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.
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Yiddish
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Yiddish World Fyvush Finkel Tells His Grandfather’s Best Joke
This article originally appeared in the Yiddish Forverts. The legendary actor Fyvush Finkel, who got his start in Yiddish theater and later made the transition to the English stage and television, died a little over a year ago. The last surviving star of the heyday of America’s Yiddish theater, he was still performing only weeks…
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Yiddish World Why More Yiddish Radio Broadcasts Would Help Israel
This article originally appeared in the Yiddish Forverts. The decision by the Israel Broadcasting Authority, as part of its transformation into a new agency—the Israel Broadcasting Corporation— to drastically reduce its daily Yiddish radio programming to a weekly half-hour broadcast greatly disappointed Yiddish listeners around the world. None of us, however, were surprised. The writing…
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Culture The Mystery Behind The Lost Books Of A Cherished Lublin Yeshiva
This article originally appeared in the Yiddish Forverts. S. Y. Stupnitsky, a forgotten twentieth-century Jewish journalist, made a prescient observation about the great historic Jewish structures in Europe: “Jews built them, and today non-Jews possess them.” Stupnitsky’s words certainly ring true about Yeshivat Chachmei Lublin, the educational brainchild of Meir Shapiro, a Polish rabbi who…
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Fast Forward Grave Of Yiddish Writer Der Nister Unearthed At Gulag Site
(JTA) — Researchers from Israel and Russia discovered the grave of an influential Jewish writer and resistance fighter known as Der Nister who perished in communist purges at a former Soviet camp for political prisoners. The final resting place of Pinchus Kahanovich, an anti-fascist fighter and one of the 20th century’s most influential writers in…
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Life This Hasidic Picture Book Teaches Children About Sexual Abuse
If you walk into Monsey’s Evergreen kosher supermarket, somewhere among the extensive schnitzel varieties and Shabbos candy treats, you’ll see a single children’s book for sale. Zai Gezunt! is the Yiddish translation of Artscroll’s Let’s Stay Safe, written by Bracha Goetz and illustrated by Tova Leff, a picture book that talks about children’s safety of…
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Fast Forward What HuffPo Meant With ‘Goy, Bye!’ Headline On Bannon — And Why Twitter Hated It
Huffington Post hailed the departure of Stephen Bannon from Trump’s White House with a provocative homepage headline of “Goy, Bye!” — and not everyone thought it was a great choice of words. The headline is a mash-up of several viral internet memes. It references “boy, bye” a dismissive line from the Beyonce song “Sorry” (delivered…
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Food WATCH: Learn How To Make 2 Perfect Beet Salads (In Yiddish!)
I hate beets. Even though I have some Russian blood through my mother’s side, I have never really gotten the appeal. Sure, they’re gorgeous to look at. Sure, they’re fun to cook with because they stain your hands like you’re a victim of the Texas Chainsaw Massacre. But delicious? No. However, this video by the…
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Yiddish World Yankel and Leah (Chapter 5): Glancing at the Eyes of the Gentile Cashier
This article originally appeared in the Yiddish Forverts. He took up this thread when he called Miriam the shadchan’te the next morning. “I am still not sure about the way she looks,” Yankel told her. “I have no way of knowing. I can’t even remember from date to date what she looks like. I don’t think I…
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