The Shmooze, The Yiddish Book Center's Podcast

Episode 0207: "'A New Year's Eve State of Mind': Ri J. Turner’s Yiddish Translation"

25 Dec 2018

Contributed by Lukas

We caught up with Ri J. Turner, a 2014 Yiddish Book Center Translation Fellow, to chat about her translation of A.S. Lirik’s "A New Year's Eve State...

Episode 0206: "The Jewish Deli and the Third Space: A Chat with Ted Merwin"

19 Dec 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Ted Merwin visits on The Shmooze this week to discuss his recently published book "Pastrami on Rye: An Overstuffed History of the Jewish Deli." Merwin...

Episode 0205: "David R. Gillham’s 'Annelies': Approaching Anne Frank through Fiction"

12 Dec 2018

Contributed by Lukas

David R. Gillham, the New York Times bestselling author of "City of Women," joins us on "The Shmooze" this week to discuss his forthcoming novel, "Ann...

Episode 0204: "Gerri Chanel’s 'Saving Mona Lisa'"

05 Dec 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Gerri Chanel, a prize-winning freelance journalist, joins us this week to discuss "Saving Mona Lisa: The Battle to Protect the Louvre and its Treasure...

Episode 0203: "Jamie Bernstein: On Being 'Famous Father Girl'"

28 Nov 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Jamie Bernstein joins us to talk about her recently published memoir "Famous Father Girl: A Memoir of Growing Up Bernstein." We hear from Jamie about ...

Episode 0202: "From the Yiddish Book Center's Collection: All Things Turkey-Related"

21 Nov 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Yiddish Book Center fellows Sophia Shoulson and Sarah Quiat searched the Center’s collection for Thanksgiving-related content. They join us on "The ...

Episode 0201: "Ilan Stavans and the Film 'My Mexican Shivah'"

12 Nov 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Ilan Stavans stopped by the studio this week to discuss “My Mexican Shivah,” a film based on one of his stories. An exploration of family tensions...

Episode 0200: "Marvin Zuckerman on Translation and Growing up in New York’s Jewish Labor Movement"

06 Nov 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Marvin Zuckerman joins "The Shmooze" this week to discuss his translation of Bernard Goldstein’s "Twenty Years with the Jewish Labor Bund: A Memoir ...

Episode 0199: "Photographer Rebecca Lepkoff"

01 Nov 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Rebecca Lepkoff (1916-2014) was one of the great twentieth century photographers. Her work particularly chronicled the life of New York City’s Jewis...

Episode 0198: "David Stromberg’s 'In the Land of Happy Tears: Yiddish Tales for Modern Times'"

17 Oct 2018

Contributed by Lukas

The Shmooze caught up with David Stromberg over dinner at an outdoor café in New York where we learned about his latest book, "In the Land of Happy T...

Episode 0197: "New York's Jewish Photographers"

30 Sep 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Professor Deborah Dash Moore, who will lead the Yiddish Book Center's upcoming weekend course (October 26-28, 2018), discusses the cluster of New York...

Episode 0196: "Discovering and Translating Yiddish Writer Yenta Mash"

12 Sep 2018

Contributed by Lukas

In a collection of stories newly translated from the Yiddish by Ellen Cassedy, prize-winning author Yenta Mash traces an arc across continents, upheav...

Episode 0195: "The Pied-Piper of Yiddish Dance"

23 Aug 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Steve Weintraub left the dance floor long enough to join us in studio to talk about Yiddish dance. Steve teaches dance workshops around the world, inc...

Episode 0194: "Hankus Netsky on 'The Shmooze'"

20 Aug 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Hankus Netsky, chair of New England Conservatory’s Contemporary Improvisation Department and founder and director of the Klezmer Conservatory Band, ...

Episode 0193 "A Rich Brew: How Cafes Created Modern Jewish Culture"

02 Aug 2018

Contributed by Lukas

In a conversation with Shachar M. Pinsker we learn about the place of coffeehouses in the creation of modern Jewish culture from the mid-nineteenth to...

Episode 0192 "Shmoozing with Anthony Russell and Dmitri Gaskin"

20 Jul 2018

Contributed by Lukas

This week we visit with Yiddish vocalist Anthony Mordechai Tzvi Russell and pianist/accordionist Dmitri Gaskin. Together they explore diverse idioms a...

