Dos Yidishe Kol

אַ גמר חתימה טובֿה! און אַ גוט געבענטשט יאָר!

Highlights:

• Rabbi Itzik-Boruch Teitelbaum (Monroe, NY), known as Der Pshiskher Rov, with a vort for erev Yom Kippur. We reached him by phone at his home in Monroe on Wednesday, Oct. 9, 2024

• Interviews with Israelis about Oct. 7, one year on.

  • Avremi Zaks the host and producer of the weekly Israeli Yiddish radio program "Kan Yidish." He also teaches Yiddish. He was born in Israel and lives in Jerusalem with his wife and children. We reached him by phone in Jerusalem on Wednesday, Oct. 9, 2024.
  • Daniel Galay is a composer, playwright, Yiddish activist, educator, and writer, and Chairman of Leyvik House Yiddish Cultural Center in Tel Aviv. We reached him by phone in Tel Aviv on October 8, 2024. Additional info online: https://www.leyvik.com
  • Miriam Trinh is the editor-in-chief of Afn Shvel, teaching Yiddish language and literature at Hebrew University and online platforms like Workers Circle and YIVO. She has written for the Yiddish Forward (Forverts), including the interview with Tzili Venkert described on our show and a recent article published post-show, "לכּבֿוד יום-הזכּרון זאָל דער געדענק־פּלאַקאַט פֿון קיבוץ בארי נישט לאָזן פֿאַרגעסן." Trinh moved to Israel after high school and resides in Jerusalem with her family. We reached her by phone in Jerusalem on October 9, 2024.

• Greetings on behalf of the American Association of Jewish Holocaust Survivors and Descendants of Greater Boston, featuring members Tania Lefman (Treasurer), Mary Ehrlich, Rosalie Reszelbach and Miriam Modricamin.

• Greeting from Dovid Braun, co-host. Recorded Oct. 2, 2024, by phone.

• Greetings from Eli Dovek ז״ל, late proprietor of our sponsor Israel Bookshop, Brookline, MA.

• Greeting from Lillian (Leye) Leavitt, co-host. Recorded Sept. 25, 2024, by phone.

Music:

• Cantor Joseph Shapiro: B'Rosh Hashona
• Leibele Waldman: Der naier yuhr
• Intro instrumental music: DEM HELFANDS TANTS, an instrumental track from the CD Jeff Warschauer: The Singing Waltz

Air date: October 9, 2024

אַ כּ‫תיבֿה וחתימה טובֿה!

Highlights:

• Avrom Novershtern (Israel) Professor Emeritus of Yiddish Literature, Hebrew University, Jerusalem. We reached him by phone on Friday, Sept. 27, 2024.
• Eli Sharfstein (Israel) writer and poet. We reached him by phone in Greece, where he was stranded due to cancelations of flights to Israel, on Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024.
• Rabbi Itzik-Boruch Teitelbaum (Monroe, NY), known as Der Pshiskher Rov. We reached him by phone at his home in Monroe on Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024.
• Greetings on behalf of the American Association of Jewish Holocaust Survivors and Descendants of Greater Boston, featuring members Tania Lefman (Treasurer), Mary Ehrlich, Rosalie Reszelbach and Miriam Modricamin.
• Greeting from Dovid Braun, co-host. Recorded Oct. 2, 2024, by phone.
• Greetings from Eli Dovek ז״ל, late proprietor of our sponsor Israel Bookshop, Brookline, MA.
• Greeting from Sholem Beinfeld, co-host. Recorded Sept. 18, 2024, by phone.
• Greeting from Lillian (Leye) Leavitt, co-host. Recorded Sept. 25, 2024, by phone.
• Greetings on behalf of the League for Yiddish / די ייִדיש-ליגע by Gitl Schaechter-Viswanath, Board Chair. Recorded Sept. 18, 2024.
• Greetings on behalf of the Hebrew Actors Foundation and CYCO Yiddish Book Center by Hy Wolfe. Recorded via Zoom Sept. 18, 2024.

Music: (Partial List)

• Cantor Joseph Shapiro: B'Rosh Hashona
• Malavsky Family: Kevah Kures
• Sholom Katz: Zochreinu L'Chayim
• Intro instrumental music: DEM HELFANDS TANTS, an instrumental track from the CD Jeff Warschauer: The Singing Waltz

Air date: October 2, 2024

This week, greetings for Rosh Hashona from friends, participants, and sponsors of The Yiddish Voice / דאָס ייִדישע קול, combined with a poetry reading by Richard Fein and Sholem Beinfeld.

אַ גוט, געבענטשט יאָר אַלע אונדזערע צוהערער - לשנה טובֿה

Highlights:

• Author and translator Richard J. Fein (Yiddish name: Ruvn-Yankev), along with his friend, collaborator, and regular Yiddish Voice cohost Sholem Beinfeld, read from Fein's book The Full Pomegranate: Poems of Avrom Sutzkever (SUNY Press, 2019), which features Sutzkever's poems in their original Yiddish along with Fein's English translations. Avrom Sutzkever (1913–2010) is widely regarded as one of the greatest Yiddish poets of the 20th century. Richard J. Fein is Professor Emeritus of English at the State University of New York at New Paltz and the author, editor, and translator of many books, including With Everything We’ve Got: A Personal Anthology of Yiddish Poetry. Sholem Beinfeld is Professor Emeritus of History at Washington University in St. Louis, and is perhaps best known as Co-Editor-in-Chief of the Comprehensive Yiddish-English Dictionary (Arumnemik Yidish-English Verterbukh), as well as a translator of Yiddish texts and creator of new subtitles for classic Yiddish movies. For further information on Fein's book The Full Pomegranate, see the publisher's web site: http://www.sunypress.edu/p-6690-the-full-pomegranate.aspx We recorded this at Fein's home in Cambridge, MA, on Sept. 20, 2024.
• Greetings on behalf of the American Association of Jewish Holocaust Survivors and Descendants of Greater Boston, featuring members Tania Lefman (Treasurer), Mary Ehrlich, Rosalie Reszelbach and Miriam Modricamin.
• Greetings from Eli Dovek ז״ל, late proprietor of our sponsor Israel Bookshop, Brookline, MA.
• Greeting from Sholem Beinfeld, co-host. Recorded Sept. 18, 2024, by phone.
• Greeting from Lillian (Leye) Leavitt, co-host. Recorded Sept. 25, 2024, by phone.
• Greetings on behalf of the League for Yiddish / די ייִדיש-ליגע by Gitl Schaechter-Viswanath, Board Chair. Recorded Sept. 18, 2024.
• Greetings on behalf of the Hebrew Actors Foundation and CYCO Yiddish Book Center by Hy Wolfe. Recorded via Zoom Sept. 18, 2024.

Music:

• Cantor Joseph Shapiro: B'Rosh Hashona
• Malavsky Family: Kevah Kures
• Sholom Katz: Zochreinu L'Chayim
• Intro instrumental music: DEM HELFANDS TANTS, an instrumental track from the CD Jeff Warschauer: The Singing Waltz

Air date: September 25, 2024

This week, greetings for Rosh Hashona from friends, participants, and sponsors of The Yiddish Voice / דאָס ייִדישע קול, combined with an exciting new interviews with Rabbi Moshe Waldoks and Holocaust survivor Henry Slucki.

אַ גוט, געבענטשט יאָר אַלע אונדזערע צוהערער לשנה טובֿה

Highlights:

• Interview with Rabbi Moshe Waldoks, whose biographical one-man show "You Can Live If They Let You" recently debuted in Boston, amid much acclaim (including a Boston Globe feature article) to sold-out audiences. Recorded Sept. 18, 2024, by phone. Info on Moshe Waldoks on Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moshe_Waldoks
• Interview with Henry Slucki, a Holocaust survivor, professor of psychology at USC, cultural and political activist. Recorded Sept. 18, 2024, via Zoom.
• Greetings on behalf of the American Association of Jewish Holocaust Survivors and Descendants of Greater Boston, featuring members Tania Lefman (Treasurer), Mary Ehrlich, Rosalie Reszelbach, and Miriam Modricamin.
• Greetings from Eli Dovek ז״ל, late proprietor of our sponsor Israel Bookshop, Brookline, MA.
• Greeting from Sholem Beinfeld, co-host. Recorded Sept. 18, 2024, by phone.
• Greetings on behalf of the League for Yiddish / די ייִדיש-ליגע by Gitl Schaechter-Viswanath, Board Chair. Recorded Sept. 18, 2024.
• Greetings on behalf of the Hebrew Actors Foundation and CYCO Yiddish Book Center by Hy Wolfe. Recorded via Zoom Sept. 18, 2024.

Music:

• Cantor Simcha Koussevitzky: Zochreinu L'Chayim
• Pesachke Burstein: Men ken leben nor men lozt nit (Composer: Joseph Rumshinsky)
• Intro instrumental music: DEM HELFANDS TANTS, an instrumental track from the CD Jeff Warschauer: The Singing Waltz

Air date: September 18, 2024

This week, interviews with Perl Teitelbaum and Hy Wolfe. We spoke with them in person at 2024 Yugntruf Yidish-Vokh in Copake, NY, on Aug. 21, 2024.

• Paula (Perl) Teitelbaum is a Yiddish language at Arbeter Ring, Yivo Institute, and elsewhere. She talked about a new technique she's been using for teaching Yiddish by watching films. A Yiddish singer who has performed on several album, she also shared memories of creating the popular song Vaserl along with co-writer Rukhl Schaechter.

• Hy Wolfe is a Yiddish singer and actor, as well as an activist involved in managing several important Yiddish organizations: Hebrew Actors Foundation, Sholem Aleichem Culture Center, and CYCO Yiddish Book Center. He talked about those organizations, and also shared some personal memories from his career on the Yiddish stage.

• Music:

  • Intro instrumental music: DEM HELFANDS TANTS, an instrumental track from the CD Jeff Warschauer: The Singing Waltz
  • Philip (Fayvl) Yucht, Shifee Lovitt: Vaserl וואַסערל (Arrangement by Andy Statman and his ensemble)
  • Meilech Kohn: Mein Held מײַן העלד

Air Date: August 21, 2024

This week, an interview with Dovid Braun, talking about the Yivo Bard Zumer-Program and a few related matters. Dovid serves as Academic Director for the summer program, which recently concluded, and year-round as Yivo's Academic Director for Yiddish. And we hear from our archive (1995) Miriam Libenson on Tisha B'Ov , which falls this year on the night of Monday, Aug. 12.

• Music:
  • Intro instrumental music: DEM HELFANDS TANTS, an instrumental track from the CD Jeff Warschauer: The Singing Waltz

Air Date: August 7, 2024

This week, Arieh Hecht, a patient advocate in Los Angeles, talks about his life as a child of Holocaust survivors originally from Transylvania (Hungary during WWII) and his work as a patient advocate. We spoke with Arieh in person in Los Angeles on July 4, 2024. We begin with a report from the Yivo-Bard Zumer-Program by Nokhem Lerner, who's been a Yiddish teacher there the past two years. We reached Nokhem by phone in the New York area on July 29, 2024.

• Music:
  • Intro instrumental music: DEM HELFANDS TANTS, an instrumental track from the CD Jeff Warschauer: The Singing Waltz
  • Outro instrumental music: Itzhak Perlman, Dov Seltzer, Israel Philharmonic Orchestra: Afn Veg Shteyt A Boym

Air Date: July 31, 2024

Highlights: Mark ("Marek") Gaysinskiy reports from the Yivo-Bard Zumer-Program; Pnina Sharf, a resident of Los Angeles and a Holocaust survivor from Poland, talks about her life experiences; from Boston's Yiddish past: a performance by the late Cantor Gregor Shelkan, performing a song about what will happen when Meshiekh (the Messiah) comes (recorded in 1999 at the Cantorial concert in honor of Cantor Simon Kandler).

• Intro instrumental music: DEM HELFANDS TANTS, an instrumental track from the CD Jeff Warschauer: The Singing Waltz

Air Date: July 17, 2024

Highlights:

• A report from the Yivo-Bard Yiddish Summer Program by student Tara Neuwirth, who has attended several times beginning in 1983. This year's Zumer-program kicked off last week and seems off to a good start. We spoke to Tara by phone on July 10, 2024. We hope to hear more from other students and teachers from this and other Yiddish summer courses around the world. Info on the Yivo-Bard Yiddish Summer program here: https://summerprogram.yivo.org

• Prof. Sholem Beinfeld, professor emeritus of history at Washington University, St. Louis, gives a brief lecture on Dovid Sfard, Hersh Smolar, and the Yiddish-Communist Milieu in Poland after WWII, and then discusses the topic with Hershl Glasser and Reyze Turner, who translated the book A citizen of Yiddishland: Dovid Sfard and the Jewish Communist Milieu in Poland (Nalewajko-Kulikov, Joanna; Peter Lang International Academic Publishers, Bern, 2020) into English. Book info: https://www.peterlang.com/document/1114288 We recorded the lecture and discussion via Zoom on June 17, 2024. A book by Hersh Smolar, originally in Yiddish, is about to come out this August 2024, translated into Yiddish by Ruth Murphy. Info here: https://www.benyehudapress.com/books/jews-without-yellow-stars/

• Intro instrumental music: DEM HELFANDS TANTS, an instrumental track from the CD Jeff Warschauer: The Singing Waltz

Air Date: July 10, 2024

Meet Itel Landau (maiden family name: Brettler), a Holocaust survivor originally from Vișeu de Sus (Felsővisó in Hungarian, אויבערווישעווע in Yiddish), a shtetl in Transylvania (prewar Romania, Hungary during WWII, now Romania), discussing her life — before, during, and after the Holocaust. Itel was born into a Hassidic family, the Brettlers, who sold manufacturing materials. In 1940, Transylvania was taken over by Hungary. Among other changes, her school days were ended. In the spring of 1944, the Germans occupied Hungary, and soon after she and her family were deported to Auschwitz-Birkenau. She, her mother, and two sisters were among the few survivors from her large extended family. After the war, she endured years of recovery from Tuberculosis in a sanitarium in France. She eventually married and moved to Bogota, Colombia, where she raised her family. After her children began to attend Yeshivas in New York, she and her family relocated there. She now lives in Manhattan.We reached Itel for this interview by phone on June 6, 2024. For more information, see also Itel's 1988 interview with the US Holocaust Memorial Museum. Thanks to Reb Yisrael Brettler, coproducer of this episode, who is also Itel's first cousin once removed.

Music:

• Intro instrumental music: DEM HELFANDS TANTS, an instrumental track from the CD Jeff Warschauer: The Singing Waltz

Air Date: June 19, 2024

This week, Yiddish poetry lovers are in for a treat: an interview with Sarah Traister Moskowitz with her reading of poems in the collection „דאָס ליד איז געבליבן“ ("The Song Remains") along with her English translations. Sarah is the translator of the collection of poems Dos Lid is Geblibn, or The Song Remains, on the new website thesongremains.org, an anthology of Yiddish poems with English translations from the Nazi German occupation of Poland. The collection is taken from the book of the same name in Yiddish, edited by Binem Heller and originally published in Poland in 1951. In the interview Sarah talks about her life and her connections to Yiddish, the Holocaust, and this collection of poetry. She also reads three of the poems from the collection in Yiddish along with her English translation:

• Kapital (Das Kapital) -Sh. Zhirman
• Aktualie (Actually) -Misha Troyanov
• Lodzh (Łódź) -M. Goldshteyn

Sarah worked for years with child-Holocaust-survivors in Los Angeles and helped produce the book How We Survived: 52 Personal Stories by Child Survivors of the Holocaust, including writing its forward, which she reads from in the Interview. Read more about Sarah Moskovitz at the new website: https://thesongremains.org/translator-sarah-traister-moskovitz/

Also on this week's show: Miriam Libenson ז״ל's presentation for Lag B'Oymer from our archive (originally recorded and aired in the 1990's). Miriam was a poet in her own right, whose poetry often graced our airwaves, as well as such publications as דער טאָג-מאָרגן-דשורנאָל and פּיאָנערן פֿרויען (Der Tog-Morgn-Dzhurnal and Pionern-Froyen).

Music/recordings:

• Sarah Gorby: Zog Nit Keynmol
• Raasche: Arum Dem Fayer
• Tova Ben-Zvi: Lag-B'Oimer
• Wolf Krakowski: Yeder Ruft Mikh Ziamele
• Wolf Krakowski: Varshe
• Intro instrumental music: DEM HELFANDS TANTS, an instrumental track from the CD Jeff Warschauer: The Singing Waltz

Air date: May 22, 2024

This week we have a new interview with Marvin Zuckerman, who grew up in the Yiddish-speaking milieu of Jewish Labor Bund in Bronx, New York. He became a professor of English at a Los Angeles college and created the well-regarded Yiddish primer Learning Yiddish in Easy Stages and several other books in the field of Yiddish. He translated from the Yiddish the memoir of the prominent Bundist Bernard Goldstein (Twenty Years with the Jewish Labor Bund: A Memoir of Interwar Poland, Perdue University Press, 2016). In the interview he talks about his childhood in his secular-socialist-Yiddishist milieu of the 1930's and 40's; about Bundism's history and place in Jewish history; the bundist perspective, past and present, and in contrast to Communism and Zionism; about his translation of Bernard Goldstein's Bundist memoir; about teaching Yiddish and his Yiddish-language primer; and about Yiddish language and culture generally. The interview was conducted at Zuckerman's home in Pacific Pallisades, CA, on February 22, 2024.

Music/recordings:

• Klepfisch Folkskhor: Di Shvue (anthem of the Jewish Labor Bund)
• Lazar Weiner and Workmen's Circle Chorus: Di Shvue
• Intro instrumental music: DEM HELFANDS TANTS, an instrumental track from the CD Jeff Warschauer: The Singing Waltz

Air date: May 15, 2024

This week we observe Yom HaAtzmaut (Israel Independence Day) talking with Mike Burstyn, Miriam Trinh, Eli Sharfstein and Avremi Zaks.

