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This article originally appeared in the Yiddish Forverts. It’s not a secret that the Forward historically promoted Jewish assimilation into broader American culture, encouraging its readers, among other things, to speak English, learn to make apple pie and play baseball. Still, I was a bit taken aback when my colleague, Forward archivist Chana Pollack, showed…
This article originally appeared in the Yiddish Forverts. Sephardi Jews often complain that Ashkenazim dominate Jewish culture to the point that they are losing aspects of their own cultural identity. The way one studies in a typical Yeshiva, the type of food eaten in honor of the Sabbath, the music, the men’s clothing, everything symbolizing…
This article originally appeared in the Yiddish Forverts. In 2005, Internet giant Amazon swallowed up yet another smaller fish, the self-publishing company CreateSpace, which made it possible to market titles in dozens of languages. Last year, in a decision that you would be forgiven for missing, Amazon announced that CreateSpace was merging with another division:…
This article originally appeared in the Yiddish Forverts. Whether we notice it or not, we’re often faced with small ethical moments forcing us to decide quickly how to react. A young man steps into the subway car, begging for money or something to eat. You can ignore him, or you can fish out the banana…
This article originally appeared in the Yiddish Forverts. In the course of my Baby Boomer life, my social reality has had two names. One, post-Holocaust. Two, post-9/11. But after participating in an “active shooter drill” in shul on a Shabbat earlier this month, I can now talk about my life as “post-Pittsburgh” too. Hating Jews…
This article originally appeared in the Yiddish Forverts. A Yiddish-language album “Yiddish Glory: The Lost Songs of WWII” was nominated for a Grammy for Best World Music Album. The unusual honor is only the second time that an album of Yiddish songs has been nominated for music’s most esteemed prize. The first was the soundtrack…
This article originally appeared in the Yiddish Forverts. 116 years after his birth, Isaac Bashevis Singer has found a new champion: Paul McCartney. Yes, really. When the Polish Parliament passed a resolution honoring the Nobel Prize-winning author on November 21, the anniversary of his birth, it was thanks to the efforts of the former Beatle….
This article originally appeared in the Yiddish Forverts. It all started with a joke. Simon Starr, an Australian music producer, band director and bass guitarist, had been living in Israel for six years when he and his family had to return to Melbourne to be closer to aging relatives. Professionally speaking, the timing was not…
This article originally appeared in the Yiddish Forverts. In the 1930s, Golda Meir, then known as Golda Meyerson, worked on a mission for Pioneer Women in Israel in the United States, collecting funds for women and children in Palestine. In 1931, the organization held its annual fundraising dinner in Buffalo, New York and Meir came…
This article originally appeared in the Yiddish Forverts. The Yiddish Forward is producing a series of classic Yiddish jokes presented in Yiddish by Leana Jelen, a young Yiddish-speaking sign-language interpreter. In this joke famed Jewish folk-hero and alleged atheist Hershele Ostropoler gives a unique answer to a friend questioning his piety.
This article originally appeared in the Yiddish Forverts. The Yiddish Forward is producing a series of classic Yiddish jokes presented in Yiddish by Leana Jelen, a young Yiddish-speaking sign-language interpreter. This joke shows the drastic measures some Jewish grandmothers will take to protect their granddaughters — or at least their own sanity.
די ייִנגערע פּאַרשוינען זאָגן דאָ און דאָרט אַ ייִדיש וואָרט אָבער די צוויי עלטערע העלדינס פֿירן גאַנצע שמועסן אויף ייִדיש.
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