Episode 0191 "The Shmooze: Live at Yidstock"

13 Jul 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Podcast Producer and Yiddish Book Center Fellow Zeke Levine caught-up with a few of the many performers at Yidstock 2018. Hankus Netsky, Steve Weintra...

Episode 0190 "On Press with Pakn Treger: The Making of the Magazine"

28 Jun 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Producer Zeke Levine and host Lisa Newman take The Shmooze on the road to Studley Press in Dalton, Massachusetts, where the summer issue of Pakn Trege...

Episode 0189 "Yiddish Immigrant Life in Song and Verse"

14 Jun 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Vivi Lachs joins us to talk about her newly published book, Whitechapel Noise: Jewish Immigrant Life in Yiddish Song and Verse, London 1884–1914. Vi...

Episode 0188 "An Expert’s Guide to Jewish San Francisco: Aga Ilwicka "

07 Jun 2018

Contributed by Lukas

This week on The Shmooze, the second in our series of visits with Yiddish Book Center alumni to get an insider’s guide to Jewish and Yiddish culture...

Episode 0187 "An Expert’s Guide to Jewish Rhode Island: Sam Zerin"

31 May 2018

Contributed by Lukas

The Shmooze is launching the first in what will be a series of visits with Yiddish Book Center alumni to get an insider’s guide to Jewish and Yiddis...

Episode 0186 "Sarah Aroeste: Bringing Ladino to the Stage at Yidstock"

23 May 2018

Contributed by Lukas

This week we visit with Sarah Aroeste. Sarah, American-born and trained in classical opera at Westminster Choir College and Yale University, was inspi...

Episode 0185 "JT Waldman Talks Comic Books and Judaism"

10 May 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Comic book creator and digital designer JT Waldman visited The Shmooze’s studio to answer our questions about his work, the intersection of comic bo...

Episode 0184 "Miriam Udel on Yiddish Children’s Literature, Translation, and Literary Encounters"

04 May 2018

Contributed by Lukas

This week we visit with Miriam Udel, Associate Professor of Yiddish Language, Literature, and Culture at Emory University. Miriam talks with us about ...

Episode 0183 "Ilan Stavans on Jewish Children’s Literature"

25 Apr 2018

Contributed by Lukas

This week we talk with Ilan Stavans, Lewis-Sebring Professor of Humanities, Latin American, and Latino Culture at Amherst College, publisher of Restle...

Episode 0182 "A Visit to Boston’s Vilna Shul"

13 Apr 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Lisa Newman and podcast producer and Yiddish Book Center fellow Zeke Levine take The Shmooze on the road to Boston for a visit and tour of the Vilna S...

Episode 0181 "Gefilte: The Story of One Family’s Holiday Tradition"

05 Apr 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Brooklyn-based writer and director Rachel Fleit shares the story behind her latest film, Gefilte. Each year, the Hermelin family of Detroit comes toge...

Episode 0180 "The Magnificent Esme Wells: A Coming-of-Age Story With a Tinge of Noir"

28 Mar 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Author Adrienne Sharp speaks with us about her latest novel, The Magnificent Esme Wells (April 2018). The story finds its voice in the perceptive and ...

Episode 0179 "The Sunshine Theatre: The History of a New York City Yiddish Landmark"

23 Mar 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Judith Thissen, a specialist of Jewish immigrant entertainment in New York City—especially film culture on the Lower East Side in the early twentiet...

Episode 0178 "American Jews and America's Game: Voices of a Growing Legacy in Baseball"

15 Mar 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Larry Ruttman is the author of American Jews and America's Game: Voices of a Growing Legacy in Baseball. Selected by Sports Collectors Digest (among o...

Episode 0177 "The Story Behind the Discovery of the Lost Songs of World War II"

09 Mar 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Yiddish Glory: The Lost Songs of World War II is a new recording of music created during the darkest chapter of European Jewish history. During these ...

Episode 0176 "Lee Lee’s Rugelach: Possibly the Best Rugelach Anywhere!"

01 Mar 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Mr. Alvin Lee Smalls first learned about rugelach in a newspaper article in the 1960s while he was working as an onion peeler in a New York City hospi...

