Read this article in Yiddish A New York-based burial society has applied for emergency funding as it races to keep up with steep increases in the cost of coronavirus-related personal protective equipment, additional grave openings and new personnel to arrange funerals. The 132-year-old Hebrew Free Burial Association, which arranges burials for indigent Jews, expects to…
Read this article in Yiddish The only bakery in our shtetl stood at the corner of two central streets, just across from our courtyard. In those rare nights when they actually baked bread, its sour aroma would suffuse the surrounding streets – a signal that it was time to get out of bed and rush…
Read this article in Yiddish Hatzolah of Kiryas Joel, the upstate New York Hasidic town of Palm Tree’s volunteer ambulance corps, released a poster in Yiddish Tuesday warning residents to close all communal institutions including synagogues. As a public service during this pandemic, the Forward is providing free, unlimited access to all coronavirus articles. If…
Read this article in Yiddish As COVID-19 continues to affect individuals and societies around the world, the YIVO Institute for Jewish research has decided to offer all its online courses free of charge. “YIVO wants to help keep our spirits lifted and provide content to sustain our minds and souls,” said Jonathan Brent, YIVO’s Executive…
Read this article in Yiddish Editor’s Note: The more things change, the more they stay the same. This piece appeared in the Forverts, in Yiddish of course, during the influenza epidemic of 1918. Today, as the coronavirus spreads, health authorities are telling us not to touch our face, which is very difficult. Back then, they…
Read this article in Yiddish. Adah Hetko has earned a reputation in the world of Yiddish and klezmer music for her fresh approach to Yiddish songs, combining influences from popular American folk singers of the 1960s with her own English translations to create a musical experience that bridges Eastern Europe and American folk music. In…
Forverts editor Rukhl Schaechter teaches a monthly cooking class in Yiddish for children whose parents or grandparents are raising them in the language. Last week, the group made homentashen together and learned the different Yiddish terms for traditional fillings. Among them you’ll hear traditional words like aprikosn (apricot), and povidle (prune jam). The music is…
Read this article in Yiddish In discussions of economics, tourism, industry, politics and even contemporary Jewish culture, the Baltic lands and recent changes in the Balkans are mentioned often, as is the profound influence of the countries in central Europe on issues affecting the European Union. Almost no one mentions Belarus, though. True, in the…
Romanian eggplant spread, also called “poor man’s caviar” is a great side dish to go with challah on Shabbos. In this episode of our Yiddish cooking show, featuring a brand new intro, Rukhl Schaechter and Eve Jochnowitz demonstrate how it’s made.
Read in Yiddish When news spread that legendary American actor Kirk Douglas, né Issur Danielovitch, had passed away at the age of 103, the Folksbiene dug into its archives and posted this touching moment from their 2002 gala, when the star was presented with a lifetime achievement award. Douglas was raised in poverty alongside his…
This article originally appeared in the Yiddish Forverts. As a Yiddish instructor living in Seattle, I often hear clueless assumptions and questions about mame-loshn, so I think it‘s about time we dispelled some of these stereotypes. Here are 7 things people say to me upon hearing that I teach Yiddish, as well as my responses…
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