Mike Burstyn is a distinguished actor and singer known for his roles in Yiddish, Hebrew, and English theater and film across Israeli, American, and international stages. Recently, he starred in the German comedy drama The Zweiflers, awarded Best Series at the 7th annual Canneseries festival in April 2024. Burstyn first gained prominence in Israel as a child actor with his family's troupe, The Four Bursteins, and later through significant roles in The Megillah of Itzik Manger (1965) and Two Kuni Lemel (1966).

Miriam Trinh is the editor-in-chief of Afn Shvel, teaching Yiddish language and literature at Hebrew University and online platforms like Workers Circle and YIVO. She has written for the Yiddish Forward (Forverts), including the interview with Tzili Venkert described on our show and a recent article published post-show, "לכּבֿוד יום-הזכּרון זאָל דער געדענק־פּלאַקאַט פֿון קיבוץ בארי נישט לאָזן פֿאַרגעסן." Trinh moved to Israel after high school and resides in Jerusalem with her family.

Eli Sharfstein is a contemporary poet and writer living in the Israeli kibbutz Ma’agan Michael. Born in Vilna and moved to Israel in 1972, he is a veteran of the Yom Kippur war. He has published two books of Yiddish poems, פּלוצעם ייִדיש and מײַן ווילנער זאַוווּליק.

Avremi Zaks the host and producer of the weekly Israeli Yiddish radio program "Kan Yidish." He was born in Israel and lives in Jerusalem with his wife and children.

Links mentioned in this episode:

• Beit HaLochem (Los Angeles): https://www.israeliwoundedveterans.org
• The Zweiflers TV series starring Mke Burstyn, home page
• League for Yiddish: https://leagueforyiddish.org
• Afn Shvel Issue #400-401 at League for Yiddish
• Yiddish Forward (Forverts): https://forward.com/yiddish/
• Forverts Article on Interview with Tzili Venkert, grandmother of hostage Omar Venkert
• Yiddish Branzhe: https://yiddishbranzhe.com
• Kan Yiddish (כאן יידיש) archive (Avremi Zaks's Yiddish radio show)

Music/recordings:

• Dovid Esheth: Yerusholayim Shtot fun Gold
• M...

This week, for Yom HaShoah, which falls this year on May 6, we present past interviews with survivors of the Holocaust in Hungary as we mark the deportation of Hungarian Jews to Auschwitz in the spring of 1944, 80 years ago. After a brief intro and announcement of Boston's 2024 community Hazkure, we hear:

• Mel Mermelstein ז״ל

  • We had a short but memorable interview with Mel in 2008. Mel lived in Munkacs until May 1944, when he was deported to Aushwitz. He passed away in January 2022 at age 95. See also: Mel Mermelstein Wikipedia page: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mel_Mermelstein

• Zoli Langer and Rokhl Zicherman: repeat of our 2020 Yom HaShoah broadcast: Zoli lived in Ungvar and Rokhl in Tybava until they were deported to Auschwitz in the spring of 1944. A long interview of Zoli is presented with a short interlude of Rokhl singing songs about the Holocaust. Both were interviewed in 2019 and currently (2024) reside in the Los Angeles area.

This week, Pesach greetings and words of wisdom from Rabbi Yitzchok-Boruch Teitelbaum, Rabbi Moshe Kesselman, and Holocaust survivor Naftali (Tuli) Deutsch, as well as greetings from many of our cohosts, friends, and sponsors, as follows:

• Israel Book Shop (Eli Dovek ז״ל recorded Mar 28 2007)
• American Association of Jewish Holocaust Survivors of Greater Boston (member and Holocaust survivor Tania Lefman, and member and Holocaust survivor Mary Erlich), co-sponsor of Boston's 2024 In-Person and Virtual Community Holocaust Commemoration of Yom HaShoah, Sunday, May 5, 2024, at 10:30 AM Eastern. (Registration required.)
• League for Yiddish, New York, NY, (Gitl Schaechter-Viswanath, Chair of the Board)
• Leah Shporer-Leavitt, Newton, MA, co-host of The Yiddish Voice / דאָס ייִדישע קול
• Dovid Braun, Leonia, NJ, co-host of The Yiddish Voice / דאָס ייִדישע קול
• Yankele Bodo, Tel Aviv, Israel, actor and singer (from 2016)
• Eli Grodko, New Millford, NJ, friend of the show
• Boston Workers Circle, Brookline, MA (Yiddish committee member Linda (Libe-Reyzl) Gritz)

We wish all our cohosts, sponsors, and friends a Happy and Kosher Pesach.

מיר ווינטשן אַלע אונדזערע אונטערשטיצער, פֿרײַנד און באַטייליקטע אַ פֿריילעכן און כּשרן פּסח

Links for this episode:

• JCRC Boston's registration for Yom Hahoah 2024: jcrcboston.org/register-for-yom-hashoah-2024
• Israel Book Shop: israelbookshop.com
• Rabbie Moshe Kesselman's Neros Lehoir website: neroslehoir.org
• League for Yiddish: leagueforyiddish.org
• Boston Workers Circle: circleboston.org

Music:

• Malavsky Family: Ho Lakhmo Anyo and Fir Kashes
• Moyshe Oisher: Dayenu, Chad Gadyo, and Kiddush for Pesach
• Intro instrumental music: DEM HELFANDS TANTS, an instrumental track from the CD Jeff Warschauer: The Singing Waltz

Air date: April 17, 2024

This week, Cantor Herschel Fox, long-time chazzan at Valley Beth Shalom Synagogue in Los Angeles and veteran of the Cantorial world as well as the Yiddish stage, and even Yiddish radio. The interview is filled with stories and anecdotes covering many aspects of his life and his illustrious career, including close working relationships with such legends as Molly Picon, Cantor Dovid Koussevitzky, and many others. He also treats us to many insights into Yiddish song and khazones, with many demonstrations featuring his still-strong voice, with wonderful musical phrasing and beautiful Yiddish and Hebrew diction.

The interview was recorded at the home of Herschel and Judy Fox on Mar. 21, 2024. Special thanks to Judy Fox for audio technical assistance.

Links related to Cantor Fox:

• Honorary Doctorate fitting cap to cantorial career of Herschel Fox", article in Canada's Jewish Post and News
• Judy & Herschel Fox at FAU Sound Archive, digitized versions of commercial recordings of Herschel Fox, as well as his wife, fellow cantor, Judy Fox
• Herschel Fox's Oral History, interview by Christa Whitney from 2018 for the Wexler Oral History Project of Yiddish Book Center

Music:

• Moshe Koussevitzky: Sheyiboneh Beys Hamikdosh
• Herschel Fox: Sheyiboneh Beys Hamikdosh
• Herschel Fox: Dem Milners Trern
• Herschel Fox: Abi Gezunt
• Intro instrumental music: DEM HELFANDS TANTS, an instrumental track from the CD Jeff Warschauer: The Singing Waltz

Air Date: April 10, 2024

Happy Purim !! אַ פֿריילעכן פּורים

• Part 1: Jokes and humor for Purim told by Libby Pollak, Sholem Beinfeld, Sheila (Sheyndl) Lieberman-Reich, Sheldon (Shulem) Londner, and Hy Wolfe.

• Part 2: Arele Schaechter Viswanath discusses his Google Doc "אַ בלעטל פּורים־מאַטעריאַלן", which the פֿאָרווערטס/Forverts/Yiddish Forward described as "Lively Yiddish Purim materials for teachers, students and parents".

All guests were recorded, by phone or Zoom, Mar. 19-20, 2024.

Links mentioned in this episode:

• Arele's Google Doc: אַ בלעטל פּורים־מאַטעריאַלן פֿאַר עלטערן פֿון ייִדיש־רעדנדיקע קינדער און פֿאַר ייִדיש־לערערס און תּלמידים

Music:

• Di Purim Shpiler [Spotify]: Mishpokhe Lustik, Tsu Feter Aron,Khelemer Rov
• Megilla of Itzik Manger (The Bursteins/Israeli cast album) [Spotify]: Der Nigun Fun Der Megille
• Mine-Lifshe Viswanath: Purim Iz A Shpil Aza [Youtube]
• Bina Landau: Purim Lid
• Intro instrumental music: DEM HELFANDS TANTS, an instrumental track from the CD Jeff Warschauer: The Singing Waltz

Air date: March 20, 2024

This week, interview with Holocaust survivor Nathan Gipsman, originally from Będzin (Bendin), who recently celebrated his 99th birthday; Alona Bach and Sarah Biskowitz cover Farbindungen 2024, the third annual Farbindungen Yiddish Studies Conference, taking place online from February 18 – 19th, 2024; Kolya Borodulin announces the Yiddish classes offered by Workers Circle/Arbeter Ring, starting next week; and a little -ליבע (love-) related music in honor of Valentin-Tog (Valentine's Day).

Important links mentioned in this episode:

• https://circle.org
• https://farbindungen.com

Music:

• Masha Roskies: Kum Leybke Tantsn (from CD accompanying book Yiddishlands by David Roskies)
• Mayya Korsunskaya: Ikh Hob Dikh Tsu Fil Lib (piano acc. by Hankus Netsky)
• Dudu Fisher: Sheyn Vi Di Lovone
• Dudu Fisher: Bay Mir Bistu Sheyn
• Intro instrumental music: DEM HELFANDS TANTS, an instrumental track from the CD Jeff Warschauer: The Singing Waltz

Air date: February 14, 2024

Last week, we learned the sad news that David (Dovid) Lenga has died at the age of 96. He was buried in Los Angeles on Jan. 28, 2024. Los Angeles survivor and community leader Harry Davids said of him, "David was a survivor of Dachau and Auschwitz. He frequently spoke at the museums, synagogues and schools, and his presentations were known for their oratory and inspirational style."In his memory, we're airing his interview recorded and originally aired on Jan. 4, 2023. Link to original podcast. כּבֿוד זײַן אַנדענק!‬

Music:

• Wolf Krakowsky: Yeder Ruft Mikh Ziamele
• Leahke Post: Yidish Redt Zikh Azoy Sheyn
• Yugntruf: Youth for Yiddish: Yiddish (Vaserl)
• Tzimmes: Oyfn Pripetshik
• Intro instrumental music: DEM HELFANDS TANTS, an instrumental track from the CD Jeff Warschauer: The Singing Waltz

Air date: February 7, 2024

In observance of International Holocaust Rememberance Day (Jan. 27) we're listening to and discussing Silent Tears: The Last Yiddish Tango, the acclaimed 2023 CD with new music and songs based on poetry and other writing by several women who are, or were, Holocaust survivors in Toronto. These songs recall their terrible and traumatic experiences during the Holocaust, including sexual abuse and torture. Some of the songs were collected and adapted by Dr. Paula David, a social worker, from a group of survivors in the Terrace Holocaust Survivors Group at the Baycrest Centre for Geriatric Care in Toronto who wrote poetry together to deal with their trauma. Others were adapted from the diary of Molly Applebaum, a Holocaust survivor in Toronto. The music, which is mostly new for this CD, is performed by Toronto's Payadora Tango Ensemble along with several soloists. Our guest to discuss Silent Tears is Vicky Ash-Shifris. She lives in Jerusalem and works as a Yiddish teacher and translator. She translated four of the songs on the CD into Yiddish. For additional info on Silent Tears, visit Executive Producer Dan Rosenberg's website: https://danrosenberg.net/silent_tears_the_last_yiddish_tango_info_and_press or, to audition and purchase the CD, visit its Six Degrees Records album page: https://payadoratangoensemble.bandcamp.com/album/silent-tears-the-last-yiddish-tango

Music:

• Aviva Chernick with Payadora Tango Ensemble: Silent Tears (Words: Terrace Holocaust Survivors Group, Paula David, Dan Rosenberg; Music: Rebekah Wolkstein)
• Aviva Chernick with Payadora Tango Ensemble: The Numbers on My Arm (Words: Terrace Holocaust Survivors Group, Paula David, Dan Rosenberg; Music: Rebekah Wolkstein)
• Aviva Chernick and Olga Avigail Mieleszczuk with Payadora Tango Ensemble: Don't Let Us Starve (Words: Molly Applebaum, Dan Rosenberg; Music: Artur Gold)
• Lenka Lichtenberg: A Victim Of Mengele (Words: Terrace Holocaust Survivors Group, Paula David, Dan Rosenberg; Music: Rebekah Wolkstein)
• Henry Carrey: Tu Beshvat (Music and Lyrics by Beyle Schaechter-Gottesman)
• Intro instrumental music: DEM HELFANDS TANTS, an instrumental track from the CD Jeff Warschauer: The Singing Waltz

Air date: January 24, 2024

Last week, we received via Facebook the sad news that Avrohom Fuchs has died at the age of 99. He was buried in Jerusalem on Jan. 15, 2024. In his memory, we're airing part of an interview recorded in Jerusalem on Jan. 2, 2015, and originally aired Jan. 21, 2015. Fuchs, who survived the Holocaust, including Auschwitz and Ebensee, was a scholar of the Jewish history of the Carpathian Mountains, as well as a travel agent and guide who led over 35 tours to the Carpathians for former residents and their descendents. He wrote a book on the city of Chust (now Khust, Ukraine) and surrounding towns, as well as a book on his hometown Shandriff (now Oleksandrivka, Ukraine) and numerous articles. ‫כּבֿוד זײַן אַנדענק!‬

From our archives: Miriam Libenson Z"L: a talk in honor of the holiday Tu Bishvat, the holiday of the trees, originally broadcast in 1994.

Music:

• Cantor Bela Herskowitz: Szól A Kakas Már (Der Hun Kriet Shoyn)
• Victor Berezinsky: Tu Bishvat
• Ruth Levin: A Hoykher Boym (Lyrics Shike Driz, Music by Leibu Levin)
• Hilda Bronstein: Afn Veg Shteyt A Boym (Lyrics by Itzik Manger)
• Dudu Fisher: Unter Beymer (Lyrics by Alexander Olshanetsky, Music by Moishe Oysher)
• Pharaoh's Daughter/Basya Schechter: Mayn Lid (My Song) and Ikh un Du (Lyrics by Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel, Music by Basya Schechter)
• Intro instrumental music: DEM HELFANDS TANTS, an instrumental track from the CD Jeff Warschauer: The Singing Waltz

Air date: January 17, 2024

Highlights:

• Mikhl Yashinsky discusses his new Yiddish-language plan די בשׂורה לויט חיים (The Gospel According to Chaim / Di Psure Loyt Khaim), which is based on the true-life figure Chaim Einspruch, who translated the New Testament into Yiddish. When Einspruch tried to publish his book during the early 1940's, he was refused by every Yiddish printer, so learned how to do his own printing and published his work himself in 1941. The play is being performed under the auspices of New Yiddish Rep and is set to run through Jan 7, 2024. Tickets and info: https://www.newyiddishrep.org Yashinsky was previously interviewed on the The Yiddish Voice when he performed in Fiddler on the Roof in Yiddish in 2018. That interview is available here: https://podcast.yv.org/episodes/daniel-kahn-michael-yashinsky-yiddish-fiddler-on-the-roof See also Yashinsky's website and Twitter/X
• Sholem Beinfeld, cohost of The Yiddish Voice and Professor of History, Emeritus, of Washington University, St. Louis, gives an analysis of Israel's war with Hamas in the aftermath of the Oct. 7 massacre. (Note: repeated from previous broadcast of The Yiddish Voice, Dec. 21, 2023)
• Highlights from Kann Yiddish, the Israeli national broadcaster's weekly Yiddish radio show, presented by cohosts Avremi Zaks and Mikhoel Felsenbaum. Thanks to Kann Yiddish. Visit Kann Yiddish / כאן יידיש for archived broadcasts. You can also subscribe to their podcast via their RSS feed.
• Music:
  • Moshe Stern: Undzer Eygn Land
  • Moshe Stern: A Gezang Tzu Yisroel
  • Rina Gordon: Far Nakht In Yerusholayim (words: Zalman Shazar)
  • Moshe Stern: Ver Bistu Mentsh
  • Uri Zifroni: A Briv Fun Tel Aviv
  • Intro instrumental music: DEM HELFANDS TANTS, an instrumental track from the CD Jeff Warschauer: The Singing Waltz

Air Date: December 28, 2023

Highlights:

• Sholem Beinfeld, cohost of The Yiddish Voice and Professor of History, Emeritus, of Washington University, St. Louis, gives an analysis of Israel's war with Hamas in the aftermath of the Oct. 7 massacre.
• Hershl Hartman passed away last week, Monday, December 11, 2023, a few days after his 94th birthday. In his memory we are reairing our interview with him, discussing his work as a Yiddish journalist, an educator in secular Yiddish-oriented schools, and a translator from Yiddish to English. Hershl Hartman was born in Brooklyn, New York, in 1929. The interview was originally aired July 28, 2021. For the original broadcast/podcast, including more extensive notes, visit: https://podcast.yv.org/episodes/hershl-hartman
• Music:
  • Moshe Stern: Undzer Eygn Land
  • Moshe Stern: A Gezang Tzu Yisroel
  • Rina Gordon: Far Nakht In Yerusholayim (words: Zalman Shazar)
  • Moshe Stern: Ver Bistu Mentsh
  • Uri Zifroni: A Briv Fun Tel Aviv
  • Intro instrumental music: DEM HELFANDS TANTS, an instrumental track from the CD Jeff Warschauer: The Singing Waltz

Air Date: December 21, 2023

• Interview with Berele Messinger, an Israeli member of ZAKA who was on the scene in Kibbutz Be'eri the day after the October 7 massacre. We reached him by WhatsApp on Nov. 29, 2023.