Episode 0175 "From the Vault: A Collection of Yiddish Sheet Music"

22 Feb 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Zeke Levine takes The Shmooze into the Yiddish Book Center’s vault to explore the Center’s Yiddish sheet music collection. Zeke’s fellowship res...

Episode 0174 "Yidstock 2018: Four Days, Seven Concerts"

15 Feb 2018

Contributed by Lukas

On this episode, we talk with Seth Rogovoy, Yidstock artistic director, about the lineup for Yidstock 2018, which will include performances by David K...

"Beth Kaplan, Author of Finding the Jewish Shakespeare: The Life and Legacy of Jacob Gordin"

08 Feb 2018

Contributed by Lukas

This week, we speak with author, actress, and educator Beth Kaplan. Beth graduated from the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art, one of Britain’...

Episode 0172 "Great Jewish Books: Summer Programs for Teens and Educators"

02 Feb 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Josh Lambert, the Yiddish Book Center’s academic director, sits down to discuss all things “Great Jewish Books” related, including the Center’...

Episode 0171 "Danny’s Library: A Manhattan Yiddish Book Rescue "

26 Jan 2018

Contributed by Lukas

“How can I donate some Yiddish books?” That was the question Mindy asked David Mazower, bibliographer and editorial director at the Center, hopin...

Episode 0170 "Shannon Sarna, the Modern Jewish Baker"

19 Jan 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Shannon Sarna, editor of the Jewish food blog “The Nosher,” and author of Modern Jewish Baker, joins us to discuss her new takes on challah, babka...

EP0169 "On The Shmooze: Recommended Reads in Yiddish and English"

12 Jan 2018

Contributed by Lukas

From pocket-sized Yiddish books to on-my-night-table English-language works, The Shmooze's producer Zeke Levine and host Lisa Newman sit down to discu...

Episode 0168 "A Talk with the 2017–18 Yiddish Book Center Fellows"

21 Dec 2017

Contributed by Lukas

2017–18 Yiddish Book Center Fellows Miranda Cooper, Raphael Halff, and Zeke Levine join us to answer our many questions about the paths that brought...

Episode 0167: "New Yiddish Rep: Playing to a 21st Century Audience"

15 Dec 2017

Contributed by Lukas

This week, we talk with New Yiddish Rep director David Mandelbaum as he discusses the theater’s current production, Clifford Odets' 1935 masterpiece...

Episode 0166: "Photographer David Kaufman and his Work"

07 Dec 2017

Contributed by Lukas

This week, we visit with photographer and documentary filmmaker David Kaufman to learn what draws him to the architectural and historic Jewish sites t...

Episode 0165: "Remnants: Photographs of the Lower East Side"

20 Nov 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Photographers Janet Russek and David Scheinbaum started photographing New York’s Lower East Side in 1999, chronicling the neighborhood at a time of ...

Episode 0164: "Steiner Summer Yiddish Program Alums: On Stage at Der Yidisher Idol"

15 Nov 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Der Yidisher Idol stars Leah Reis-Dennis and Michael Yashinsky visit to talk about how they made the cut to perform their original Yiddish songs at th...

Episode 0163: "The Jewish Ghetto in Postcards: From Eastern Europe to the Lower East Side "

10 Nov 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Annie Polland, author, public historian, and senior vice president of programs and education at the Tenement Museum in New York, joins us on The Shmoo...

Episode 0162: "Live from St. Paul, Minnesota: A Yiddish Radio Show"

02 Nov 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Ruby Elliott Zuckerman, a student at Macalester College, tells us about her newly launched Yiddish radio show. An alumna of the Yiddish Book Center’...

Episode 0161:Beyle Schaechter-Gottesman: The Subject of a Forthcoming Short Film

23 Oct 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Drawing from an in-depth oral history interview with Beyle Schaechter-Gottesman, a short documentary film is now in production. Christa Whitney, direc...

Episode 0160: "Artist Mark Podwal on His Work and Its Influences"

18 Oct 2017

Contributed by Lukas

This week, artist Mark Podwal joins us to talk about his work, its influences, and his exhibit Kaddish for Dąbrowa Białostocka, which is on display ...

