Gangster Billy Lustig Shot New York City Police suspect that…
-
Culture Man Steals Family Photos So Not To Appear Forverts’ ‘Missing Husbands’ Gallery
Forward Looking Back brings you the stories that were making news in the Forward’s Yiddish paper 100, 75, and 50 years ago. Check back each week for a new set of illluminating, edifying and sometimes wacky clippings from the Jewish past. 1913 •100 years ago Becky Sher Wants a Get Becky Sher of Winnipeg wanted…
-
Books Naftali Herts Kon’s Works Wrenched Out of Poland’s Clutches
On both occasions that the KGB arrested the Yiddish writer and poet Naftali Herts Kon, it burned his writings. When Kon escaped from the Soviet Union to Poland in 1959, he thought everything would be different — but it wasn’t. When the Polish Communists arrested Kon in 1960, they simply confiscated his writings and refused…
Explore
Most Popular
- 1
Fast Forward Ye debuts ‘Heil Hitler’ music video that includes a sample of a Hitler speech
- 2
Opinion It looks like Israel totally underestimated Trump
- 3
Culture Is Pope Leo Jewish? Ask his distant cousins — like me
- 4
Fast Forward Student suspended for ‘F— the Jews’ video defends himself on antisemitic podcast
In Case You Missed It
-
News In Edan Alexander’s hometown in New Jersey, months of fear and anguish give way to joy and relief
-
Fast Forward What’s next for suspended student who posted ‘F— the Jews’ video? An alt-right media tour
-
Opinion Despite Netanyahu, Edan Alexander is finally free
-
Opinion A judge just released another pro-Palestinian activist. Here’s why that’s good for the Jews
-
Shop the Forward Store
100% of profits support our journalism
