Yiddish Brief
Sundays
A bissel of all things Yiddish: music videos, cooking shows, book reviews and much more from our Yiddish editor, Rukhl Schaechter.
This is truly an exciting time for the Yiddish language. That’s why we send out this newsletter, Yiddish Brief, every Sunday. It’s your one-stop shop to find out about all that’s going on in the Yiddish world: music videos, cooking shows, book reviews, literature, events and puzzles.
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Recent Newsletters
January 19, 2025 -
Yiddish activist Michael Fox has died • A concert where Paul Robeson wasn’t allowed to sing in Yiddish • ‘Bad Yiddish’ is theme of Yiddish conference
January 12, 2025 -
The funny guys at Yidlife Crisis go to Sweden • ‘Jimmy Carter, Bubby and me’ • The amazing evolution of the Klezmatics as they turn 40
December 22, 2024 -
VIDEO: Making latkes in Yiddish with my grandson • A Hanukkah story set in San Francisco, 1849 • Art exhibit on life in the Lodz Ghetto
December 15, 2024 -
A fun recording of The Dreidel Song • New blog ties weekly Torah portions with Yiddish literature • Print is still huge for these Yiddish readers
December 8, 2024 -
Harvard’s Yiddish studies program is in danger • The day a Bronx kid shocked a Vermont salesperson • A Yiddish show about demons opening off-Broadway
November 24, 2024 -
Harvard denies its only Yiddish professor tenure • A place to share handwritten recipes and memories • The Hasidic housewife who became a comedian
November 17, 2024 -
Satmar-raised Riki Rose becomes a Yiddish rock star • L.A. Yiddish scene continues a long tradition • How WEVD music was saved from the dumpster
November 10, 2024 -
Celebrating my 25 years at the Forward • Klezmer violinist Deborah Strauss to be honored • The education of a young girl in a Belarusian shtetl
November 3, 2024 -
Yiddish-speaking Israeli soldier Yonatan Alman has married • Yiddish NY festival is coming up • The boy who kept a diary while hiding from the Nazis
October 27, 2024 -
VIDEO: Roza makes kasha varnishkes • Is the accordion a Jewish instrument? • How Jewish performer Al Jolson helped remake America
October 20, 2024 -
Yiddish parody of the prayer for rain • Hilarious video about the Jewish fall holidays • Elie Wiesel celebrating Simchat Torah in Moscow in 1965
October 13, 2024 -
The magical part of making cabbage strudel • A scary Sukkos for this immigrant Jewish family • How to greet people in Yiddish on each Jewish holiday
September 29, 2024 -
A painful split in the Yiddishist community since Oct. 7 • The rabbi who was late to Yom Kippur • Vilna resistance fighter Fania Brantsovsky has died
September 22, 2024 -
Honey balls and ginger candy for Rosh Hashanah • Yiddish holiday tales provide hope in these dark times • The curious history of Rosh Hashanah cards
September 15, 2024 -
Sneak preview of an amazing album • Creating a synagogue in L.A. that embraces culture • A horror show at her grandparents’ house
September 8, 2024 -
The powerful ballad of September 11 • Songwriter Josh Waletzky’s elegy for 9/11 • The mysterious disappearance of a Jewish ritual slaughterer
September 1, 2024 -
This strike leader paid dearly for his activism • What kids did on their summer vacation a century ago • Yiddish activist Bella Bryks Klein has died
August 11, 2024 -
Meet young people who studied Yiddish this summer • Elegy for cherished Jewish historian David Biale • A Yiddish bracelet found in the Catskills
July 28, 2024 -
Lively course on Hasidic Yiddish • Recalling the murdered Soviet Yiddish writers • Improve your Yiddish comprehension with this easy news brief
July 21, 2024 -
Shabbos songs in Yiddish! • Another teen who kept a diary during the Holocaust • Why are Yiddish speakers talking about JD Vance and bedbugs?
June 2, 2024 -
Why is Ken Burns so negative about Yiddish? • A refue shleyme, Frank London • Yiddish novelist I. J. Singer on Black American life
April 21, 2024 -
Passover 1941 among refugees in Japan • Bringing Pesach back to the town where Nazis killed our relatives • Haggadah with Yiddish instructions
April 14, 2024 -
Itzhak Perlman's favorite Passover recipes • El Lissitzky's gorgeous illustrations to ‘Khad Gadyo’ • An Ashkenazi delicacy made of fish sperm
April 7, 2024 -
Mendy Twerski’s newest song, ‘Nem mikh arum’ • Memories of the Yiddish kitchen • Yiddish cartoon about Trump’s bible sale
March 31, 2024 -
Training Hester Street actors how to say their Yiddish lines • Yiddish weekend in the UK • Asian descendants of hidden Jews maintain their languages
March 24, 2024 -
So do you spell it schlep or shlep? • The 1975 film ‘Hester Street’ is now on stage • New translations of I. B. Singer’s essays at the Forverts
March 17, 2024 -
‘The first time I wore a yarmulke on the subway’ • Video: A Purim tale by I. L. Peretz • When Irish-Jewish immigrants celebrated St. Patrick’s Day
March 10, 2024 -
Yiddish text on the cover of The Atlantic! • A mouthwatering vegan brisket • Linguist Ross Perlin speaks about endangered languages
March 3, 2024 -
Mendy Twersky’s new song, ‘Gut Morgn!’ • Aaron Lansky, who rescued 1.5 million books, is retiring • Goose, schmaltz and pletzel!
February 25, 2024 -
Yiddish in bars all over Berlin • Yiddish activist Fishl Kutner has died • Essay: ‘My family’s role in collapse of a bank for Jewish immigrants’
February 11, 2024 -
A melodrama that’s silly but fun to watch • Lower East Side Jewish women • Meet ‘The Nosher’ editor and chef Shannon Sarna at our Zoom chat
February 4, 2024 -
Young cooks preparing old Jewish dishes • A video celebrating Ladino Day in Yiddish • Magnificent Judaica gallery
January 28, 2024 -
Why ‘The Gospel According to Chaim’ is a big deal • The forgotten lines of ’Abi Gezunt’ • Jewish deli and Yiddish cooking in a TikTok world
January 21, 2024 -
Anguished cry in Yiddish by father of 2 hostages • When Elie Wiesel was enchanted by Disneyland • A tragedy of 2 fathers
January 14, 2024 -
This filmmaker challenged his Haredi community’s prejudices • Twelve-year old chef bakes pretzels in Yiddish • A call to Yiddish-speaking cooks
January 7, 2024 -
Yiddish play tackles taboo subject • A band’s Yiddish response to Oct. 7 massacre • Reading Chava Rosenfarb’s stories after Oct. 7
December 24, 2023 -
Ethel Niborski reports from Jerusalem’s Cinema Week • Antisemitism in elite private schools • San Diego Yiddish organization may have to move
December 17, 2023 -
A new Yiddish drama on the NY stage • Translator and linguist Zelda Kahan Newman has died • The brazen antisemitic act in the Polish parliament
December 10, 2023 -
Why we took down the paywall • This Hanukkah song ponders the meaning of the candles • A reconstructed Yiddish comic operetta
November 19, 2023 -
New Yiddish musical reminds us why Israel was founded • Yiddish-themed gifts for Hanukkah • How to make the traditional home remedy, gogl-mogl
November 12, 2023 -
Our Yiddish-speaking soldier longs for a drink • A new Yiddish musical at the Folksbiene • I.B. Singer’s newspaper articles now in English