• Music:

  • Moshe Stern: A Gezang Tzu Yisroel
  • Rina Gordon: Far Nakht In Yerusholayim (words: Zalman Shazar)
  • Moshe Stern: Undzer Eygn Land
  • Moshe Stern: Ver Bistu Mentsh
  • Moyshe Oisher: Broches far Khanike
  • Pripetshik Singers: S'iz Khanike Haynt
  • Essential Voices USA: Borukh Ate Zingt der Tate
  • Pripetshik Singers: Kinder, Haynt Iz Khanike
  • Seymour Silbermintz & The Boys: Haneiros Hallolu - Chanuko
  • Martha Schlamme: Khanike Oy Khanike
  • New England Conservatory Chorus: Al Hanisim
  • Intro instrumental music: DEM HELFANDS TANTS, an instrumental track from the CD Jeff Warschauer: The Singing Waltz

Air Date: November 29, 2023

Highlights of this week's show:

• Interview with freygl gertsovski, who founded Queer Yiddish Camp, on the upcoming cabaret fundraiser to benefit Queer Yiddish Camp taking place Sun., Dec. 3, 2023, 2 PM Eastern, on Zoom. Info and tickets online here: https://www.tickettailor.com/events/radyiddish/1025964 We spoke via Whatsapp on Nov. 6, 2023.

• Interviews with four Holocaust survivors about Israel and antisemitism in the wake of the Oct. 7 terror attack and the current war in Israel.

  • Gitu Cycowitz, Jerusalem
  • Naftali Deutsch, Los Angeles
  • Irene Zisblatt, Boca Raton, FL
  • Judy Altmann, Stamford, CT

All happened to be born in Subcarpathian Ruthenia in Czechoslovakia before WWII. We spoke with them all by phone on Nov. 8, 2023.

The interviews are interspersed with Yiddish song recordings from and mostly about Israel from various performers. (See credits below.)

Music/recordings:

• Dovid Esheth: Yerusholayim Shtot fun Gold
• Dovid Esheth: Tsu Sholem Mir Shtreben
• Richard Inger: Israel
• Leo Fuld: Vi Ahin Zol Ikh Geyn
• Yakov Sandler: Tel Aviv
• Dovid Esheth: Shrayb a Brivl Mayn Kind
• Dovid Esheth: Adurkh in Oysgus fun Tiran
• Richard Inger: S'vet Zayn Gut
• Dovid Esheth: Der Krigs-Shofer
• Dovid Esheth: Halt Mir dem Finger Mazldik
• Intro instrumental music: DEM HELFANDS TANTS, an instrumental track from the CD Jeff Warschauer: The Singing Waltz

Air date: November 8, 2023

‫מיר טרויערן נאָך די מער ווי 1,400 מענטשן שוידערלעך אומגעבראַכט פֿון דער טעראָר-גרופּע כאַמאַס אין ישׂראל דעם 7טן אַקטאָבער 2023. מיר זאָרגן זיך זייער וועגן די פֿאַרוווּנדעטע, זאָלן זיי אַלע האָבן אַ רפֿואה־שלמה, ווי אויך וועגן די פֿאַרכאַפּטע, זאָלן זיי אַלע צוריקקומען אַהיים בשלום.‬‬

‫ ‫הערט אינטערוויוען מיט ישׂראלים וועגן דער טעראַר-אַטאַקע און דער איצטיקער מלחמה אין ישׂראל:‬

• אלי שאַרפֿשטיין Eli Sharfstein (Spoke by WhatsApp Thursday, Oct. 26, 2023)
• בעלאַ בריקס-קלײַן Bella Bryks-Klein (Spoke by phone Monday, Oct. 30, 2023)
• וויקי שיפֿריס Viki Shifris (Spoke on Zoom Tuesday, Oct. 31, 2023)
• מרים טרין Miriam Trinh (Spoke on Zoom Monday, Oct. 30, 2023) ‫

We mourn the more than 1,400 people horribly murdered by the terror group Hamas in Israel on October 7, 2023. We are deeply concerned for the wounded -- may they all be restored to health, and the captives -- may they all get home safely.

Hear interviews with Israelis about the terror attack and the current war in Israel.

Music:

• Intro instrumental music: DEM HELFANDS TANTS, an instrumental track from the CD Jeff Warschauer: The Singing Waltz

Air date: November 1, 2023

‫מיר טרויערן נאָך די מער ווי 1,400 מענטשן שוידערלעך אומגעבראַכט פֿון דער טעראָר-גרופּע כאַמאַס אין ישׂראל דעם 7טן אַקטאָבער 2023. מיר זאָרגן זיך זייער וועגן די פֿאַרוווּנדעטע, זאָלן זיי אַלע האָבן אַ רפֿואה־שלמה, ווי אויך וועגן די פֿאַרכאַפּטע, זאָלן זיי אַלע צוריקקומען אַהיים בשלום.‬‬

‫ ‫הערט אַן אינטערוויו מיט דניאל גלאי וועגן דער טעראַר-אַטאַקע און דער איצטיקער מלחמה אין ישׂראל. גלאי איז אַ קאָמפּאָזיטאָר, דראַמאַטורג,כּלל-טוער פֿאַר ייִדיש, ייִדיש-פּעדאַגאָג און -שרײַבער, און פֿאָרזיצער פֿון לייוויק-הויז אין תּל-אָבֿיבֿ. ווײַטערדיקע אינֿאָ אָנלײַן:‬ https://www.leyvik.com Leyvik House on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/leyvikmail/ FORUM 21 On behalf of the Ashkenazi Heritage and Identity - English

‫רעקאָרדירט דורך טעלעפֿאָן און וואָטסאַפּ דעם 25סטן אָקט׳ 2023.‬

We mourn the more than 1,400 people horribly murdered by the terror group Hamas in Israel on October 7, 2023. We are deeply concerned for the wounded -- may they all be restored to health, and the captives -- may they all get home safely.

Hear an interview with Daniel Galay about the terror attack and the current war in Israel. Galay is a composer, playwright, Yiddish activist, educator, and writer, and Chairman of Leyvik House Yiddish Cultural Center in Tel Aviv. Additional info online: https://www.leyvik.com Leyvik House on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/leyvikmail/ FORUM 21 On behalf of the Ashkenazi Heritage and Identity - English

Recorded via phone and Whatsapp on Oct. 25, 2023.

The interview is interspersed with Yiddish recordings from and mostly about Israel from various performers. (See credits below.)

Music/recordings:

• Dovid Esheth: Yerusholayim Shtot fun Gold
• Dovid Esheth: Tsu Sholem Mir Shtreben
• Richard Inger: Israel
• Leo Fuld: Vi Ahin Zol Ikh Geyn
• Yakov Sandler: Tel Aviv
• Dovid Esheth: Shrayb a Brivl Mayn Kind
• Dovid Esheth: Adurkh in Oysgus fun Tiran
• Richard Inger: S'vet Zayn Gut
• Chana Rovina: Kh'hob Zikh Yorn Gevalgerts in der Fremd (reading of poem by Itzik Manger)
• Dovid Esheth: Yerusholayim Shtot fun Ayzn
• Dovid Esheth: Der Krigs-Shofer
• Dovid Esheth: Halt Mir dem Finger Mazldik
• Intro instrumental music: DEM HELFANDS TANTS, an instrumental track from the CD Jeff Warschauer: The Singing Waltz

Air date: October 25, 2023

‫מיר טרויערן נאָך די מער ווי 1,200 מענטשן שוידערלעך אומגעבראַכט פֿון דער טעראָר-גרופּע כאַמאַס אין ישׂראל דעם 7טן אַקטאָבער 2023. מיר זאָרגן זיך זייער וועגן די פֿאַרוווּנדעטע, זאָלן זיי אַלע האָבן אַ רפֿואה־שלמה, ווי אויך וועגן די פֿאַרכאַפּטע, זאָלן זיי אַלע צוריקקומען אַהיים בשלום.‬

‫ הערט אַ קאַמענטאַר פֿונעם היסטאָריקער פּראָפֿ׳ שלום ביינפֿעלד, אַ באַריכט פֿון ישׂראל פֿונעם ייִדיש-ראַדיאָ פּרעזענטירער אבֿרהמי זאַקס און אַ דיסקוסיע וועגן דער טעראַר-אַטאַקע און דער איצטיקער מלחמה אין ישׂראל.‬

We mourn the more than 1,200 people horribly murdered by the terror group Hamas in Israel on October 7, 2023. We are deeply concerned for the wounded -- may they all be restored to health, and the captives -- may they all get home safely.

Hear commentary by historian Sholem Beinfeld, a report from Israel by Yiddish radio presenter Avremi Zaks, and a discussion about the terror attack and the current war in Israel.

Music:

• Sholom Katz: Shalom Shalom Yisroel
• Intro instrumental music: DEM HELFANDS TANTS, an instrumental track from the CD Jeff Warschauer: The Singing Waltz

Air date: October 11, 2023

• This week, greetings for חול המועד סוכּות (Chol Hamoed Succos) from friends, participants, and sponsors of The Yiddish Voice / דאָס ייִדישע קול, combined with Succos Vort and two interviews, and then a great deal of music appropriate for Yom Tov days of Succos/Shemini Atseres/Simchas Torah!

אַ גוט, געבענטשט יאָר אַלע אונדזערע צוהערער

אַ גוט קוויטל און אַ גמר חתימה טובֿה

Highlights:

1. Greetings from Judy Altmann, Holocaust survivor originally from Jasina, Czechoslovakia.
2. Greetings from Leyzer Maimon, Holocaust survivor originally from Bilgoray, Poland, and leader of Young Israel of Mill Basin (Brooklyn, NY).
3. Featured Vort for Chol Hamoed Succos by Rabbi Yitzchok-Boruch Teitelbaum, Kiryas Joel, NY, also known as the Pshisker Rebbe.
4. Dovid Lenga, Holocaust survivor originally from Lodz, Poland.
5. Greetings on behalf of the American Association of Jewish Holocaust Survivors and Descendants of Greater Boston, featuring members Tania Lefman (Treasurer), Mary Ehrlich, Joyce Levin, Rosalie Reszelbach, and Janet Stein (President).
6. Greetings from Eli Dovek ז״ל, late proprietor of our sponsor Israel Bookshop, Brookline, MA (from 2009).
7. Featured interview with Kolya Borodulin, discussing the latest Arbeter-Ring Yiddish classes, starting soon. Info here: circle.org/yiddish.
8. Featured interview with Hy Wolfe, discussing latest happenings at Yiddish organizations he's involved with, namely, Hebrew Actors Foundation, Sholem Aleichem Cultural Center (Bronx), and CYCO Yiddish Books, not to mention his own career as a singer and actor in both Yiddish and English.

Music:

• Intro instrumental music: DEM HELFANDS TANTS, an instrumental track from the CD Jeff Warschauer: The Singing Waltz
• Numerous songs for Yom Tov days of Succos/Shemini Atseres/Simchas Torah

Air date: October 4, 2023

This week, greetings for גמר חתימה טובֿה (Gmar Chassima Toyve, a good final sealing) from friends, participants, and sponsors of The Yiddish Voice / דאָס ייִדישע קול, combined with an excellent "Best of Succos" program from our archive (2019) with various presenters and lots of Succos music.

אַ גוט, געבענטשט יאָר אַלע אונדזערע צוהערער

אַ גוט קוויטל און אַ גמר חתימה טובֿה

Highlights:

1. Greetings from Judy Altmann, Holocaust survivor originally from Jasina, Czechoslovakia.
2. Greetings from Leyzer Maimon, Holocaust survivor originally from Bilgoray, Poland, and leader of Young Israel of Mill Basin (Brooklyn, NY).
3. Greetings from Rabbi Yitzchok-Boruch Teitelbaum, Kiryas Joel, NY, also known as the Pshisker Rebbe.
4. Dovid Lenga, Holocaust survivor originally from Lodz, Poland.
5. Greetings on behalf of the American Association of Jewish Holocaust Survivors and Descendants of Greater Boston, featuring members Tania Lefman (Treasurer), Mary Ehrlich, Joyce Levin, Rosalie Reszelbach, and Janet Stein (President).
6. Greetings from Eli Dovek ז״ל, late proprietor of our sponsor Israel Bookshop, Brookline, MA (from 2009).
7. Best of Succos (2019) - highlights our archive of past Succos programs with various guests, including Miriam Libenson, Myer Loketch, and Izchak Kin, and music.

Music:

• Intro instrumental music: DEM HELFANDS TANTS, an instrumental track from the CD Jeff Warschauer: The Singing Waltz

Air date: September 27, 2023

This week, greetings for Rosh Hashona from friends, participants, and sponsors of The Yiddish Voice / דאָס ייִדישע קול, combined with an excellent interview from our archive with Rabbi Moshe Kesselman (2022).

אַ גוט, געבענטשט יאָר אַלע אונדזערע צוהערער

אַ גוט קוויטל און אַ לײַכטן תּענית - גמר חתימה טובֿה

Highlights:

1. Greetings from Judy Altmann, Holocaust survivor originally from Jasina, Czechoslovakia.
2. Greetings from Leyzer Maimon, Holocaust survivor originally from Bilgoray, Poland, and leader of Young Israel of Mill Basin (Brooklyn, NY).
3. Greetings from Rabbi Yitzchok-Boruch Teitelbaum, Kiryas Joel, NY, also known as the Pshisker Rebbe.
4. Dovid Lenga, Holocaust survivor originally from Lodz, Poland.
5. Greetings on behalf of the American Association of Jewish Holocaust Survivors and Descendants of Greater Boston, featuring members Tania Lefman (Treasurer), Mary Ehrlich, Joyce Levin, Rosalie Reszelbach, and Janet Stein (President).
6. Greetings on behalf of the League for Yiddish / די ייִדיש-ליגע by Gitl Schaechter-Viswanath, Board Chair.
7. Greetings from Eli Dovek ז״ל, late proprietor of our sponsor Israel Bookshop, Brookline, MA (from 2009).
8. Greetings from Leah Shporer-Leavitt, co-host.
9. Greeting from Sholem Beinfeld, co-host.
10. Interview with Rabbi Moshe Kesselman, spiritual leader of Congregation Shaarei Tefila of Los Angeles. From our archive: originally aired September 21, 2022.

Music:

• Music for High Holidays, including Cantor Simcha Koussevitzky: Zochreinu L'Chayim, and many more.
• Intro instrumental music: DEM HELFANDS TANTS, an instrumental track from the CD Jeff Warschauer: The Singing Waltz

Air date: September 20, 2023

This week, greetings for Rosh Hashona from friends, participants, and sponsors of The Yiddish Voice / דאָס ייִדישע קול, combined with an exciting new interviews with Rabbi Avrohom Marmorstein as well as an encore presentation on the High Holidays by Miriam Libenson ז״ל from the archive of our predecessor show די ייִדישע שעה from 1992.

אַ גוט, געבענטשט יאָר אַלע אונדזערע צוהערער לשנה טובֿה

Highlights:

1. Greetings on behalf of the American Association of Jewish Holocaust Survivors and Descendants of Greater Boston, featuring members Tania Lefman (Treasurer), Mary Ehrlich, Joyce Levin, Rosalie Reszelbach, and Janet Stein (President).
2. Interview with Rabbi Avrohom Marmorstein, director of Mehadrin Kashrus and spiritual leader of Kehal Minchas Chinuch, both in Manhattan.
3. Greetings on behalf of the League for Yiddish / די ייִדיש-ליגע by Gitl Schaechter-Viswanath, Board Chair.
4. Greetings from Eli Dovek ז״ל, late proprietor of our sponsor Israel Bookshop, Brookline, MA.
5. Greetings from Leah Shporer-Leavitt, co-host.
6. Greeting from Sholem Beinfeld, co-host.
7. Miriam Libenson ז״ל: Rosh Hashona/Yom Kippur - from the archive of our predecessor show די ייִדישע שעה. Originally recorded and aired on WBRS 100.1 FM (Waltham, MA) in 1992.

Music:

• Cantor Simcha Koussevitzky: Zochreinu L'Chayim
• Goldie Malavsky: Zochreinu L'Chayim
• Leibele Waldman: Der Nayer Yor
• D. Meyrowitz: L'Shonoh Toivo
• Leibele Waldman: Shofar Shal Moshiach
• Samuel Malavsky's Family Choir: L'el Orech Din
• Moishe Oysher: Hayom Haras Olom (Rosh Hashana After Shofar Blown)
• Josef Rosenblatt: Melech Rachamon (Rosh Hashana Musaf)
• Mordechai Hershman: Al Chet
• Intro instrumental music: DEM HELFANDS TANTS, an instrumental track from the CD Jeff Warschauer: The Singing Waltz

Air date: September 13, 2023

This week, greetings for Rosh Hashona from friends, participants, and sponsors of The Yiddish Voice / דאָס ייִדישע קול, combined with exciting new interviews with Rabbi Mordechai-Tzvi Solomon and Eli Grodko!

אַ גוט, געבענטשט יאָר אַלע אונדזערע צוהערער לשנה טובֿה

Highlights:

1. Greetings on behalf of the American Association of Jewish Holocaust Survivors and Descendants of Greater Boston, featuring members Tania Lefman (Treasurer), Mary Ehrlich, Joyce Levin, Rosalie Reszelbach, and Janet Stein (President).
2. Interview with Eli Grodko, son-in-law of host/producer Mark David, talks about his path to Yiddish, intertwined with his former search for a wife, and shares advice for single people searching for a life partner.
3. Greetings from Eli Dovek ז״ל, late proprietor of our sponsor Israel Bookshop, Brookline, MA.
4. Greetings from Leah Shporer-Leavitt, co-host.
5. Greeting from Sholem Beinfeld, co-host.
6. Greetings on behalf of the League for Yiddish / די ייִדיש-ליגע by Gitl Schaechter-Viswanath, Board Chair.
7. Interview with Rabbi Mordechai-Tzvi Solomon, world-renouned mohel, on the institution of Bris Millah. Info: http://brityy.org

Music:

• Sholom Katz: Zochreinu L'Chayim
• Jennie Goldstein: Avinu Malkeynu
• Mordechai Hershman: Al Chet
• Intro instrumental music: DEM HELFANDS TANTS, an instrumental track from the CD Jeff Warschauer: The Singing Waltz

Air date: September 6, 2023

Interview with Lily (ליליע) Weitzman and Jonah (יונה) Sidman, who recently led a workshop to teach songs created by them and others active in Yiddish language and culture activities around the Boston Workers Circle. The Yiddish Voice was on hand to record four songs sung by participants in the workshop they led, titled נײַע לידער פֿון באָסטאָן (New Songs from Boston), presented at the 2023 Yidish-Vokh, which took place earlier in August in Copake, NY, and was sponsored by the organization Yugntruf-Youth for Yiddish. These songs, as well as selected highlights from the workshop, were presented on this show. The four songs are (1) Levone-Mol by Lily Weitzmann; (2) In Hartsn Zol Undz Akhdes Zayn, Yiddish lyrics by Jonah Sidman, a translation of Let Union Be in All Our Hearts (traditional); (3) A Bletele Vert a Bletl by Adah Hetko; and (4) Eyn Kol, Yiddish lyrics by Linda Gritz, based on One Voice by Ruth Moody of The Wailin' Jennys. Weitzman and Sidman's creative Yiddish activities are an outgrowth of Di Nest, an incubator for Yiddish creative projects. For more information, visit https://circleboston.org/yiddish-community-informal-learning/#dinest.

