Hilda Bronstein
Monica Acosta
Jacqueline Curons – Piano

Vera Chapper
Madeline Cohen
Stephen Curtis
David Finlay
John Gewirtz
Brian Levy
Stanley Volk
Angela WoolfsonJane Zane

Song 1

Song 2

Song 3

Song 4

Song 5

Song 6

Song 7

Song 8

Song 9

Song 10

Song 11

Yidl Mitn Fidl

Yiddish Frog Song

Volt Ikh Gehat Koyekh

Tokhter Mayne Getrayere

Yiddish Song And Dance

Shteyt In Feld A Beymele

Shnirele Perele

Revenu Tam

Mayn Shvester Khaya

Kalibote – rare song

If I Were A Tailor

Hulyet Kinderlakh

Heveynu Sholem Aleichem

Gerry Tenney Leads Yiddish Dance And Song

Di Veverke

Beethoven’s Ninth In Yiddish

Afn Veg Shteyt A Boym

A Fidler

Where do I go?

Vos Vestu Ton?

Rozshenkes Mit Mandlen

Oy Herschele

Mazl

ikh benk aheym

Farges Mikh Nisht

Chiri Bim

Bay Mir Bistu Sheyn

Women’s Worker Songs

Adrienne Cooper – Gezang Far A Beserer Velt

Adrienne Cooper – Dos Bisele Borscht

Jeanette Lewicki – Hulye Kaptsn

Dance Music And Song

Sharon Bernstein – Tsi Darf Es Azoy Zayn?

Jeanette Lewicki – Siz Shoyn Farfaln

Sharon Bernstein – Di Malke Vashti Geyt Tsu Der Tlie

Adrienne Cooper – Ver Vet Blaybn? Vos Vet Blaybn?

Sharon Bernstein – A Drinking Nigun

Adrienne Cooper – A Mol Iz Geven A Mayse

Adrienne Cooper – A Leterl Zsum Himl

ale brider

a nign

hobn mir a nigundl

vos iz geven iz geven

reb dovidl

yome, yome

sapozhkelekh

shloymele malkele

sheyn vi di livone

yosel yosel

rozhinkes mit mandlen

di mashke

Chanukah iz freylekh!

Gorgeous Song

Gut Morgn Aykh!

Standup Comedy

At the Opera

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Keynote Speech:

Kolya Teaching Yiddish Teachers To Teach:

How To Teach Yiddish Songs:

Teaching Yiddish with Sholem Aleichem’s Curses:

Preserving History:

Yiddish Storyteller:

Rosalyn’s Story:

If you would like to help, you can listen to the tapes here and then reply with in the comments section below with your translation. If you’d like to provide a fuller response, you can send us an email to Info@YiddishLives.com and attach whatever translations you can provide.

Part 1
(Click on the Arrow to Play)

Part 2 is harder to decipher – requires a little more patience to make out the words
(Click on the Arrow to Play)

For additional context, here is an email of explanation from the family:

Eric,

I thought I might give you a little background to help you when listening to
the files.

When WWI erupted, the family was living in Kotykowka (a suburb of Horodenka)
Poland. The family decided to flee to Vienna: Miriam and her husband
(Avrom), daughter (Necha, my mother), son (Gustav), mother-in-law (Henya),
and sisters Beile, Feige, and possibly Gittel. Miriam worked as a
seamstress, sewing uniforms and “working” the black market during the war. I
think they lived on the Wohlmutstrasse at this time. My grandmother also
caught TB and had to spend 6 months some sanitorium in Italy. I think her
two brothers, Adolph and Isaac (I.J.) were sending her money from America.

After the war, the family returned to Poland to reclaim their house and
business. Miriam refused to go with them, believing she and the family had
a better chance of joining her brothers in America from Vienna. At this
time, she may have moved to the Bindergasse. Her cousin, Tony and Max Leder,
lived on the Tandelmarktgasse and they may have visited each other.