Episode 0159: "Alix Wall on the Legacy of Shmerke Kaczerginski’s Song, “Dos Elnte Kind”

04 Oct 2017

Contributed by Lukas

In a conversation with filmmakers Alix Wall and Marc Smolowitz, we learn about their collaboration on "The Lonely Child". Their film will tell the sto...

Episode 0158- Caraid O'Brien: On and Off the Stage

26 Sep 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Caraid O’Brien, an accomplished writer, performer, director, translator, and a Yiddish Book Center alumna speaks with us about her work on and off t...

Episode 0157- Eddy Portnoy on True Stories from the Yiddish Press

15 Sep 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Eddy Portnoy, senior researcher and director of exhibitions at the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research, talks about his newly published compendium of s...

Ep0156 - Eitan Kensky And Ozzy Irving Gold-Shapiro

26 Aug 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Editors Eitan Kensky and Ozzy Irving Gold-Shapiro sit down to talk about a special "Pakn Treger Translation Issue" devoted to writing by women. This c...

Episode 0155: "Menashe": A Father, a Son, a Community

26 Jul 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Director Joshua Z. Weinstein and leading character Menashe Lustig talk about the making of the newly released film, "Menashe." The film, performed in ...

Episode 0154: What Have You Been Doing Your Fellowship Year?

15 Jul 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Ozzy Irving Gold-Shapiro tells us what it’s like to spend a year as a Yiddish Book Center Fellow. Ozzy's Fellowship year has been spent rummaging th...

Episode 0153: Translating Chaim Grade

09 Jul 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Mel Rosenthal, a retired Knopf production editor, worked with the early galleys of Grade's "The Rabbi's House." In our conversation he discusses the c...

Episode 0152: Who Grace Paley Was

22 Jun 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Nora Paley, the co-editor of the recently published A Grace Paley Reader: Stories, Essays, and Poetry, talks about the life and work of her mother, wr...

Episode 0151: Yidstock 2017: The Festival of New Yiddish Music

07 Jun 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Seth Rogovoy, who literally wrote the book on klezmer, gives us a sneak preview of the Yidstock (July 13-16, 2017) lineup, from concerts featuring Ele...

Episode 0150: Andy Statman and the Klezmer Revival

02 Jun 2017

Contributed by Lukas

This week we sit down with Andy Statman, one of the founders of the klezmer revival. He and Lisa talk about how he initially came to klezmer and the w...

Episode 0149: A New Translation of a Classic Yiddish Tale by An-sky

26 May 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Rose Waldman joins us this week to talk about her new translation of S. An-sky's Pioneers. She and Lisa discuss An-sky’s relatable, and sometimes au...

Episode 0148: Exploring Jewish Holidays with Abigail Pogrebin

19 May 2017

Contributed by Lukas

This week we sit down with Abigail Pogrebin to speak about her latest book, My Jewish Year: 18 Holidays, One Wondering Jew. She and Lisa discuss the i...

Episode 0147: A World of Jewish Cooking with Joan Nathan

11 May 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Award-winning cookbook author Joan Nathan took time to speak with us about her newest book, King Solomon's Table: A Culinary Exploration of Jewish Coo...

Episode 0146: Jewish Summer Camping with Riv-Ellen Prell

05 May 2017

Contributed by Lukas

This week, we are joined by Riv-Ellen Prell, a professor at the University of Minnesota, to talk about Jewish summer camping in the United States in t...

Episode 0145: Unearthing Memories in the Lodz Ghetto

28 Apr 2017

Contributed by Lukas

This week we are joined by Kristen Gresh, curator of the new exhibit at the Museum of Fine Arts Boston: "Memory Unearthed: The Lodz Ghetto Photographs...

Epsiode 0144: Yiddish Translation and Writing with Curt Leviant

21 Apr 2017

Contributed by Lukas

This week we are joined by writer and translator Curt Leviant, best known for his many novels and translations of famous Yiddish authors, including Ch...

Episode 0143: Beyond the Forest: Loli Kantor's Photographic Expedition into Eastern Europe

14 Apr 2017

Contributed by Lukas

This week we sit down with Loli Kantor, the photographer behind our newest visiting exhibit: Beyond the Forest: Jewish Presence in Eastern Europe. Lol...