Music:

• Ben Zimet: Summertime
• Levyosn: Fisher Lid
• Daniel Kahn & The Painted Bird: Arbeter Froyen
• Mandy Patinkin: American Tune
• Leybele Waldman: Der Nayer Yor
• Aaron Lebedeff & Alexander Olshanetsky Orchestra: Vos Ken Yu Makh Es Iz Amerike
• Seymour Rexite: Battle Hymn of the Republic (in Yiddish)
• Intro instrumental music: DEM HELFANDS TANTS, an instrumental track from the CD Jeff Warschauer: The Singing Waltz

Air date: August 30, 2023

This week, interviews with Nick Underwood and Dovid Braun!

• Interview with Nick Underwood on Yiddish Paris and Nick's book Yiddish Paris: Staging Nation and Community in Interwar France (Indiana University Press, 2022), which describes the rich Yiddish-speaking culture of emigrants from Eastern Europe in Paris during the interwar years. The interviewer is Sholem Beinfeld, cohost of The Yiddish Voice, co-chief editor of Comprehensive Yiddish-English Dictionary, and Professor of History, Emeritus, Washington University, St. Louis.

• Interview with Dovid Braun, Academic Advisor in Yiddish Language, Pedagogy, and Linguistics at the Max Weinreich Center at Yivo and academic director of YIVO’s summer program, who gives an update on recent and upcoming opportunities for Yiddish studies at YIVO. See YIVO.org's website for classes starting in early September, 2023.

• Music:

  • Songs loosely related to the theme Yiddish Paris:
    • Vira Lozinsky: In Pariz (À Paris) (Yiddish lyrics by Mikhoel Felsenbaum, translated from Francis Lemarque's original lyrics in French)
    • Dave Cash: Paris New York
    • Ana Vinocur: Dos Libn fun Pariz
    • Dave Cash: Dave Cash fun Pariz
    • Ludmila Shapira: Der Parizer Tango
    • Dave Cash: S'faln di Bleter (Autumn Leaves) (Les Feuilles Mortes)
  • Intro instrumental music: DEM HELFANDS TANTS, an instrumental track from the CD Jeff Warschauer: The Singing Waltz

Air Date: August 23, 2023

This week, interviews with Yelena Shmulenson and Boris Sandler in memory of the August 12, 1952 tragedy known as Night of the Murdered Poets, when thirteen Soviet Jews, all leading intellectuals, five of whom were top Yiddish writers, were executed in the Lubianka Prison in Moscow on false charges of spying and treason. The charges were reexamined and admitted to have "no substance" by the Soviet authorities less than four years later. For more information on August 12 1952 and the history and tradition of its memorialization, see Rokhl Kafrissen's excellent 2019 article in Tablet Night of the Murdered Poets.

• Yelena Shmulenson discusses her theater piece "Night of the Murdered Poets", being presented in New York City on Thursday, August 10, 2023, sponsored by https://congressforjewishculture.org/, and how it relates to the tragedy of August 12, 1952, a/k/a the Night of the Murdered Poets

• Boris Sandler discusses his personal connection to the tragic events of August 12, 1952, as well as his main project, the monthly Yiddish journal Yiddish Branzhe. Links two of Sandler's books discussed in the interview:

• דער ענין נומער 5390: (פון די ק.ג.ב. ארכיוון)

• With a Mission to Moscow (Yiddish Edition)

• Music:

  • songs with lyrics by some of those executed August 12, 1952, performed by Emil Gorovets, accompanied by Zalmen Mlotek, from the album Ikh Bin a Yid
  • Intro instrumental music: DEM HELFANDS TANTS, an instrumental track from the CD Jeff Warschauer: The Singing Waltz

Air Date: August 9, 2023

• from our archive: Nathan Kasdan (נחום קאָזשדאַן), who died one year ago (JULY 14, 2022), gave us an extraordinary interview in 2013, which we've previously aired in 2013 and 2014 as well as in 2015. We recently learned that Nathan passed away, about a year ago. Considering Nathan's yahrtzeit, as well as the fact that it's erev Tisha B'Ov, we're re-airing our interview with Nathan again.

• from our archive: Miriam Libenson, our late-great resident poet and Yiddish presenter extraordinaire, discusses Tisha B'Ov, which occurs next week, as we're now in the 9 days from the beginning of the month of Ov.

• Music:

  • Sholem Katz: Keil Molleh Rachamim
  • Intro instrumental music: DEM HELFANDS TANTS, an instrumental track from the CD Jeff Warschauer: The Singing Waltz

Air Date: July 19, 2023

This week, Gitl Schaechter-Viswanath and Rabbi Izchak Kin.

Gitl Schaechter-Viswanath is chairperson of the League for Yiddish. She discusses the League for Yiddish's Words of the Week, specifically the recent week devoted to the armed uprising in Russia. We reached her by Zoom on June 9, 2023.

Rabbi Izchak Kin talks about various memories of his personal life, starting with memories of Pesach in his childhood. Rav Kin is a Modzitzer chossid who now lives in Los Angeles but grew up in Israel. This previously unaired recording was made when we recorded Rav Kin's presentation for Pesach 2023.

• Music:
  • Ben-Zion Shenker: a series of songs of the Modzitzer chassidim
  • Intro instrumental music: DEM HELFANDS TANTS, an instrumental track from the CD Jeff Warschauer: The Singing Waltz

Air Date: June 12, 2023

This week, Sholem Beinfeld discusses the recent uprising in Russia, and Avremi Zak and Meyer Hirshman discuss Israeli society and politics. Sholem Beinfeld was recorded on the day of broadcast (July 5, 2023). The first interview with Avremi Zak was by The Yiddish Voice on April 26, 2023. The second interview of Meyer Hirshman by Avremi Zak was by Kan Yiddish and originally aired on Israeli radio on June 30, 2023 -- thanks to Kan Yiddish, Avremi Zak, and Meyer Hirshman for this interview.

• Music:
  • Michael Gaysinsky (Михаил Гайсинский): A Zemerl fun Haynt
  • Michael Gaysinsky (Михаил Гайсинский): Figaro (by Rossini, adapted for Yiddish)
  • Michael Gaysinsky (Михаил Гайсинский): Kinder Zaynen Mir Geven
  • Jacqui Sussholz: Belts
  • Jacqui Sussholz: Vu Nemt Men a Bisele Mazl
  • Jacqui Sussholz: Yankele
  • Jacqui Sussholz: Vos Geven Iz Geven
  • Intro instrumental music: DEM HELFANDS TANTS, an instrumental track from the CD Jeff Warschauer: The Singing Waltz

Air Date: June 5, 2023

The Yiddish Voice was in Israel earlier in June 2023 and had the opportunity to interview Avrom Novershtern, who is professor emeritus from the Yiddish Program at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and currently serves as the director of Beit Sholem Aleichem in Tel Aviv, a cultural center devoted to Yiddish and the Eastern European Jewish Heritage

Topics discussed:

1. About Beys Sholem Aleykhem - history, accomplishments, current activities (בית שלום עליכם) (Find on Facebook; Find on the Web).
2. Yiddish writer Chaim Grade - an introduction.
3. Women Writers Controversy - in 2021, Novershtern gave two lectures for YIVO, which resulted in some controversy with two online discussions in response. See links below.
4. Novershtern's early home life in Argentina, and what brought him to Israel.

Novershtern - Women Writers Controversy - Timeline and Links:

• Monday Jul 12, 2021: YIVO Yiddish Civilization Lecture:
  • Yiddish Women Writers (Part 1) with Avraham Novershtern (In Yiddish)
    • https://youtu.be/3wl81swZO2A
• Monday July 19, 2021: Vaybertaytsh podcast episode:
  • Episode 54: Re: "Yiddish Women Writers" | ייִדישע שרײַבערינס / July 19, 2021
    • http://www.vaybertaytsh.com/episodes/2021/7/18/episode-54-re-yiddish-women-writers-hjhes
• Monday Jul 19, 2021: YIVO Yiddish Civilization Lecture:
  • Yiddish Women Writers (Part 2) with Avraham Novershtern (In Yiddish)
    • https://youtu.be/66iydt6dzg0
• Thursday Jul 22, 2021: YIVO Yiddish Civilization Lecture:
  • Women Writers in Yiddish Literature with Anita Norich and Karolina Szymaniak (In Yiddish)
    • https://youtu.be/p2p_gt0EBIQ

Music and Comedy Recordings, mostly in honor of July 4th, America's Independence Day:

• Intro instrumental music: DEM HELFANDS TANTS, an instrumental track from the CD Jeff Warschauer: The Singing Waltz
• Mandy Patinkin: American Tune (Words&Music by Paul Simon)
• Seymour Rexite: Battle Hymn of the Republic in Yiddish
• Cantor Ari Brown: America Medley
• Yiddish Philharmonic Chorus: Amerike di Prekhtike
• Michel Rosenberg: Getzel at a Baseball Game
• Clara Gold: Telebende Furt Kein Amerika
• Moishe Oysher & Florence Weiss: Chasidic in America

Air Date: June 28, 2023

Highlights:

• interview with Kolya Borodulin, Director of Yiddish Programming at Arbeter Ring (circle.org), talking about the Summer 2023 Yiddish course offerings currently starting or about to start online now.

• interview, part 2, with Mary Ehrlich, a Boston-area Holocaust survivor originally from Gedrevitsh (Giedraiciai in Lithuanian), a shtetl near Vilna (and closer to the Vilkomir). In Mary Ehrlich's first interview she talked about her childhood years up through the arrival of the Germans in 1941. In this, her second, interview Mary spoke of her later life, starting with the German takeover of Lithuania, including the lifesaving role played by a Lithuanian mother and her children, who hid Mary and her parents for most of the war, saving their lives. About ten years ago, Mary reunited with two of these children whose mother had saved her life, which was widely covered in the press. Here's a NY Post article: https://nypost.com/2011/11/24/holocaust-survivor-reunites-with-lost-friends-at-jfk/ Here's a Jerusalem Post article: https://www.jpost.com/jewish-world/jewish-features/holocaust-survivor-to-be-reunited-with-her-saviors For this interview we reached Mary by phone at her home in the Boston area on June 20, 2023.

• Intro instrumental music: DEM HELFANDS TANTS, an instrumental track from the CD Jeff Warschauer: The Singing Waltz

• Outro instrumental music: Itzhak Perlman, Dov Seltzer, Israel Philharmonic Orchestra: Afn Veg Shteyt A Boym

Air Date: June 21, 2023

Encore from our archive, from 2019, but enhanced for 2023 with Fathers Day music at the end.

See original show notes here:

https://podcast.yv.org/episodes/nechama-netali-gonen

Air date: June 14, 2023

• interview with Daniel Galay (דניאל גלאי), an Israeli composor, musician, translator, writer, educator, and Yiddish community leader and activist. He is chairman of Leyvik House, which publishes and sells books, in Yiddish and other languages, and serves as a Yiddish cultural center in Tel Aviv, housing Israel's Yiddish Writers Union. Born in Argentina in 1945 and raised in a Yiddish speaking home, Galay moved to Israel in 1965. In this interview, he talks about many of his life experiences and achievements as well as current interests and projects, including his recent Yiddish Intonation Youtube series, teaching Yiddish intonation for English-speaking Yiddish students, and about the "Ashkenazi Identity movement" he promotes in Israel and online. He also discusses Yiddish in Israel and offers comments on the recent book Yiddish in Israel, whose author, Rachel Rojanski, discussed the book on The Yiddish Voice/דאָס ייִדישע קול in 2021. This interview took place in Tel Aviv on June 4, 2023

• Music:

  • Michael Gaysinsky (Михаил Гайсинский): Es keytlt zikh di tsayt (lyrics by Boris Sandler, music by Alex Meif and Michael Gaysinsky)
  • Intro instrumental music: DEM HELFANDS TANTS, an instrumental track from the CD Jeff Warschauer: The Singing Waltz

Air Date: June 7, 2023

Encore from our archive, from 2019, but enhanced for 2023 with an announcement from our sponsor Boston Workers Circle: Boston Workers Circle presents FREEDOM IS A VERB: 25TH ANNIVERSARY CONCERT: A Besere Velt Chorus with special guest Daniel Kahn. June 10, 2023, 7:30 PM ET - virtual and in person. Details at: circleboston.org/arts/

See original show notes here:

https://podcast.yv.org/episodes/esia-friedman-part-2

Air date: May 31, 2023

Encore from our archive, from 2017, but enhanced for 2023 with an announcement from our sponsor Boston Workers Circle: Boston Workers Circle presents FREEDOM IS A VERB: 25TH ANNIVERSARY CONCERT: A Besere Velt Chorus with special guest Daniel Kahn. June 10, 2023, 7:30 PM ET - virtual and in person. Details at: circleboston.org/arts/

See original show notes here:

https://podcast.yv.org/episodes/itzchak-kin-shvues-yom-yerusholayim-shulman-and-cycowicz-trump-in-israel

Air date: May 24, 2023

• Interview with Elena Luchina (עלענאַ לוטשינאַ), who is the Yiddish instructor at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, MI, discussing her interesting background and current career at one of the leading Yiddish-language and Jewish-studies programs in the United States. Originally from Moscow, Yelena received her PhD in linguistics from the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. She has taught Yiddish at U. Mich. since 2019. For more info, see Elena's U. Mich. faculty page or follow Elena's Instagram, @SimpleYiddish. The interview took place over Zoom on May 9, 2023, and was led by Sholem Beinfeld, regular contributor to The Yiddish Voice, co-Editor in Chief of the Comprehensive Yiddish-English Dictionary, and Professor of History, Emeritus, Washington University in St. Louis.

• From our archive: Miriam Libenson ז״ל discusses the upcoming holiday Shvues. Recorded and originally aired on The Yiddish Voice in the 1990's.

• Music:

  • Chava Alberstein: Afn Pripetshik
  • Intro instrumental music: DEM HELFANDS TANTS, an instrumental track from the CD Jeff Warschauer: The Singing Waltz

Air date: May 17, 2023

We observe יום העצמאותּ Yom Haatsmaut with Avremi Zaks, whom we reached in Jerusalem, Israel, today:

• Avremi Zaks is the host of Kan Yiddish, which is sponsored by the National Authority for Yiddish Culture in Israel, and which is broadcast in Israel on public radio at frequencies 104.9 FM and 105.3 FM every Friday at 4 p.m. and on 101.5 FM at midnight from Saturday to Sunday. Audio archives of the Kan Yiddish radio show can be accessed online here: https://www.kan.org.il/radio/program.aspx/?progid=1136 See also their Facebook group: Yiddish Radio ייִדיש ראַדיאָ.
• Music:
  • Barry Sisters: Exodus
  • Dovid Eshet: Yerusholayim Shtot fun Gold (lyrics and music by Naomi Shemer)
  • Shloimele Rothstein: In Erets Yisroel (music and lyrics by J. Rumshinsky)

Air date: April 26 2023

• Ben Lesser, a Holocaust survivor born in Cracow in 1928, describes his many ordeals and nearly miraculous survival of the Holocaust as a boy, from the beginning of the war in 1939 to liberation in 1945. Ben founded and runs, with his family, the The ZACHOR Holocaust Remembrance Foundation, dedicated to preserving the memory and spreading awareness of the Holocaust. He published his memoir Living a Life That Matters: from Nazi Nightmare to American Dream in 2012, and it's available for purchase in various formats at his foundation's website. Now in his mid-90's, Ben is still very active as a Holocaust educator, telling his story for groups around the world, mostly on Zoom in recent years.
• Music:
  • Intro instrumental music: DEM HELFANDS TANTS, an instrumental track from the CD Jeff Warschauer: The Singing Waltz
  • Norbert Horowitz: Shtil di Nakht
  • Khane Cooper: Shtiler, Shtiler
  • Norbert Horowitz: Farvos Iz Der Himl Geven Nekhtn Loyter
  • Chava Alberstein: Zog Nit Keynmol, words by Hirsh Glick, music by Dimitri Pokrass
  • Matele Friedman ז״ל:Es Brent (Words and music by Mordkhe Gebirtig; recorded byThe Yiddish Voice on Jan 1, 2020)
  • Abraham Brun: Vos Darfn Mir Veynen
  • Dudu Fisher: Vu Ahin Zol Ikh Geyn

Air Date: April 19, 2023

• Happy Passover! ‫אַ זיסן און כּשרן פּסח!‬
• Happy Passover and thanks to friends, participants, and sponsors of this show:
  • Israel Book Shop (Eli Dovek ז״ל recorded Mar 28 2007)
  • American Association of Jewish Holocaust Survivors of Greater Boston (member and Holocaust survivor Mary Erlich), co-sponsor of Boston's 2023 In-Person and Virtual Community Holocaust Commemoration of Yom HaShoah, Sunday, April 16, 2023, at 2:00PM Eastern. Info and registration here: https://www.jcrcboston.org/event/annual-yom-hashoah-commemoration/
  • League for Yiddish, New York, NY, (Gitl Schaechter-Viswanath, Chair of the Board)
  • Leah Shporer-Leavitt, Newton, MA, co-host of The Yiddish Voice / דאָס ייִדישע קול
  • Sholem Beinfeld, Cambridge, MA, co-host of The Yiddish Voice / דאָס ייִדישע קול
  • Dovid Braun, Leonia, NJ, co-host of The Yiddish Voice / דאָס ייִדישע קול
  • Yankele Bodo, Tel Aviv, Israel, actor and singer (from 2016)
  • Leser Maimon, Brooklyn, NY, Holocaust survivor and leader of Young Israel of Mill Basin
  • Eli Grodko, New Millford, NJ, friend of the show
  • Boston Workers Circle, Brookline, MA (Yiddish committee member Linda (Libe-Reyzl) Gritz)
  • Hasia Segal ז״ל, late co-host of The Yiddish Voice / דאָס ייִדישע קול (recorded in 2012)
  • Iosif Lakhman ז״ל, late co-host of The Yiddish Voice / דאָס ייִדישע קול (recorded in 2014)

Featured speakers:

• Rabbi Yitzchok-Boruch Teitelbaum, Kiryas Joel, NY, also known as the Pshisker Rebbe, gives a greeting for Pesach and a short and interesting bit of Torah learning. Recorded Chol Hamoed Pesach during the day of Apr 11, 2023.
• Pinchas Gutter, Toronto, Canada, gives his account of surviving the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising and Majdanek. Previously aired on The Yiddish Voice in 2022.