She remained in Vienna with the children, continued bartering and receiving
income from America, and “commuted” to Horodenka until 1938. My mother and
uncle finished their education, Gustav in medical school and my mother in
medical school (dropped out), sewing academy, and bookkeeping academy. I
think my mother also traveled to Israel during this period. Some time right
before Krystallnacht, my grandmother had surgery on her leg, probably for
varicose veins which was a chronic problem for her.

I have little other information during this 20-year period and was hoping I
could glean more data from the (three) interview sessions which cover that
time frame.

I would be happy just to get words or paraphrasing, if literal translations are not feasible.

Thanks again,

Shirley & Mike

Preserving Life Stories Told in Yiddish

מיר װינטשן פֿאַר אײַך אַלע אַ גוט פֿרײלעך נײַ יאָר

Happy New Year to All!

News

Yiddish Lives on the Radio:

Yiddish Lives was featured on KSVY Radio from Sonoma, CA. We were invited to speak about our project as well as Yiddish preservation in general for their Chanukah program. You can listen to the show here.

Non-Profit Status:

On December 31st, 2009, Yiddish Lives filed Articles of Incorporation with the State of California! Additionally, we’ve applied for a tax ID with the IRS. Once we have these both in hand, we’ll apply for our official 501(3)(c) Non-Profit Corporation status. With that, if YouTube approves of our project, they will allow us to put up videos without the 11 minute restriction we’re currently coping with.

Upcoming Events

New Releases!

Anatomy of a Yiddish Reading Group Eli Katz was a professor at Berkeley and a well known translator of Yiddish literature. With his parting, we felt it was important to show how wonderful and wondrous a Yiddish reading group could be, as it was with him. Luckily, we had Max Ticktin’s group in Washington, D.C., which remains a role model.

We interviewed Carolyn Shapiro at her home in Maryland. As you can tell, she has a lovely smile and likes to laugh. During our time together, she talked about her family, growing up, Yiddish theatre, and took us on a tour of rare pictures from a past long ago.

Flo Stofsky is a New Yorker, was born a New Yorker, and will likely always be a New Yorker. We are lucky and delighted to hear her detailed accounts of life growing up in the Bronx Coops.

Harvey Spiro is a passionate Yiddishist. He’s worked and studied hard to become proficient in Yiddish. In the segment, taken after much arm twisting, he talks about his life, but also some of what he went through to become as good a Yiddish speaker and reader as he now is. Beyond his life as a student of Yiddish, Harvey has also been very helpful as a Yiddish group organizer in the Greater Washington D.C. area.

Wow. Just Wow. Hilda Rubin is the one responsible for getting us to Washington and Maryland. We owe her an enormous debt of gratitude. She has lived vast portions of her life in the Yiddish worlds in ways that many of us only read about. She is an enormous treasure trove of knowledge, experience and information about the Bronx co-operatives, Yiddish theatre and its performers. These interviews only scratch the surface and we are looking forward to more time with Hilda.

Jack Moskowitz is a funny guy. He took us away from all the serious discussions and made us laugh. Not all of his stories are G rated, but from what we’ve heard so far, they are very real and some show aspects of life in the Yiddish speaking community that you might not hear elsewhere.

You will surely remember Rita Rubinstein from the group, “Die Freyliche Knaidlach“. We have a very important set of interviews here. They are quite different from the joyous songs we mentioned in our last newsletter (YiddishLives.com/FK). These conversations are firsthand accounts of a life that started in Romania and are not to be missed. They are moving and beautiful, as is Rita herself.

Sarita Zimmerman will charm you. If you haven’t heard someone from Buenos Aires speak Yiddish, you’re in for a treat. Listening to her language and her story will remind you how universal Yiddish was and remains to this day.

Contact Us

As always, you can contact us at any time by phone or email.
email: info@YiddishLives.com
phone: (408) 457-0075

Luckily, Max Ticktin is leading a Yiddish Reading Group in Washington, D.C. His group is a role model for how a fun & fascinating leyenkrayz works.

