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May 29, 2025, 11:17 PM

Write Like A Jew

When the chief librarian for the Davie/Cooper City Library direct messaged (DM) me an invite to lecture for Jewish Heritage Month, of course, I accepted. You see, I don't receive that many invites for speaking gigs. And when the librarian asked,...

Alexander A. Winogradsky Frenkel

May 28, 2025, 9:20 PM

The lash of fire and the light beyond the veil

“Pulsa denura – פולסא דנורא” is a specifically Talmudic expression, further developed within Kabbalistic movements. “Pulsa – פולסא” is an Aramaic term meaning: “disk or round plate,” or also a “ring,” initially used as a weight measure or as...

Mar 18, 2025, 11:19 AM

Re-Creating the Path of Remembrance. YIVO Celebration in Vilnius.

Opening of the YIVO commemorating exhibition in Vilnius, Lithuania. March 2025. (C) Gintare Grigenaite, LDNM.

The first exhibition in Lithuania and the world to mark the 100th anniversary of the legendary institution Part I. The first exhibition to mark the 100th anniversary of YIVO In the beginning of March 2025, an unusual, special and warm exhibition opened...

Alexander Seinfeld

Feb 21, 2025, 8:28 AM

Oy for an aye??

My father z"l would occasionally season a conversation with random Yiddish words. I suppose he heard these as a child from his grandparents – Iddish-reddendik (Yiddish-speaking) immigrants from Galicia. Sometimes Yiddish can say it better than English. That's why Americans know what chutzpah is and can recognize schmaltzy music when...

Oct 15, 2024, 12:35 AM

We’re Living in Miraculous Times

No Jew Left Behind It’s the best of times; it’s the worst of times. Today, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu delivered a fiery speech before a half-empty hall at the United Nations. Whilst Israel’s brave and courageous actions have earned the...

Oct 10, 2024, 5:31 PM

Yiddish in the Heart: Evgeny Kissin and His Soulful Bond

A Warm Evening in Paris In the middle of September, the hall of the Centre d’Art et de Culture Juive, the Centre of Yiddish Culture in Paris, was bustling and happily overcrowded. It was the time of the ceremony of...

Sep 25, 2024, 1:54 PM

Discovered Yiddish ‘Book’ of Carpathian Jewish Family in Need of Translation

The Carpathian Mountain Jews (my term) were a Jewish branch unto themselves, having occupied the eastern part of historic Hungary (including parts of what are today Slovakia, Ukraine, and Romania) from before Ashkenazi Jews from Germany came to eastern...

May 27, 2024, 7:38 AM

Isaac Leib Peretz’s Masterpiece ‘Bontshe the Silent’

Yiddish writer Isaac Leib Peretz’s short story, “Bontshe Shvayg,” generally translated as “Bontshe the Silent,” was first published in 1894. It is one of the most widely known, anthologized, and translated Yiddish stories. Bontshe is a poor man who...

May 25, 2024, 12:11 AM

Typical Traits of Jewish Literature

What is Jewish literature? The question has been raised before, and answered with various degrees of justification. Back in 1903, a Mr. S. Levy sought to demonstrate that the term “Jewish literature” was itself unfitting. Pointing to some problems (as...

Reuven Chaim Klein

Jan 20, 2024, 11:35 PM

To Describe a Scribe

After Deborah and Barak led the Jewish People to a miraculous victory against the Canaanite general Sisera, Deborah sang an epic song praising those Jewish tribes that aided their efforts and criticizing those who failed to contribute. In her...

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