Music:

• Intro instrumental music: DEM HELFANDS TANTS, an instrumental track from the CD Jeff Warschauer: The Singing Waltz
• Cantor Moyshe Koussevitsky: Chad Gadyo
• Cantor Sholom Katz: El Moley Rachamim
• Norbert Horowitz: Shtil di Nakht
• Khane Cooper: Shtiler, Shtiler
• Norbert Horowitz: Farvos Iz Der Himl Geven Nekhtn Loyter
• Chava Alberstein: Zog Nit Keynmol, words by Hirsh Glick, music by Dimitri Pokrass

Podcast release date: April 11, 2023

Air Date: April 12, 2023

• Happy Passover! ‫אַ זיסן און כּשרן פּסח!‬
• Happy Passover and thanks to friends, participants, and sponsors of this show:
  • Israel Book Shop (Eli Dovek ז״ל recorded Mar 28 2007)
  • American Association of Jewish Holocaust Survivors of Greater Boston (member and Holocaust survivor Mary Erlich), co-sponsor of Boston's 2023 In-Person and Virtual Community Holocaust Commemoration of Yom HaShoah, Sunday, April 16, 2023, at 2:00PM Eastern. Info and registration here: https://www.jcrcboston.org/event/annual-yom-hashoah-commemoration/
  • League for Yiddish, New York, NY, (Gitl Schaechter-Viswanath, Chair of the Board)
  • Leah Shporer-Leavitt, Newton, MA, co-host of The Yiddish Voice / דאָס ייִדישע קול
  • Sholem Beinfeld, Cambridge, MA, co-host of The Yiddish Voice / דאָס ייִדישע קול
  • Dovid Braun, Leonia, NJ, co-host of The Yiddish Voice / דאָס ייִדישע קול
  • Yankele Bodo, Tel Aviv, Israel, actor and singer (from 2016)
  • Leser Maimon, Brooklyn, NY, Holocaust survivor and leader of Young Israel of Mill Basin
  • Eli Grodko, New Millford, NJ, friend of the show
  • Boston Workers Circle, Brookline, MA (Yiddish committee member Linda (Libe-Reyzl) Gritz)

Featured speakers:

• Rabbi Izchak Kin, Los Angeles, CA: a Modzitzer chossid, born in Jerusalem, he taught Torah and Talmud in Yiddish in Los Angeles for more than 40 years
• Gitu Cycowicz, Jerusalem: Gitu -- a/k/a Giselle (Gita) Cycowicz (née Friedman) -- who was born in 1927 in the town of Chust in the Carpathian Mountains, then part of Czechoslovakia, now in Ukraine, survived Auschwitz and other camps, later starting a new life in the USA, and eventually getting her PhD in psychology. In her later years, she moved to Israel and then worked for decades for AMCHA (https://amcha.org), helping with the psychological needs of her fellow survivors.

Music:

• Moishe Oysher: Got Iz Eyner (Mu Asapru)
• Lori Cahan-Simon and Meyshke Alpert: Zog Maran
• Sidor Belarsky: Shvimt dos Kestl Afn Nil
• Intro instrumental music: DEM HELFANDS TANTS, an instrumental track from the CD Jeff Warschauer: The Singing Waltz

Podcast release dates: April 3 and 4, 2023

Air Date: April 5, 2023

• Happy Passover! ‫אַ זיסן און כּשרן פּסח!‬
• Happy Passover and thanks to friends, participants, and sponsors of this show:
  • Israel Book Shop (Eli Dovek ז״ל recorded Mar 28 2007)
  • American Association of Jewish Holocaust Survivors of Greater Boston (member and Holocaust survivor Mary Erlich), co-sponsor of Boston's 2023 In-Person and Virtual Community Holocaust Commemoration of Yom HaShoah, Sunday, April 16, 2023, at 2:00PM Eastern. Info and registration here: https://www.jcrcboston.org/event/annual-yom-hashoah-commemoration/
  • League for Yiddish (Gitl Schaechter-Viswanath, Chair of the Board)
  • Leah Shporer-Leavitt, Newton, MA, co-host of The Yiddish Voice / דאָס ייִדישע קול
  • Sholem Beinfeld, Cambridge, MA, co-host of The Yiddish Voice / דאָס ייִדישע קול
  • Dovid Braun, Leonia, NJ, co-host of The Yiddish Voice / דאָס ייִדישע קול
  • Yankele Bodo, Tel Aviv, Israel, actor and singer (from 2016)
  • Leser Maimon, Brooklyn, NY, Holocaust survivor and leader of Young Israel of Mill Basin
  • Eli Grodko, New Millford, NJ
  • Hy Wolfe, New York, NY, Professional actor, singer, and director; Executive Director of CYCO (Central Yiddish Culture Organization); Co-President of Hebrew Actors Foundation
  • Naftali (Tuli) Deutsch, Holocaust survivor originally from Kimyat, a village in the Carpathian Mountains, author of A Holocaust Survivor: In The Footsteps Of His Past
  • Rabbi Myer Loketch ז״ל, then of Brookline, MA, and in the clergy of Young Israel of Brookline, MA, from the Yiddish Voice archive: Pesach, Yiddish, and Bikur Cholim -- visiting the sick (originally recorded and aired in 2007)
• Music:
  • Malavski Family: Ho Lachmo Anyo and Ma Nishtano/Di Fir Kashes
  • Moishe Oysher: Dayenu
  • Moishe Oysher: Kiddush for Pesach
  • Yosef Moshe Kahana: L'Chaim Kindergarten
  • Intro instrumental music: DEM HELFANDS TANTS, an instrumental track from the CD Jeff Warschauer: The Singing Waltz

Air Date: March 29, 2023

• Sholem Beinfeld , Professor Emeritus of the Department of History at Washington University in St. Louis, and a co-host of The Yiddish Voice, talks about the Ukraine war after one year
• This week's featured interview is with Morris (Moyshe) Schwartz, a child of Holocaust survivors, a computer scientist, who speaks a very good Yiddish, talks about his personal and family history and his current life
• Thanks to our Pesach sponsors: Israel Book Shop, the League for Yiddish, the American Association of Jewish Holocaust Survivors of Greater Boston, presenting the 2023 Yom HaShoah observance April 16, 2023, 2pm, at Faneuil Hall
• Music:
  • Various songs for Passover by various performers
  • Intro instrumental music: DEM HELFANDS TANTS, an instrumental track from the CD Jeff Warschauer: The Singing Waltz

Air date: March 22, 2023

• This week's featured interview is with Perla Karney, discussing her journey from childhood in the Jewish displaced persons community around Bavaria, Germany, to finally settling as a young woman in Los Angeles, where she studied at UCLA and had a career as a theater producer before taking on her current role as artistic director of the Dortort Center for Creativity in the Arts at UCLA Hillel. A fluent Yiddish speaker, Karney recently produced and co-starred in a video on the Yiddish Forward (Forverts)'s YouTube channel. Starring the famed Yiddish actor Mike Burstyn, it's titled "A Jewish deli experience with actor Mike Burstyn – in Yiddish!", and features unscripted Yiddish-language dialog as the two enjoy and discuss Jewish dishes together at Factor's Deli in Los Angeles. To find out more about Perla Karney, see her bio at UCLA Hillel: https://www.uclahillel.org/perla_karney_bio
• For Pesach: exclusively from The Yiddish Voice archive:
  • Hasia Segal z"l: sings several Yiddish Pesach songs
  • Myer Loketch z"l: radio talk on Pesach from 2008
• Music:
  • Sidor Belarsky: several songs from the album Seder Nights with Sidor Belarsky
  • Intro instrumental music: DEM HELFANDS TANTS, an instrumental track from the CD Jeff Warschauer: The Singing Waltz

Air date: March 15, 2023

Highlights:

• interview with Mary Ehrlich, a Boston-area Holocaust survivor originally from Gedrevitsh, a shtetl near Vilna. She talks about her childhood years up through the arrival of the Germans in 1941. We reached Mary by phone in late February, 2023. We plan to continue with a second interview with Mary in the next few weeks.
• from our archive: Purim with Miriam Libenson ז״ל, originally recorded and aired in the 1990's.
• Music related to Purim:
  • Binah Landau: Purim Lid
  • Leyke Post: Purim, accompanied by Rubin Ossofsky
  • Beyle Schaechter-Gottesman: A Gutn Purim
  • Kapelye: Gut Purim, Yidn
  • Lillian Lux: Vashtis Kloglid
  • Beyle Schaechter-Gottesman: Purim-Shpilers
  • Gadi Yagil: Di Elegye fun Fastrigose
• Intro instrumental music: DEM HELFANDS TANTS, an instrumental track from the CD Jeff Warschauer: The Singing Waltz

Air Date: March 1, 2023

Tonight's show aired just a couple of days before International Holocaust Remembrance Day. We present our second interview with Naftali (Tuli) Deutsch, an Auschwitz survivor. The interview was recorded at his home in July, 2022. The previous interview is available here: https://podcast.yv.org/episodes/naftali-deutsch-auschwitz-survivor-for-yom-hashoah Naftali Deutsch was born in 1931 in the Carpathian mountain village Kimyat, Czechoslovakia, which is now in Ukraine. He is the author of A Holocaust Survivor: In The Footsteps Of His Past [Amazon link], his auto-biography. See also Naftali "Tuli" Deutsch, his page at Yad Vashem.

• Songs of the Holocaust, Partizans, and Ghettos to close:

  • performer: song

    ---

  • Rochelle Horowitz: Yisrolik
  • Shomon Yisraeli: Zog Nit Keynmol
  • Norbert Horowitz: Shtil di Nakht
  • Norbert Horowitz: Farvos Iz Der Himl Geven Nekhtn Loyter
  • Khane Cooper: Shtiler, Shtiler
  • Wolf Krakowski: Varshe
  • Chava Alberstein: Friling

• Intro instrumental music: DEM HELFANDS TANTS, an instrumental track from the CD Jeff Warschauer: The Singing Waltz

Air Date: January 25, 2023

• Our featured interview this week is with David (Dovid) Lenga, who recently turned 95, is originally from Łódź, Poland (לאָדזש), and now lives in Los Angeles. He survived the Lodz Ghetto as well as Auschwitz. He recently wrote an Op-Ed in the Los Angeles Times on anti-semitism: As a Holocaust survivor, the most important thing I can do is share my story He frequently talks about his history as a survivor of the Holocaust at Holocaust Museum LA and the Museum of Tolerance in Los Angeles. We spent a time talking about these activities, as well as about many aspects of his very long and very interesting life.

• Music:

  • Wolf Krakowski: Yeder Ruft Mikh Ziamele
  • Leyke Post: Yidish Redt Zikh Azoy Sheyn
  • Shifee Lovitt: Yiddish/Vaserl
  • Tsimmes: Oyfn Pripetshik
  • Intro instrumental music: DEM HELFANDS TANTS, an instrumental track from the CD Jeff Warschauer: The Singing Waltz

Air date: January 4, 2023

• Interview with Jeffrey Shandler, discussing his book Yiddish: Biography of a Language (Oxford University Press, 2020), which describes Yiddish from its origins to the present. Shandler is Distinguished Professor of Jewish Studies at Rutgers and holds a PhD from Columbia University. He has had a big influence on Jewish studies, particularly for his concept of Yiddish as a "post-vernacular language", that is, despite the fact that Yiddish is no longer the everyday language of large numbers of Jews, except for certain Chassidic groups, it's widely taught, studied, and translated, and is generally the object of lively interest and affection. For further info on Shandler's book Yiddish: Biography of a Language at Oxford University Press: https://academic.oup.com/book/33481 For Shandler's academic home page at Rutgers: https://jewishstudies.rutgers.edu/people/core-faculty/jeffrey-shandler The interview took place over Zoom on November 4, 2022, and was led by Sholem Beinfeld, regular contributor to The Yiddish Voice, co-Editor in Chief of the Comprehensive Yiddish-English Dictionary, and Professor of History, Emeritus, Washington University in St. Louis.

• Music:

  • Leyke Post: Yidish Redt Zikh Azoy Sheyn
  • Shifee Lovitt: Yiddish/Vaserl
  • Tsimmes: Oyfn Pripetshik
  • Intro instrumental music: DEM HELFANDS TANTS, an instrumental track from the CD Jeff Warschauer: The Singing Waltz

Air date: December 7, 2022

• Our second interview with Gennady Estraikh (first interview aired in March, 2022) discussing the war in Ukraine. Estraikh, who was born in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine, is a professor at NYU who specializes in Jewish intellectual history, Yiddish language and literature, and Soviet Jewish history. He has written numerous books, academic papers, and journal and newspaper articles in English, Russian, Ukrainian, and Yiddish, notably for the Yiddish Forverts. He served as managing editor of the famed Yiddish literary journal Sovetish Heymland from 1988 to 1991. His books include Yiddish Culture in Ukraine (Kyiv: Dukh i Litera, 2016, in Ukrainian) and Transatlantic Russian Jewishness: Ideological Voyages of the Yiddish Daily Forverts in the First Half of the Twentieth Century (Academic Studies Press, 2020). The interview took place over Zoom on Wednesday, November 23, 2022.

• In honor of the Thanksgiving holiday we present Interview with the Turkey, a monologue by Boston's late, great Yiddish radio host Ben Gailing, originally aired on his show Der Freylekher Kabtsen in the 1980's. Thanks to Hankus Netsky, Ben's producer and co-host, for supplying this recording.

• Music:

  • Loyko: Yoshke fun Ades
  • Mandy Patinkin: Take Me out to the Ball Game and God Bless America
  • Intro instrumental music: DEM HELFANDS TANTS, an instrumental track from the CD Jeff Warschauer: The Singing Waltz

Air date: November 23, 2022

• Prof. Cecile (Tsirl) Kuznitz talks about the upcoming "Schaechter Conference", which she is chairing, sponsored by the League for Yiddish, JTS, and Columbia University. Info: League for Yiddish

• Rokhl Zicherman, a survivor of Auschwitz who grew up in Tybava, a small village in the Carpathian Mountains which was in Czechoslovakia before WWII, part of Hungary during the war, and is now in Ukraine, discusses her early life as well as deportation and survival in Auschwitz. She now lives in Los Angeles with her husband, also a Holocaust survivor.

• Music:

  • Intro instrumental music: DEM HELFANDS TANTS, an instrumental track from the CD Jeff Warschauer: The Singing Waltz
  • Outro instrumental music: Itzhak Perlman, Dov Seltzer, Israel Philharmonic Orchestra: Afn Veg Shteyt A Boym

• Jessica Kirzane discusses her recent recent translations from Yiddish into English. She is perhaps best known for her translations of the late Yiddish writer Miriam Karpilove: Diary of a Lonely Girl, or the Battle Against Free Love (Syracuse University Press, 2020) and Judith: A Tale of Love and Woe (Farlag Press, 2022). Kirzane is a professor at the University of Chicago, teaching Yiddish language and literature. And she is the Editor-in-Chief of In geveb: A Journal of Yiddish Studies. For further information see her website: jessicakirzane.com The interview took place over Zoom on October 6, 2022, and was led by Sholem Beinfeld, regular contributor to The Yiddish Voice, co-Editor in Chief of the Comprehensive Yiddish-English Dictionary, and Professor of History, Emeritus, Washington University in St. Louis.
• Music:
  • Intro instrumental music: DEM HELFANDS TANTS, an instrumental track from the CD Jeff Warschauer: The Singing Waltz
  • Outro instrumental music: Itzhak Perlman, Dov Seltzer, Israel Philharmonic Orchestra: Afn Veg Shteyt A Boym

Air Date: October 26, 2022

אַ גוטן מועד Happy Succos! For Chol Hamoed Succos, we present two very special guests:

• Rabbi Yitzchok-Boruch Teitelbaum of Monroe, NY, the Pshischer Rebbe, a descendant of several Polish Chassidic masters including the Yid Hakodesh of Peshischa, gives a shiur for Succos and also shares a nigun he composed himself.
• Kolya Borodulin, director of Yiddish classes at Arbeter Ring, talks about the latest Yiddish classes, with registration open now for classes starting October 19, 2022, as well as as some other things he's knowledgable about, such as his home town, Birobidzhan.

We also share, for the last time this season, greetings from our friends and sponsors:

• Holocaust survivor Tania Lefman, on behalf of the American Association of Jewish Holocaust Survivors (AAJHS) of Greater Boston.
• Gitl Schaechter-Viswanath, on behalf of the League for Yiddish - די ייִדיש-ליגע
• Eli Dovek ז"ל, proprietor of Israel Book Shop (from 2009)
• Sholem Beinfeld, cohost of the Yiddish Voice and co-chief editor of Comprehensive Yiddish-English Dictionary
• Leye Shporer-Leavitt, cohost of the Yiddish Voice, Yiddish teacher and translator

Music:

• Itzhak Perlman/The Klezmatics: Simkhes Toyre Time
• Ben Zion Shenker: Sisu V'Simchu
• Suki Berry, et al: A Sukele
• Mordechai Hershman: Af Bri, Fun Geshem Kayn Gelt Iz Nishto
• Moyshe Ganchoff: Geshem
• Intro instrumental music: DEM HELFANDS TANTS, an instrumental track from the CD Jeff Warschauer: The Singing Waltz

Air date: October 12, 2022

• Feature interview: Dovid Braun, academic director of Yivo Institute's Uriel Weinreich Summer Program in Yiddish Language, Literature, and Culture, discusses the ZumerProgram, Yiddish courses at YIVO, and Yiddish education generally, including the topic of "Chassidic Yiddish".