Episode 0142: Sandy Fox on Jewish Summer Camp and Yiddish Feminist Podcasting

04 Apr 2017

Contributed by Lukas

This week we are joined by Sandy Fox, a PhD candidate at NYU and the host of the popular Yiddish feminist podcast Vaybertaytsh. Sandy talks about her ...

Episode 0141: The Pickle Guys: Kosher Pickles on the Lower East Side

31 Mar 2017

Contributed by Lukas

This week we sit down with Alan Kaufman, owner of the Lower East Side-based shop The Pickle Guys, known for its specialty pickles and pickled fruits a...

Episode 0140: Kosher USA: How Coke Became Kosher

24 Mar 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Roger Horowitz, author of the recently published Kosher USA: How Coke Became Kosher and Other Tales of Modern Food, shares a few backstories from his ...

Episode 0139: The Ellis Island Yiddish Sound Archives

16 Mar 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Eric Byron joins us this week to speak about the Ellis Island sound archives, which include a collection of Yiddish phonographic recordings dating fro...

Episode 0138: The Abandoned Book: A New Collection of Yiddish Translations

10 Mar 2017

Contributed by Lukas

This week we sat down with the Yiddish Book Center's own Eitan Kensky to talk about our newest publication, The Abandoned Book and Other Yiddish Stori...

Episode 0137: Exploring the Roots of Jewish Sounds

03 Mar 2017

Contributed by Lukas

This week we sat down with Judah Cohen, an ethnomusicologist who focuses on the ways that Jewish communities are brought together by the music that th...

Episode 0136: Bringing Mazel to Your Doorstep

24 Feb 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Hello Mazel is a subscription service that delivers handpicked Jewish goodies—from Margarita mix to a towel that says "shvitsy"--right to your doors...

Episode 0135: Finding Bob Dylan

17 Feb 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Over the course of his decades-long career, Bob Dylan has produced some of the most powerful political songs of the era. Born Robert Allen Zimmerman, ...

Episode 0134: Yiddish Theater in the Digital Age

10 Feb 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Yiddish theater is experiencing an almost renaissance, with new productions of old Yiddish plays hitting the stage for the first time in decades. The ...

Episode 0133: Three Generations of Jewish Women and One Graphic Memoir

02 Feb 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Artist Amy Kurzweil joins us this week to speak about her critically acclaimed graphic memoir "Flying Couch." The memoir brings together Amy's own com...

Episode 0132: Reimagining Matzo

27 Jan 2017

Contributed by Lukas

The Brooklyn-based Matzo Project, founded by summer camp friends Kevin Rodriguez and Ashley Albert, aims to make matzo less stale. They, along with a ...

Episode 0131: A Century of Yiddish Fiction from the Forward

20 Jan 2017

Contributed by Lukas

The stories collected in the newly published Have I Got a Story for You—discovered after many hours of combing through Der Forverts' archives—repr...

Episode 0130: One Year and One Thousand Yiddish Words

13 Jan 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Playwright and journalist Max Sparber was raised in a Reform Jewish household, attended an Orthodox high school, and, in college, majored in Jewish st...

Episode 0129: Through a Unique Jewish Lens

04 Jan 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Author Lesléa Newman joins us to speak about her prolific writing career and how her books and poetry are informed by her being Jewish and a lesbian....

Episode 0128: Discovering and Translating Yiddish Writer Blume Lempel

14 Dec 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Blume Lempel was born in what is now Ukraine, spent time in Paris as a young woman, then fled to New York just before the Second World War, where she ...

Episode 0127: "Between the Ottoman Empire and Modern Greece"

06 Dec 2016

Contributed by Lukas

In the wake of the Ottoman Empire, Jews living in Salonica were forced to reimagine their communities and rethink their place in the newly formed nati...

Episode 0126: On Exhibit: Jewish Art and the Lower East Side

29 Nov 2016

Contributed by Lukas

The Yiddish Book Center’s newest exhibit, Balka’s Lower East Side, features art that transcends the moment during which it was created. Curator La...

Episode 0125: "Molly on the Range"

21 Nov 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Macaroni and cheese flowcharts and schnitzel costume patterns are just two of the many things you can find in Molly Yeh’s (Tent: Food NYC ’14) new...