Happy New Year! אַ גמר טובֿ! אַ גוט יאָר

• Greetings from our friends and sponsors

  • Holocaust survivor Tania Lefman, on behalf of the American Association of Jewish Holocaust Survivors (AAJHS) of Greater Boston.
  • Gitl Schaechter-Viswanath, on behalf of the League for Yiddish - די ייִדיש-ליגע
  • Eli Dovek ז"ל, proprietor of Israel Book Shop (from 2009)
  • Sholem Beinfeld, cohost of the Yiddish Voice and co-chief editor of Comprehensive Yiddish-English Dictionary
  • Leye Shporer-Leavitt, cohost of the Yiddish Voice, Yiddish teacher and translator

• Music:

  • Sholom Katz: Zochreinu L'Chaim
  • Leibele Waldman: Der Nyer Yohr
  • Moishe Oysher: Hayom Horas Olam (for Rosh Hashona after shofar blown)
  • Mordechai Herschman: Al Chet
  • Joseph Feldman: Der Nayer Yor
  • Benjamin Siegel: A Din Toyre Mit Got (a/k/a Kaddish of Rabbi Levi-Yitzchok of Berditchev)
  • Intro instrumental music: DEM HELFANDS TANTS, an instrumental track from the CD Jeff Warschauer: The Singing Waltz

Air date: September 28, 2022

• Feature interview: Rabbi Moshe Kesselman of Congregation Shaarei Tefila in Los Angeles reflects with host Meyer on Rosh Hashona.

Happy New Year! אַ גוט יאָר

• Greetings from our friends and sponsors

  • Holocaust survivor Tania Lefman, on behalf of the American Association of Jewish Holocaust Survivors (AAJHS) of Greater Boston.
  • Gitl Schaechter-Viswanath, on behalf of the League for Yiddish - די ייִדיש-ליגע
  • Eli Dovek ז"ל, proprietor of Israel Book Shop (from 2009)
  • Max Gelerman ז"ל, late proprietor of The Butcherie (from 2005)
  • Sholem Beinfeld, cohost of the Yiddish Voice and co-chief editor of Comprehensive Yiddish-English Dictionary
  • Leye Shporer-Leavitt, cohost of the Yiddish Voice, Yiddish teacher and translator

• Music:

  • Sholom Katz: Zochreinu L'Chaim
  • Leibele Waldman: Der Nyer Yohr
  • Moishe Oysher: Hayom Horas Olam (for Rosh Hashona after shofar blown)
  • Mordechai Herschman: Al Chet
  • Joseph Feldman: Der Nayer Yor
  • Benjamin Siegel: A Din Toyre Mit Got (a/k/a Kaddish of Rabbi Levi-Yitzchok of Berditchev)
  • Intro instrumental music: DEM HELFANDS TANTS, an instrumental track from the CD Jeff Warschauer: The Singing Waltz

Air date: September 21, 2022

• Feature interview: Hy Wolfe chats with host Meyer about various things, including Yidish-Vokh 2022, Meyer's recent trip to Germany for a dedication of Stolpersteine for his father's family, and Hy's experience of 9/11.

Happy New Year! אַ גוט יאָר

• Greetings from our friends and sponsors

  • Holocaust survivor Tania Lefman, on behalf of the American Association of Jewish Holocaust Survivors (AAJHS) of Greater Boston.
  • Eli Dovek ז"ל, proprietor of Israel Book Shop (from 2009)
  • Max Gelerman ז"ל, late proprietor of The Butcherie (from 2005)
  • Sholem Beinfeld, cohost of the Yiddish Voice and co-chief editor of Comprehensive Yiddish-English Dictionary
  • Leye Shporer-Leavitt, cohost of the Yiddish Voice, Yiddish teacher and translator

• From our archive: Rosh Hashona remarks by our late Yiddish Voice contributors:

  • Hasia Segal ז״ל (from 2007)
  • Miriam Libenson ז״ל (from 1990's)

• Music:

  • Sholom Katz: Zochreinu L'Chaim
  • Leibele Waldman: Der Nyer Yohr
  • Moishe Oysher: Hayom Horas Olam (for Rosh Hashona after shofar blown)
  • Mordechai Herschman: Al Chet
  • Intro instrumental music: DEM HELFANDS TANTS, an instrumental track from the CD Jeff Warschauer: The Singing Waltz

Air date: September 14, 2022

Part 1: Last July 13 we aired a quick interview with Gitu Cycowics just hours after her meeting with President Biden at Yad Vashem to get her first impressions, and she made us promise to let her come back to look back when she was not so tired and had time to think about things. We reached her by phone at her home in Jerusalem on Aug. 25, 2022.. Gitu -- a/k/a Giselle (Gita) Cycowicz (née Friedman) -- who was born in 1927 in the town of Chust in the Carpathian Mountains, then part of Czechoslovakia, survived Auschwitz and other camps, later starting a new life in the USA, and eventually getting her PhD in psychology. In her later years, she moved to Israel and then worked for decades for AMCHA (https://amcha.org), helping with the psychological needs of her fellow survivors. On Weds., Jul. 13, 2022, she was one of two Holocaust survivors invited to meet President Joseph Biden at Yad Vashem in Jerusalem. Here is a YouTube from the live stream of Gitu meeting Biden: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q96DZT4qMXs&t=731s Here is Gitu's page at Yad Vashem: https://www.yadvashem.org/blog/i-have-to-tell-my-story-giselle-cycowicz.html

Part 2: Judy Altmann, born and raised in Jasina, Czechoslovakia, fondly recalls her home and family life in her town at the eastern edge of Karpatorus, which belonged to Czechoslovakia from 1918 to 1939, Hungary during WWII, and now Ukraine. She worked in her family's general store, which served the lumber industry workers from the tiny surrounding villages. She recounts her mother's cooking talents and describes the dish known locally in Yiddish as ריפּינייִק Ripinyik, probably closest to Potatonik. (She sometimes refers to potatoes as ריבלעך (riblekh).) At the end, she summarizes her Holocaust experiences. In 1944, she and her parents and practically all Jews of the town were taken to Auschwitz. In her family's case, they were first made to stay for several days without shelter in the Jewish cemetery. From there they were taken to a ghetto in Mateszalca (Hungary ) for several weeks. Finally, they were deported to Auschwitz-Birkenau. She survived, but her parents and most of her family were killed. We reached Judy by phone at her home in Stamford, CT, on Aug. 31, 2022.

Air date: August 31, 2022

Happy New Year! אַ גוט געזונט יאָר

Please patronize our sponsors! Enjoy these vintage greetings from our sponsors:

• Eli Dovek ז"ל, late proprietor of Israel Book Shop (from 2009)
• Max Gelerman ז"ל, late proprietor of The Butcherie (from 2005)

• Interview with acclaimed performing artist Eleanor Reissa discussing her recently published memoir The Letters Project: A Daughter's Journey. In 1986, after her mother's death, Reissa discovered fifty-six letters written by her late father. She set them aside for forty years before finally having them translated, which led to set her on a journey to her father's history during the Holocaust, which had been largely hidden from her. The book can be found in bookstores and online, including Eleanor Reissa's website eleanorreissa.com and Amazon. An audio version of the book, with Reissa's own narration, is also available through Audible. Eleanor Reissa is an American actress, singer, theatre director, playwright, librettist, choreographer, translator, and author based in New York City, who performs in both Yiddish and English. For more information on Eleanor Reissa and The Letters Project visit: eleanorreissa.com

The interview is conducted by Yiddish Voice co-host Lillian Shporer-Leavitt, a daughter of Shoah survivors who grew up speaking Yiddish and graduated from the Boston Workmen's Circle Yiddish Shule. A former computer business analyst and software trainer, she is an experienced Yiddish teacher and translator, having taught at the Workmen's Circle, Gann Academy of Greater Boston, Boston University Hillel, and Brandeis University. In addition, she has subtitled Yiddish films for the National Center for Jewish Film and translated Yizkor (memorial) books for the Jewish Genealogical Society.

• Music/Spoken Word recordings:
  • Beyle Schaechter-Gottesman: Zumerteg
  • Zvee Scooler: Vakatsye in di Berg
  • Intro instrumental music: DEM HELFANDS TANTS, an instrumental track from the CD Jeff Warschauer: The Singing Waltz

Air date: August 17, 2022

We continue our summer rerun season with a panel discussion of the tragic events of August 12, 1952, in Moscow, with Gennady Estraikh, Jana Mazurkiewicz Meisarosh, and Sholem Beinfeld, which was originally aired August 12, 2020.

Air date: July 27, 2022

PS: you can still find the original podcast in our archive:

https://the-yiddish-voice-podcast.zencast.website/episodes/estraikh-mazurkiewicz-meisarosh-beinfeld-august-12-1952

Part 1: We took a temporary break from our summer rerun season to bring our dear listeners breaking news, of a sort, from the real world: we reached friend of the show Gitu Cycowics hours after her meeting with President Biden at Yad Vashem to get her first impressions. Gitu -- a/k/a Giselle (Gita) Cycowicz (née Friedman) -- who was born in 1927 in the town of Chust in the Carpathian Mountains, then part of Czechoslovakia, survived Auschwitz and other camps, later starting a new life in the USA, and eventually getting her PhD in psychology. In her later years, she moved to Israel and then worked for decades for AMCHA (https://amcha.org), helping with the psychological needs of her fellow survivors. Today (Weds., Jul. 13, 2022) she was one of two Holocaust survivors invited to meet President Joseph Biden at Yad Vashem in Jerusalem. We are thankful for sharing with us her first impressions of that experience hours after it took place. Here is a YouTube from the live stream of Gitu meeting Biden: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q96DZT4qMXs&t=731s Here is Gitu's page at Yad Vashem: https://www.yadvashem.org/blog/i-have-to-tell-my-story-giselle-cycowicz.html

Part 2: We continue our summer rerun season with an interview of Diego Rotman, interviewed by Sholem Beinfeld, discussing the famed Yiddish actors and comics Shimon Dzigan and Yisroel Schumacher. The interview was originally aired in March, 2022.

Air date: July 13, 2022

PS: you can still find the original podcast containing the Diego Rotman interview aired on Mar. 2, 2022, in our archive:

https://the-yiddish-voice-podcast.zencast.website/episodes/diego-rotman-dzigan-schumacher

This week we listen back to our February 2018 interview with Zvi Gitelman, Professor Emeritus of Political Science and Judaic Studies at the University of Michigan, author and editor of numerous books, including A Century of Ambivalence: The Jews of Russia and the Soviet Union, 1881 to the Present (2001) and The New Jewish Diaspora: Russian-speaking Immigrants in the United States, Israel and Germany (2016), speaking with Sholem Beinfeld.

Air date: July 6, 2022

PS: you can still find the original podcast containing this interview aired on Feb. 7, 2018, in our archive:

https://the-yiddish-voice-podcast.zencast.website/episodes/zvi-gitelman

This week we listen back to our March 2020 interview with Elissa Bemporad, author of the book Legacy of Blood: Jews, Pogroms, and Ritual Murder in the Lands of the Soviets (Oxford University Press, 2019), interviewed by Sholem Beinfeld. Today we're re-airing the entire interview. It was originally aired in two parts in amid the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic, and may have gotten a bit lost in the shuffle. But in case you missed it or just want to relisten, it's still as interesting and relevant today, if not more so, considering today's war between Russia and Ukraine in the news.

Air date: June 29, 2022

PS: you can still find the original podcasts containing this interview aired on Mar. 18 and Mar. 25, 2020, in our archive:

Part 1: https://the-yiddish-voice-podcast.zencast.website/episodes/covid-19-with-berger-schaechter-plus-author-elissa-bemporad

Part 2: https://the-yiddish-voice-podcast.zencast.website/episodes/covid-19-avremi-zak-author-elissa-bemporad-cont-eli-rosen-unorthodox-s-yiddish-consultant

This week, we're listening back to a favorite Yiddish Voice interview from the past: our interview with famed American-Israeli actor and singer Mike Burstyn, discussing the streamed production Megillah Cycle as well as many aspects of Yiddish theater and his history with it, originally aired in February 2021.

Air date: June 22, 2022

PS: you can still find the original podcast containing this interview, and the original podcast with part 2 of this interview, in our archive:

Part 1: https://the-yiddish-voice-podcast.zencast.website/episodes/the-megillah-and-mike-burstyn

Part 2: https://the-yiddish-voice-podcast.zencast.website/episodes/the-megillah-and-mike-burstyn-part-2

This week, we're listening back to a favorite Yiddish Voice interview from the past: our interview with Rachel Rojanski, author of Yiddish in Israel: A History. This is part 1 of the interview, originally aired in May, 2021. This podcast includes a current (June 2022) announcement:

Event announcement: Linda (Libe) Gritz announces the forthcomingBostoner Arbeter Ring Chorus concert, featuring Lorin Sklamberg and Paulina Shepherd. Info: https://circleboston.org/peace-freedom A Besere Velt Yiddish Chorus: Singing For Peace & Freedom Concert: June 18, 2022

It removes a dated interview and adds as a bonus several fantastic Yiddish-in-Israel-realated commercial recordings at the end that you won't want to miss. Enjoy!

Air date: June 15, 2022

PS: you can still find the original podcast containing this interview and some other dated stuff, and the original podcast with part 2 in our archive:

Part 1: https://the-yiddish-voice-podcast.zencast.website/episodes/rachel-rojanski-yiddish-in-israel-part-1-dovid-braun-yivo-summer-program-2021

Part 2: https://the-yiddish-voice-podcast.zencast.website/episodes/rachel-rojanski-yiddish-in-israel-part-2-and-comprehensive-english-yiddish-dictionary

• Interview with Sheldon (Shulem) Londner, discussing growing up speaking Yiddish as the child of Holocaust survivors, and later joining and eventually leading the Los Angeles Yidish-Leyenkrayz (Yiddish reading circle), which started in the 1990's and, under his leadership, has met on Zoom practically every week during the Covid Pandemic.
• Event announcement: Linda (Libe) Gritz announces the forthcoming Bostoner Workers Circle Chorus concert, featuring Lorin Sklamberg and Paulina Shepherd. Info: https://circleboston.org/peace-freedom
• Music:
  • Intro instrumental music: DEM HELFANDS TANTS, an instrumental track from the CD Jeff Warschauer: The Singing Waltz
  • Outro instrumental music: Itzhak Perlman, Dov Seltzer, Israel Philharmonic Orchestra: Afn Veg Shteyt A Boym

Air Date: June 8, 2022

• Dr. Sheva Zucker presents her new bilingual audio album The Golden Peacock: The Voice of the Yiddish Writer, which she edited and produced. It was originally published in 2001 in an all-Yiddish CD format. In 2021, it was released as a revised bilingual edition, making it available either as MP3 files or as two audio CDs. The set now includes the voices of twelve Yiddish writers and a 138-page book that contains the work of each writer in Yiddish with parallel text in English, a biography of each writer in English and Yiddish as well as notes in English about each selection. Hear the voices of Celia Dropkin, Yankev Glatshteyn, Rokhl Korn, Aron Glanz-Leyeles, H. Leivick, Kadya Molodowsky, Itzik Manger, Avrom Sutzkever, Sholem-Aleichem, Beyle Schaechter-Gottesman, Yekhiel Shraibman and Elie Wiesel. English is read by Sheva Zucker and Trudie Kessler, Professor Emeritus of Voice and Acting at The Theatre School/DePaul University, Chicago. Sheva Zucker served as the executive director of the League for Yiddish and editor-in-chief of its publication Afn Shvel from 2005-2020. She is the author of the textbooks Yiddish: An Introduction to the Language, Literature & Culture, Vols. I & II, and has taught Yiddish language and literature for over two decades in the Uriel Weinreich Summer Program in Yiddish Language, Literature and Culture. For more info: https://shevazucker.com

• The interviewer, Lillian ("Leah") Shporer-Leavitt, is a frequent cohost of The Yiddish Voice and an experienced Yiddish translator and teacher. She has taught Yiddish for many years at various institutions in the Boston area, including Workers Circle and Gann Academy.

• Music:

  • Sidor Belarsky: Babi Yar (lyrics by Shike Driz, music by Rive Boyarska)
  • Theresa Tova: Mayn Khaverte Mintsye (lyrics and music by Beyle Schaechter-Gottesman)
  • Intro instrumental music: DEM HELFANDS TANTS, an instrumental track from the CD Jeff Warschauer: The Singing Waltz

Air date: May 25, 2022

• Joseph Alexander, a 99-year-old Holocaust survivor now living in Los Angeles, originally from Kowal, Poland, talks about his Holocaust experiences. We recorded this interview with him via Zoom on May 17, 2022.

• Miriam Libenson ז״ל: Lag B'Omer (from our archive, originally recorded and aired in the 1990's)

• Music:

  • Intro instrumental music: DEM HELFANDS TANTS, an instrumental track from the CD Jeff Warschauer: The Singing Waltz
  • Outro instrumental music: Itzhak Perlman, Dov Seltzer, Israel Philharmonic Orchestra: Afn Veg Shteyt A Boym

Air Date: May 18, 2022

Tonight's show aired on the night after Yom HaZikaron and on the eve of Yom HaAtsmaut. We present a new interview with Yehuda Neufeld, an Israeli war veteran, now living in Los Angeles, who was wounded in Israel's war with Egypt arising out of the Suez Crisis of October 1956.

We also heard from our archives: Hasia Segal ז״ל on the Boston Zionist hero Dewey Stone.

We also heard music related to Israel and mothers, in honor of Mother's Day, which falls the following Sunday.