Episode 0124: The Jewish Nature of Photography: "Descendants of Light"

14 Nov 2016

Contributed by Lukas

What makes photography a particularly Jewish craft? That question fueled renowned photographer Penny Wolin’s eight-year project to capture the essen...

Episode 0123: The Great Jewish Books Book Club

07 Nov 2016

Contributed by Lukas

In the Yiddish Book Center’s new Great Jewish Books Book Club, which launches in January, club members will explore great works of modern Jewish lit...

Episode 0122: Finding Babel

28 Oct 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Episode 0122: Finding Babel by Yiddish Book Center

Episode 0121: Wishing a "Happy New Year" with Yiddish Postcards

19 Oct 2016

Contributed by Lukas

In the late nineteenth century, Jews celebrated the New Year by sending each other illustrated postcards with hopes and wishes for the upcoming year. ...

Episode 0120: Mamaleh Knows Best

06 Oct 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Marjorie Ingall discusses her new book, Mamaleh Knows Best: What Jewish Mothers Do to Raise Successful, Creative, Empathetic, Independent Children, wh...

Episode 0119: Recovering Early Yiddish Recordings

26 Sep 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Henry Sapoznik speaks about his recent project, Attractive Hebrews: The Thomas Lambert Yiddish Recordings, 1901-1905. Some of the earliest known Yiddi...

Episode 0118: Seven Weeks With Yiddish

12 Sep 2016

Contributed by Lukas

As Josh Kogan-Zajdman wrapped up his seventh and final week in the 2016 Steiner Summer Yiddish Program, he talked about growing up with Yiddish-speaki...

Episode 0117: "Jewish Champions in the Golden Age of Boxing"

28 Jul 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Boxing historian Mike Silver, author of "Stars in the Ring: Jewish Champions in the Golden Age of Boxing: A Photographic History," talks about the all...

Episode 0116: How Klezmer Defined a Community

30 Jun 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Hankus Netsky tells us about his recent book, "Klezmer: Music and Community in Twentieth-Century Philadelphia," a portrait of the folk music and tradi...

Episode 0115: Eleanor Reissa – In Music and Theater She's Keeping Yiddish Alive

09 Jun 2016

Contributed by Lukas

The queen of Yiddish cabaret, Eleanor Reissa, is a Brooklyn-born native Yiddish speaker whose work in theater as a director, actor, writer, and choreo...

Episode 0114: The Remarkable Life—and Afterlife—of Sholem Aleichem

12 May 2016

Contributed by Lukas

The new website sholemaleichem.org considers the life and work of the great Yiddish writer on his hundredth "yortsayt." Sholem Aleichem biographer Jer...

Episode 0113: Bashevis Singer and His Translators

18 Apr 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Over his career, Yiddish writer Isaac Bashevis Singer worked with dozens of female translators, with whom he developed close—and often complicated—...

Episode 0112: A New "Haggadah" for a New World

04 Apr 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Author and scholar Ilan Stavans talks about his latest book, "The New World Haggadah," a contemporary take that focuses on the Jewish experience from ...

Episode 0111: Reports from the Wartime Ghettos, Now in English Translation

14 Mar 2016

Contributed by Lukas

As journalists writing in the wartime Polish ghettos, Peretz Opoczynski and Josef Zelkowicz captured the anxiety and uncertainty of daily life for Jew...

Episode 0110: Bringing Jewish Culture into the Classroom

30 Dec 2015

Contributed by Lukas

Last summer, educators from around the country came to the Yiddish Book Center for our inaugural Great Jewish Books Teacher Workshop, where they worke...

Episode 0109: "A Town Known as Auschwitz"

12 Dec 2015

Contributed by Lukas

Though it has a long and varied history, the town of Oświęcim, Poland, is notorious for one thing: Auschwitz. Yet for centuries prior to World War T...

Episode 0108: The Stories Behind Favorite Hanukkah Recipes

04 Dec 2015

Contributed by Lukas

Tina Wasserman, author of "Entree to Judaism: A Culinary Exploration of the Jewish Diaspora" and "Entree to Judaism for Families: Jewish Cooking and K...