• Music:
  • Barry Sisters: Exodus
  • David Esheth: Yerusholayim Shtot fun Gold (music Naomi Shemer, origin Hebrew lyrics Naomi Shemer, Yiddish translation Dovid Esheth)
  • Barry Sisters: Vu Ahin Zol Ikh Geyn (lyrics: Igor S. Korntayer)
  • Dudu Fisher: A Yidishe Mame
  • Marilyn Michaels: Mamele
  • Moishe Oysher: *Afn Veg Shteyt A Boym" (Lyrics: Itsik Manger)
  • Dudu Fisher: Mamenyu
  • Dudu Fisher: A Brivele Der Mamen
  • Intro instrumental music: DEM HELFANDS TANTS, an instrumental track from the CD Jeff Warschauer: The Singing Waltz

Air Date: May 4, 2022

Tonight's show aired on the eve of Yom HaShoah. We present a new interview with Naftali (Tuli) Deutsch, an Auschwitz survivor, as well as recordings of three others from past years. They are Al (Zoli) Langer, Rokhl Zicherman, and Matele Friedman ז״ל. All of these survivors were born in Carpathian Ruthenia, then in Czechoslovakia, now known as Zakarpatska Oblast, in the western part of Ukraine.

Naftali Deutsch is the author of A Holocaust Survivor: In The Footsteps Of His Past, his auto-biography. Info here: https://holocaustsurvivorbook.com

Announcement: The American Association of Jewish Holocaust Survivors of Greater Boston invites you to Boston's 2022 Virtual Community Holocaust Commemoration of Yom HaShoah, Sunday, May 1, 2022, at 2:00PM Eastern. Info and registration here: https://www.jcrcboston.org/yh2022/

• Music:
  • Shimon Yisraeli: Zog Nit Keyn Mol (lyrics: Hirsch Glick)
  • The following sung by Matele Friedman, recorded by The Yiddish Voice on January 1, 2020:
  • Es Brent (Words and music by Mordkhe Gebirtig)
  • The following sung by Rokhl Zicherman, recorded by The Yiddish Voice in January 2019:
    • In Auschwitzer Lager
    • Holocaust 'Dem Milners Trern'
  • Abraham Brun: Why Need We Cry?
  • Dudu Fisher: Vu Ahin Zol Ikh Geyn (lyrics: Igor S. Korntayer)
  • Intro instrumental music: DEM HELFANDS TANTS, an instrumental track from the CD Jeff Warschauer: The Singing Waltz

Air Date: April 27, 2022

• Happy Passover! ‫אַ זיסן און כּשרן פּסח און אַ גוטן מועד!‬

• Happy Passover and thanks to friends, participants, and sponsors of this show:

  • Israel Book Shop (Eli Dovek recorded Mar 28 2007)
  • The Butcherie (Max Gelerman ז״ל recorded Mar 28 2007)
  • Cheryl Ann's Bakery, featuring kosher and pareve breads and pastries
  • American Association of Jewish Holocaust Survivors of Greater Boston (Tania Lefman, Treasurer, co-sponsor of Boston's 2022 Virtual Community Holocaust Commemoration of Yom HaShoah, Sunday, May 1, 2022, at 2:00PM Eastern. Info and registration here: https://www.jcrcboston.org/yh2022/
  • League for Yiddish (Gitl Schaechter-Viswanath, Chair of the Board)
  • Dovid Braun, Leonia, NJ
  • Sholem Beinfeld, Cambridge, MA
  • Leah Shporer-Leavitt, Newton, MA
  • Motl Murstein, Brookline, MA
  • Boston Workers Circle Yiddish Committee, (Linda Gritz, Somerville, MA)
  • Fishl Kutner, from Der Bay, IAYC, and Fishl's Yiddish Group

• Featured Interview: Pinchas Gutter, Warsaw ghetto & Majdanek survivor; author: MEMORIES IN FOCUS; USC Shoah Foundation hologram witness (https://iwitness.usc.edu/dit/pinchas). For additional info see Shoah Foundation's info page on Pinchas Gutter: https://sfi.usc.edu/survivor/pinchas-gutter and Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pinchas_Gutter

• Music:

  • Moishe Oysher: Chad Gadyo
  • Moishe Oysher: Got Iz Eyner (Mu Asapru)
  • Michael Silverman: Dayenu (instrumental)
  • Sholom Katz: Keil Moleh Rachamim
  • Intro instrumental music: DEM HELFANDS TANTS, an instrumental track from the CD Jeff Warschauer: The Singing Waltz

Air Date: April 20, 2022

• Happy Passover! ‫אַ זיסן און כּשרן פּסח!‬

• Happy Passover and thanks to friends, participants, and sponsors of this show:

  • Israel Book Shop (Eli Dovek recorded Mar 28 2007)
  • The Butcherie (Max Gelerman ז״ל recorded Mar 28 2007)
  • Cheryl Ann's Bakery, featuring kosher and pareve breads and pastries
  • American Association of Jewish Holocaust Survivors of Greater Boston (Tania Lefman, Treasurer, co-sponsor of Boston's 2022 Virtual Community Holocaust Commemoration of Yom HaShoah, Sunday, May 1, 2022, at 2:00PM Eastern. Info and registration here: https://www.jcrcboston.org/yh2022/
  • League for Yiddish (Gitl Schaechter-Viswanath, Chair of the Board)
  • Dovid Braun, Leonia, NJ
  • Sholem Beinfeld, Cambridge, MA
  • Leah Shporer-Leavitt, Newton, MA
  • Motl Murstein, Brookline, MA
  • Boston Workers Circle Yiddish Committee, (Linda Gritz, Somerville, MA)
  • Fishl Kutner, from Der Bay, IAYC, and Fishl's Yiddish Group
  • Hy Wolfe, from CYCO Yiddish Bookstore and Publishing House

• Featured Interview: Dov-Ber Kerler, writer and poet, professor at Indiana University, co-director of the AHEYM project, with his thoughts on the war in Ukraine. He also read out a short poem of his, a kind of response to the Hebrew poem They Say There's A Land (אומרים ישנה ארץ) by Shaul Tchernichovsky. Kerler frequently publishes his poetry under the pen name Boris Karloff (באָריס קאַראַוו) here on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/berkale For more info on Kerler and AHEYM: https://aheym.com/contact/

• Music:

  • Moishe Oysher: Chad Gadyo
  • Moishe Oysher: Got Iz Eyner (Mu Asapru)
  • Michael Silverman: Dayenu (instrumental)
  • Barry SIster: Chad Gadyo (in the style of Moishe Oysher)
  • Intro instrumental music: DEM HELFANDS TANTS, an instrumental track from the CD Jeff Warschauer: The Singing Waltz

Air Date: April 13, 2022

• Happy Passover! ‫אַ זיסן און כּשרן פּסח!‬

• Happy Passover and thanks to friends, participants, and sponsors of this show:

  • Israel Book Shop (Eli Dovek recorded Mar 28 2007)
  • The Butcherie (Max Gelerman ז״ל recorded Mar 28 2007)
  • Cheryl Ann's Bakery, featuring kosher and pareve breads and pastries
  • American Association of Jewish Holocaust Survivors of Greater Boston (Tania Lefman, Treasurer, co-sponsor of Boston's 2022 Virtual Community Holocaust Commemoration of Yom HaShoah, Sunday, May 1, 2022, at 2:00PM Eastern. Info and registration here: https://www.jcrcboston.org/yh2022/
  • League for Yiddish (Gitl Schaechter-Viswanath, Chair of the Board)
  • Dovid Braun, Leonia, NJ
  • Sholem Beinfeld, Cambridge, MA
  • Leah Shporer-Leavitt, Newton, MA
  • Motl Murstein, Brookline, MA
  • Boston Workers Circle Yiddish Committee, (Linda Gritz, Somerville, MA)
  • Fishl Kutner, from Der Bay, IAYC, and Fishl's Yiddish Group
  • Hy Wolfe, from CYCO Yiddish Bookstore and Publishing House

• Featured Interview: Hy Wolfe, executive director of CYCO Yiddish Bookstore and Publishing House, talks about the organization's campaign to survive and thrive as New York City's last secular Yiddish book store, helped by Friends of CYCO Books, a new organization and web site, and thanks to recent publicity such as the New York Review of Books article The Joy of Yiddish Books. Besides heading up CYCO, Wolfe is a veteran actor, director, and singer, both in English and Yiddish. More info at HyWolfe.com.

• Music:

  • Moishe Oysher: Got Iz Eyner (Mu Asapru)
  • Hy Wolfe: Es benk zikh nokh di kinder yorn (Childhood Years)
  • Marthe Schlamme: Zog Maran
  • Intro instrumental music: DEM HELFANDS TANTS, an instrumental track from the CD Jeff Warschauer: The Singing Waltz

Air Date: April 6, 2022

• Happy Passover! ‫אַ זיסן און כּשרן פּסח!‬
• Happy Passover and thanks to friends, participants, and sponsors of this show:
  • Israel Book Shop (Eli Dovek recorded Mar 28 2007)
  • The Butcherie (Max Gelerman ז״ל recorded Mar 28 2007)
  • Cheryl Ann's Bakery, featuring kosher and pareve breads and pastries
  • American Association of Jewish Holocaust Survivors of Greater Boston (Tania Lefman, Treasurer, co-sponsor of Boston's 2022 Virtual Community Holocaust Commemoration of Yom HaShoah, Sunday, May 1, 2022, at 2:00PM Eastern. Info and registration here: https://www.jcrcboston.org/yh2022/
  • League for Yiddish (Gitl Schaechter-Viswanath, Chair of the Board)
  • Leah Shporer-Leavitt, Newton, MA
  • Gitu Cycowicz, Jerusalem
  • Sholem Beinfeld, Cambridge, MA
  • Motl Murstein, Brookline, MA
• Interviews
  • Mrs. Gisel (Gitu) Cycowicz, Holocaust survivor originally from Chust, Czechoslovakia, and now living in Jerusalem, discussing recent events Erev Pesach.
  • Motl Murstein, Holocaust survivor recalls his home towns of Pyesk and Volozhin, and sings a Yiddish song (we'll try to name that tune presently: watch this space)
  • Dovid Braun discusses forthcoming Yivo Summer-Program (repeat from previous week). More info here: https://summerprogram.yivo.org
• Music:
  • Intro instrumental music: DEM HELFANDS TANTS, an instrumental track from the CD Jeff Warschauer: The Singing Waltz

Air Date: March 30, 2022

• Hear all about the upcoming 2022 YIVO Summer Program from Dovid Braun, the summer program's academic director. There's still time to register, for in person or online classes. For more info, check out their web site: https://summerprogram.yivo.org

• Hear an interview with Lilly Segelstein, an Auschwitz survivor who was born in Klitsherkes (קליטשערקעס), then in Czechoslovakia, and today's Kliucharky, a village in Ukraine, near Mukacheve in Zakarpattia Oblast. Lilly is the mother of Cookie Segelstein, who assists her mother on this interview. Cookie is the acclaimed Klezmer violinist of Veretski Pass, whose music is featured in the latter part of the show.

• Hear greetings for Pesach from sponsors and friends!

  • Motl Murstein, Holocaust survivor in Brookline (from 2020)
  • Max Gelerman ז"ל, proprietor of The Butcherie (from 2005)
  • Cheryl Moore/Moore Family/Cheryl Ann's Bakery
  • Eli Dovek, proprietor of Israel Book Shop (from 2009)

• Music:

  • Veretski Pass: Veretskier Kolomeyke
  • Veretski Pass: Segelsteins Geveyn
  • Veretski Pass: Papir is Dokh Vays
  • Intro instrumental music: DEM HELFANDS TANTS, an instrumental track from the CD Jeff Warschauer: The Singing Waltz

Air Date: March 23, 2022

• Interview with Gennady Estraikh discussing the war in Ukraine. Estraikh, who was born in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine, is a professor at NYU who specializes in Jewish intellectual history, Yiddish language and literature, and Soviet Jewish history. He has written numerous books, academic papers, and journal and newspaper articles in English, Russian, Ukrainian, and Yiddish, notably for the Yiddish Forverts. He served as managing editor of the famed Yiddish literary journal Sovetish Heymland from 1988 to 1991. His books include Yiddish Culture in Ukraine (Kyiv: Dukh i Litera, 2016, in Ukrainian) and Transatlantic Russian Jewishness: Ideological Voyages of the Yiddish Daily Forverts in the First Half of the Twentieth Century (Academic Studies Press, 2020). The interview took place over Zoom on Friday March 4, 2022, and was led by Sholem Beinfeld, regular contributor to The Yiddish Voice, co-Editor in Chief of the Comprehensive Yiddish-English Dictionary, and Professor of History, Emeritus, Washington University in St. Louis.

• Music:

  • Emil Gorovets: Reyzele
  • Tatiana Vayntraub: Gitara
  • Sidi Tal: Nokhemke
  • Emil Gorovets: Ikh Bin a Yid
  • Intro instrumental music: DEM HELFANDS TANTS, an instrumental track from the CD Jeff Warschauer: The Singing Waltz

Air date: March 9, 2022

• Diego Rotman, author of The Yiddish Stage as a Temporary Home: Dzigan and Shumacher’s Satirical Theater (1927-1980), discusses the famed Yiddish comedy duo Shimon Dzigan and Yisroel Schumacher in an interview with Sholem Beinfeld, Professor Emeritus of the Department of History at Washington University in St. Louis, and a co-host of The Yiddish Voice. For further info:
  • Home page for this book's English translation at the publisher, De Gruyter
  • Home page for this book's Hebrew original, הבמה כבית ארעי: התאטרון של דז'יגאן ושומאכר (1980-1927) , at the publisher, Magnes Press
  • דזשיגאַן און שומאַכער: אױף דער בינע פֿונעם ייִדישן גלות (Review article in Yiddish by Michael Krutikov, published in the Yiddish Forverts, April 16, 2021)
  • Diego Rotman's home page at Hebrew University's Department of Theatre Studies
  • Yivo Encyclopedia page on Dzigan and Schumacher

Music:

• Wolf Krakowski: Yeder Ruft Mikh Zhamele
• Intro and Outro instrumental music: DEM HELFANDS TANTS, an instrumental track from the CD Jeff Warschauer: The Singing Waltz

Air Date: March 2, 2022

The show presents an interview with Eddie (Avrum) Hoffman, who survived Auschwitz, slave labor at a Krupp factory in Breslau (Wrocław), a death march, and the last days at Ebensee, the brutal Mathausen subcamp.Eddie Hoffman was born in February, 1929, in Sevluš, Czechoslovakia, one of three brothers. The town was in the Subcarpathian Ruthenia part of Czechoslovakia and was also known in Yiddish as Seylesh (סעליש) and in Hungarian as Nagyszőlős. It is now called Vynohradiv and is in Ukraine. His father ran a small shoe manufacturing business, and his mother ran a small general store. In 1944 his father left the family to join the partisans fighting against the Nazis, never to be heard from again, and he and his mother and brothers were deported to Auschwitz. He was the only immediate family member to survive the Holocaust. He eventually settled in Los Angeles, where he owned and managed several bars and restaurants. He now resides with his wife in Orange County, near Los Angeles. The interview took place at his home in October, 2021.

The interview with Eddie is dedicated to the memory of Arthur Machlovitz ע״ה, also an Auschwitz survivor from Subcarpathian Ruthenia, from the town of Iza. He was long-time friends and a former business partner with Eddie and was friendly with Yiddish Voice host Meyer Dovid, and so he introduced them in a way: they met at Arthur's funeral in the summer of 2021.

Also on this show we sadly announced the passing of Mrs. Margaret (Matele) Friedman ע״ה, who died just two days earlier (Feb. 21, 2022). She was friends with Yiddish Voice host Meyer Dovid, had been featured on several of our broadcasts over the years, and was known in the community for her wonderful singing ability, especially in Yiddish. Also an Auschwitz survivor from Subcarpathian Ruthenia, after the way she returned to the area and married and started a family in Seylesh, and lived there for more than twenty-five years under the Soviets, before the family moved to the US in the 1970's. ‮געבענטשט זאָל זײַן איר אָנדענק!‬

Music:

• The following were sung by Matele Friedman and recorded by The Yiddish Voice on Jan 1 2020:
  • Fraytik Tse Nakhts (Composed by Shuli Hollender, Matele's first cousin, who died right after the liberation.)
  • Vu Nemt Men A Bisele Mazl
  • Af Dem Pripetshok (Oyfn Pripetchik) (Words and music by Mark Warshawsky)
• Intro and Outro instrumental music: DEM HELFANDS TANTS, an instrumental track from the CD Jeff Warschauer: The Singing Waltz

Extended episode: this episode is slightly longer than 1 hr 23 minutes. Thanks to the generosity of our radio station WUNR 1600 AM (Brookline, MA) for allowing us to exceed our usual one-hour time slot.

Air Date: February 23, 2022

This show features an interview with Efraim (Froyim) Kessler, who, at age 105, is the oldest person ever interviewed on The Yiddish Voice. In the interview Kessler, who was born in Bilgoray, Poland, in 1916, recalls various aspects of his youth, including encounters with the Nobel Prize-winning author Isaac Bashevis Singer and Rabbi Aharon Rokeach, the Belzer Rebbe. He also recalls surviving the Spanish flu. (We learned after the interview that he also survived Covid-19.)

Efraim Kieslowicz was born and raised in Bilgoray (Polish spelling: Biłgoraj) on July 27, 1916, one of nine siblings. His father was a rabbi and also ran a grain mill and grocery store. He became an electrician in prewar Poland. He spent the war years in various places in the Soviet Union, including Chukotka in the Russian Far East and Samarkand and Tashkent in Uzbekistan. After the war, he spent several years in a DP camp in Ebensee, Austria. He arrived in the USA in 1952, spending several years in New York and elsewhere before arriving in Los Angeles, where he has lived until now. Along the way, he anglicized his name to be Fred Kessler. In 1960, he started his own electrical contracting business, Fred Kessler Electric, later called Robert Kessler Electric when his son took over the business. He was for decades a member of the shtibl known as "Rabbi Moskovitz's shul" on Fairfax St. in Los Angeles, and has been a member of Young Israel of Los Angeles for over 40 years. He now resides with his son Michael in Los Angeles. The interview took place in September 2021.

Also on tonight's show, Kolya Borodulin, director of Yiddish Programming at Workers Circle in New York, talks about the upcoming virtual program, Vinter in Yidishland. We'll also hear the Yiddish Voice debut of a new Yiddish version of the Dolly Parton song Jolene, performed by the Israeli singer and actress Ronit Asheri. Finally, to observe Tu Bishvat, which fell two days ago, from our archives: Miriam Libenson Z"L: a talk in honor of the holiday Tu Bishvat, the holiday of the trees, originally broadcast in 1994, followed by music related to Tu Bishvat and/or to trees, generally.

• Music:
  • Ronit Asheri: Jolene (Music and original English lyrics by Dolly Parton, Yiddish lyrics by Leyzer Burko)
  • Victor Berezinsky: Tu Bishvat
  • Ruth Levin: A Hoykher Boym (Lyrics Shike Driz, Music by Leibu Levin)
  • Hilda Bronstein: Afn Veg Shteyt A Boym (Lyrics by Itzik Manger)
  • Dudu Fisher: Unter Beymer (Lyrics by Alexander Olshanetsky, Music by Moishe Oysher)
  • Intro instrumental music: DEM HELFANDS TANTS, an instrumental track from the CD Jeff Warschauer: The Singing Waltz

Air date: January 19, 2022

This show is a special Shloyshim program in memory of Israel (Izzy) Arbeiter ז״ל, Holocaust survivor and founder and former long-time president of the American Association of Jewish Holocaust Survivors of Greater Boston, who passed away Oct. 29, 2021, at the age of 96. This show is sponsored by The American Association of Jewish Holocaust Survivors of Greater Boston and Descendants.

The first part features remarks in memory of Izzy, while the second contains excerpts of his recordings for The Yiddish Voice.

Remarks:

• Janet Stein Calm, President The American Association of Jewish Holocaust Survivors of Greater Boston and Descendants (with remarks read in Yiddish by Dovid Braun);

• Tania Lefman, Holocaust survivor, long-time friend of Arbeiter's, and treasurer of the American Association of Jewish Holocaust Survivors of Greater Boston;

• Rabbi Moshe Waldoks of Temple Beth Zion, Boston, who officiated at Arbeiter's funeral; and

• Dovid Braun, a co-host of The Yiddish Voice and director of the YIVO Yiddish Summer Program

Recordings of Izzy Arbeiter for The Yiddish Voice:

• excerpt of Izzy's interview in 2005 discussing early life and family in Plock, Poland;
• excerpt of Izzy's interview in 2019 discussing one episode of nearly miraculous survival in 1942 in the midst of the Holocaust;
• excerpt of Izzy's interview in 1995 discussing the opening of the New England Holocaust Memorial and his personal history as a survivor;
• excerpt of Izzy's greeting for Passover in 2020 (recorded March 31, 2020)

Music:

• Shimon Yisraeli: Zog Nit Keyn Mol (lyrics: Shmerke Kaczerginski)
• Intro instrumental music: DEM HELFANDS TANTS, an instrumental track from the CD Jeff Warschauer: The Singing Waltz

Air date: December 8, 2021

• David Forman and Jordan Kutzik are interviewed about the recently published children's book The Clever Little Tailor/דאָס קלוגע שנײַדערל. The book was written by Solomon (Shloyme) Simon and originally published in the 1930's. This new edition of the book features a translation into English side by side with the Yiddish original. David Forman, the author's grandson, did the English translation. Jordan Kutzik, who is also chairman of the Yugntruf - Youth for Yiddish organization, led the project to publish this book. For additional info on the book, visit: https://yiddishchildrensbooks.com/products/the-clever-little-tailor-by-solomon-simon
• The interview is conducted by Sholem Beinfeld, a regular contributor to The Yiddish Voice, co-Editor in Chief of the Comprehensive Yiddish-English Dictionary, and Professor of History, Emeritus, Washington University, St. Louis.
• Music:
  • Intro/outro instrumental music: DEM HELFANDS TANTS, an instrumental track from the CD Jeff Warschauer: The Singing Waltz

The Yiddish Voice/דאָס ייִדישע קול lost a great friend. Izzy Arbeiter passed away this past Friday, Oct 29 2021, at the age of 96. To mark this sad loss, we are replaying our 2005 interview that was led by our late cohost Iosif Lakhman.

See also:

• Boston Globe: Israel Arbeiter, 96, Holocaust survivor who believed ‘there is never enough remembering’
• Forward: Remembering Izzy Arbeiter, the Holocaust survivor honored by Germany, by Linda Madchan
• Legacy.com obituary: ISRAEL "IZZY" ARBEITER

Music:

• Anna Monka: Zog Nit Keymol (The late singer, a former member of the famed Bielski partisans, recorded this song, also known as Partizaner Lid, exclusively for The Yiddish Voice in 2009.)
• Wolf Krakowski:Yeder Ruft Mikh Zhamele
• Wolf Krakowski: Varshe
• Intro instrumental music: DEM HELFANDS TANTS, an instrumental track from the CD Jeff Warschauer: The Singing Waltz

Sosye Fox (Sandy Fox) of Vaybertaytsh interviews Meyer Dovid (Mark David), host of The Yiddish Voice / דאָס ייִדישע קון, and vice versa. Thanks to In Geveb for putting this together. See also/related:

• Yiddish Podcasts in Conversation: Vaybertaytsh and Dos Yidishe Kol -- article about this interview in In geveb
• Episode 59: ?דער ייִדישער פּאָדקאַסט – װוּהין | The Yiddish Podcast Today /October 13, 2021 -- version of the same interview for the Vaybertaytsh / װײַבערטײַטש Podcast
• This feels very meta. In a great way. -- Tweet by Miriam Udel

Music:

• Ladytron: Blue Jeans (Vaybertaytsh intro, excerpt)
• Intro instrumental music: DEM HELFANDS TANTS, an instrumental track from the CD Jeff Warschauer: The Singing Waltz

Air date: October 13, 2021

• Recorded at Yugntruf's Yidish-Vokh in Copake, NY, in August 2021: Ruth Kohn, Libby Pollak and Dovid Braun telling jokes in Yiddish

• Best of Rosh Hashona - Announcements and well-wishes for the new year from sponsors and friends and a High Holidays mix of recent and past audio highlights. Enjoy!

  • Eli Dovek, proprietor of Israel Book Shop (from 2009)
  • Holocaust survivors Tania Lefman and Mary Ehrlich, on behalf of the American Association of Jewish Holocaust Survivors (AAJHS) of Greater Boston. Note: the annual Hazkore (Holocaust Memorial) will be virtual only at 11 AM on Sun Sep 12, 2021, at 11 AM; for details, consult JCRC Boston.
  • Sholem Beinfeld, cohost of the Yiddish Voice and co-chief editor of Comprehensive Yiddish-English Dictionary
  • Dovid Braun, cohost of the Yiddish Voice and Academic Director of [YIVO Summer Program] (https://summerprogram.yivo.org/)
  • Gitl Schaechter-Viswanath, chair of the board of the The League for Yiddish/די ייִדיש-ליגע
  • Cheryl Moore/Moore Family/Cheryl Ann's Bakery
  • Leyzer Maimon, Holocaust survivor and Rabbi at Young Israel of Mill Basin, Brooklyn, NY (from 2020)
  • Motl Murstein, Holocaust survivor in Brookline, sings Afn Pripetshik and Hobn Mir a Nigndl (from 2019)
  • Hasia Segal ז"ל, late cofounder and cohost of the Yiddish Voice (from 2007)
  • Max Gelerman ז"ל, late proprietor of The Butcherie (from 2005)
  • Iosif Lakhman ז"ל, late cohost of the Yiddish Voice (from 2007)
  • Avrom Cohen ז"ל, late bal tefila from Boston's North Shore, chants Rosh Hashonah/Yom Kippur tefilas and talks about his life and about being a bal tefila (from 1997)
  • Mordkhe Schaechter ז"ל, late Yiddish scholar, discusses Yiddish-language idioms and greetings tied to holidays Rosh Hashonah, Yom Kippur, and Succos (from 1997)

• Music:

  • Cantor Simcha Koussevitzky: Zochreinu L'Chaim
  • Intro instrumental music: DEM HELFANDS TANTS, an instrumental track from the CD Jeff Warschauer: The Singing Waltz

Air Date: September 1, 2021

Highlights:

• Zelda Polofsky, a Holocaust survivor from a shtetl near Vilna, interviewed by Dovid Braun, discussing her early life, both before and during the Holocaust.

• Announcements and well-wishes for the new year (Rosh Hashona) from sponsors and friends.

• Music:

  • Goldie Malavsky: Zochreinu L'Chayim
  • Shmuel Malavsky and Family: B'Rosh Hashonah"
  • Intro instrumental music: DEM HELFANDS TANTS, an instrumental track from the CD Jeff Warschauer: The Singing Waltz

Air date: August 25, 2021

Listen to the Yiddish Voice recorded live at the annual Yiddish Week (Yidish-Vokh) in Copake, NY, in the foothills of the Berkshire mountains. There, every year, the organization Yugntruf - Youth for Yiddish creates summer colony, where Yiddish-speaking people from all parts of the world gather each year to enjoy a week of summer vacation entirely in Yiddish. We played a game show-type game, listened to jokes told by Ruth Kohn, and heard a musical performance by the famed Schaechter-Tekhter duo (sisters Reyna and Temma Schaechter), accompanied on piano by their dad, the highly accomplished musical director and composer Ben (Binyumen) Schaechter. Guests on the show, in approximate order of appearance: Eli Grodko, Dovid Braun, Christa Whitney, Ruth Kohn, Yankl-Peretz Blum, Perl Teitelbaum, Meylekh Viswanath, Reyna Schaechter, Temma Schaechter, Binyumen Schaechter (piano), Isaac Bleaman.

In addition, we heard many announcements and well-wishes for the new year (Rosh Hashona) as well as some holiday music.

• Music:
  • Sholom Katz: Zochreinu L'Chayim
  • Theo Bikel: Di Yontevdike Teg
  • Leybele Waldman: Der Nayer Yor
  • Intro instrumental music: DEM HELFANDS TANTS, an instrumental track from the CD Jeff Warschauer: The Singing Waltz

Special thanks to Yugntruf: visit yugntruf.org

Recording date: August 15, 2021 Air date: August 18, 2021

Interview with Hershl Hartman, discussing his work as a Yiddish journalist, an educator in secular Yiddish-oriented schools, and a translator from Yiddish to English. Hershl Hartman was born in Brooklyn, New York, in 1929. He has been a leader at the Sholem Community in Los Angeles for more than fifty years, serving as Education Director/Vegvayzer since 1967. Between 1967 and 1985, he was also the school’s principal. Hartman holds degrees in Secular Jewish education and in Yiddish journalism. As a younger man, he became the first American-born Yiddish newspaper reporter, having written for the Morgen Freiheit when it was a New York City daily with a print run in the thousands. In recent years, he has worked as a professional translator from English to Yiddish, translating both literary works, including poetry, and personal documents and correspondence. His literary translation work has appeared in the online Yiddish studies journal In Geveb (https://ingeveb.org/people/hershl-hartman), and he contributed to the translation of the book The Jews of Felshtin (https://felshtin.org/). The interview was recorded via Zoom on July 9, 2021.

• Music:
  • Lillian Lux: Vashtis Kloglid (with Mike Burstyn as narrator; lyrics by Itzik Manger)
  • Chava Alberstein Rabeynu Tam (lyrics by Itzik Manger)
  • Intro instrumental music: DEM HELFANDS TANTS, an instrumental track from the CD Jeff Warschauer: The Singing Waltz

Air Date: July 28, 2021

From our archive: The Yiddish Voice from July 24 2013, with Gitu Cycowitz (Jerusalem) and Rabbi Shmuel Posner (Boston).

Air Date: July 21 2021 (originally aired July 24 2013)

Interview with Irene Zisblatt, who was one of the participants in the film The Last Days, released in 1998, about the Holocaust in Hungary. The Yiddish Voice spoke to Irene recently (late June 2021) via Zoom. Irene was born in Polena, Czechoslovakia, which was in Hungary during WWII and is now in Ukraine. Irene survived the Holocaust, including Auschwitz, as she describes in the film and to some degree in the interview. The film The Last Days, was originally released on DVD in 1998. It was rereleased in 2021 in a restored print on Blu-Ray disk and also through Netflix. Info:

• The Last Days (1998) on Netflix
• The Last Days (1998) Wikipedia page

From our archive: 2015 interview with Dovid Mermelstein, who died the previous day (Tuesday, July 6, 2021). The Yiddish Voice spoke to Dovid in Miami, FL, in August 2015 and aired the interview shortly thereafter. Dovid was born in Kivjazd, Czechoslovakia, which was in Hungary during WWII and is now in Ukraine. He survived the Holocaust, including Auschwitz and Ebensee. In recent decades, he was a leader of the survivors in the Miami, FL, area and an internationally known activist on behalf of survivors in order to get restitution from the US government for property looted from Hungarian Jews during the war, as well as serving as a vocal critic of the Claims Conference on behalf of his fellow survivors. Info:

• Times of Israel article: David Mermelstein, Holocaust survivor and restitution champion, dies at 92
• Miami Herald obituary (via Legacy.com): David Mermelstein 1928 - 2021
• Forward article: David Mermelstein, Holocaust survivor who fought Nazi-era insurance companies, dies at 92

• Music:
  • Cookie Segelstein (violin), Pete Sokolow (piano): Hora Serba (instrumental, excerpt)
  • Intro instrumental music: DEM HELFANDS TANTS, an instrumental track from the CD Jeff Warschauer: The Singing Waltz

Air Date: June 7, 2021

• Most of this week's show was taken up with the second part of our interview with Rachel Rojanski, discussing her book Yiddish in Israel: A History, published in English by Indiana University Press in 2020. The discussion is in Yiddish. Last week's show (May 26 2021) presented the first part of the discussion. The second part aired this week on Wednesday, June 2, 2021. Rachel Rojanski is Associate Professor of Judaic Studies at Brown University. She is author of Conflicting Identities: Labor Zionism in North America 1905-1931 (in Hebrew) as well as many articles on political and cultural history of East European Jewish immigrants in the U.S. and Israel. About the book (blurb):

  Yiddish in Israel: A History challenges the commonly held view that Yiddish was suppressed or even banned by Israeli authorities for ideological reasons, offering instead a radical new interpretation of the interaction between Yiddish and Israeli Hebrew cultures. Author Rachel Rojanski tells the compelling and yet unknown story of how Yiddish, the most widely used Jewish language in the pre-Holocaust world, fared in Zionist Israel, the land of Hebrew. (Additional publisher info here: https://iupress.org/9780253045140/yiddish-in-israel/)

• The interview was led by Sholem Beinfeld, professor of history emeritus at Washington University, St. Louis, and co-chief editor of the Comprehensive Yiddish-English Dictionary.

• Also, from our archive we heard an excerpt of our 2016 interview with Gitl Shaechter-Viswanath and Hershl Glasser, editors of Comprehensive English-Yiddish Dictionary. (Interviewed by Dovid Braun and Iosif Lakhman ז״ל) Additional info here: https://englishyiddishdictionary.com

• To close, we aired a series of songs with words by the late poet Itzik Manger, whose 120th birthday was observed by lovers of Yiddish literature the world over this past Sunday, performed by various singers and musicians.

• Music:

  • Intro instrumental music: DEM HELFANDS TANTS, an instrumental track from the CD Jeff Warschauer: The Singing Waltz
  • Molly Picon and Simche Fostel: Yidl Mitn Fidl
  • Gadi Yagil: Di Elegye fun Fastrigose
  • Rosalie Gerut and Betty Silberman: Sarah's Lullabye and Hagar's Lament (Sores Viglid Hogers Kloglid)
  • Chava Alberstein: Dona Dona
  • Moyshe Oisher: Afn Veg Shteyt A Boym
  • Itzhak Perlman, Dov Seltzer, Israel Philharmonic Orchestra: Afn Veg Shteyt A Boym (instrumental)

Air Date: June 3, 2021

• Most of this week's show was taken up with the first part of our interview with Rachel Rojanski, discussing her book Yiddish in Israel: A History, published in English by Indiana University Press in 2020. The discussion is in Yiddish. This week's show (May 26 2021) presented the first part of the discussion, with the second part set to air the following Wednesday, June 2, 2021 (and later be made available via podcast). Rachel Rojanski is Associate Professor of Judaic Studies at Brown University. She is author of Conflicting Identities: Labor Zionism in North America 1905-1931 (in Hebrew) as well as many articles on political and cultural history of East European Jewish immigrants in the U.S. and Israel. About the book (blurb):

  Yiddish in Israel: A History challenges the commonly held view that Yiddish was suppressed or even banned by Israeli authorities for ideological reasons, offering instead a radical new interpretation of the interaction between Yiddish and Israeli Hebrew cultures. Author Rachel Rojanski tells the compelling and yet unknown story of how Yiddish, the most widely used Jewish language in the pre-Holocaust world, fared in Zionist Israel, the land of Hebrew. (Additional publisher info here: https://iupress.org/9780253045140/yiddish-in-israel/)

• The interview was led by Sholem Beinfeld, professor of history emeritus at Washington University, St. Louis, and co-chief editor of the Comprehensive Yiddish-English Dictionary.

• Also, we heard from Dovid Braun, Summer Program Academic Director at the Yivo Institute, giving an overview of the upcoming 2021 incarnation of the venerable Uriel Weinreich Summer Program in Yiddish Language, Literature, and Culture. Info online here: https://summerprogram.yivo.org/

• Music:

  • Intro instrumental music: DEM HELFANDS TANTS, an instrumental track from the CD Jeff Warschauer: The Singing Waltz
  • Outro instrumental music: Itzhak Perlman, Dov Seltzer, Israel Philharmonic Orchestra: Afn Veg Shteyt A Boym

Air Date: May 26, 2021