If you like the program, you might want to let KSVY know. Their site is: http://thmm.com/ksvy. You can also contact them directly by clicking here.

Life Part 1

Life Part 2

Life Part 3

Life Part 4

On Yiddish Theatre with Hilda Rubin – Part 1

On Yiddish Theatre with Hilda Rubin – Part 2

She is also, herself, a walking history book of Yiddish in the U.S. with vast knowledge of the Bronx Co-operatives, Yiddishists, theatre folks, actors, singers, and on and on. We were very lucky to get these recordings.

Life – Part 1

Life – Part 2

Life – Part 3

On Yiddish Theatre with Carolyn Shapiro – Part 1

On Yiddish Theatre with Carolyn Shapiro – Part 2

Pictures of the Interview and of the Coops from 2009 follow.

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

It was after working with Rita that we realized why it was so important to preserve these stories in Yiddish itself. Listening to her describe her experiences as a little child in the language that it actually occurred in was something remarkable. It was as if we were transported back to those events as they were happening.

Perhaps more important, though, is to notice her smile. How can someone who lived through such a time in history ever smile again? And yet, there she is. Not only does she have a wide open smile for us now, she tells about the fun she always looked for as a kid, even in the camps. These stories are treasures from a woman who is herself one of our treasures.

To see more of Rita,why not check out Die Freyliche Knaidlach?

December 2009 Newsletter

Stay Tuned!

Part 2

Part Two

Yiddish:
Ven ikh nem gezegnen zikh
Mit der mame
Loyft di gantse shtib oyf gikh
Zikh tsuzamen
Loyft di gantse shtib oyf gikh
Zikh tsuzamen

Vi zhe geystu hey du yat?
Yusl shoyte
Vils gor veren a soldat bay die royte
Vils gor veren a soldat bay die royte

Es hobn di royte kayn giver
Kayn soldatn
Svet dem Bolshevik on dir
Gournit shatn
Svet dem Bolshevik on dir
Gournit shatn

Dan geshtanen dan bin ikh
Zey tsu zogn
Hudyet tsu beveynen mir
Hudyet klugn
Hudyet tsu beveynen mir
Hudyet klugn

English:
When I started saying goodbye
To my mother
Everyone in the house rushed in
All together
Everyone in the house rushed in
All together

So where the heck are you going
You jerk?
I want to be a solider with the red army
I want to be a solider with the red army

They have not guns
No soldiers
There will be Bolsheviks even without you
They wont miss you
There will be Bolsheviks even without you
They wont miss you

Then I stood up
to tell them
Its useless to cry for me
Its useless to wail
Its useless to cry for me
Its useless to wail

Die Freyliche Knaidlach is a singing group comprised of 4 wonderful women (Rita Rubinstein, Susan Goldsamt, Michele Peck, and Ruth Newhouse). They have performed widely from college campuses to senior venues and more sharing the songs and stories of our past as well as new material. Their beautiful and strong performances speak for themselves! If you’d like to reach them, please email: rknaydel2@verizon.net.

Die Freyliche Knaidlach is a singing group comprised of 4 wonderful women (Rita Rubinstein, Susan Goldsamt, Michele Peck, and Ruth Newhouse). They have performed widely from college campuses to senior venues and more sharing the songs and stories of our past as well as new material. Their beautiful and strong performances speak for themselves! If you’d like to reach them, please email: rknaydel2@verizon.net.

Die Freyliche Knaidlach is a singing group comprised of 4 wonderful women (Rita Rubinstein, Susan Goldsamt, Michele Peck, and Ruth Newhouse). They have performed widely from college campuses to senior venues and more sharing the songs and stories of our past as well as new material. Their beautiful and strong performances speak for themselves! If you’d like to reach them, please email: rknaydel2@verizon.net.

Die Freyliche Knaidlach is a singing group comprised of 4 wonderful women (Rita Rubinstein, Susan Goldsamt, Michele Peck, and Ruth Newhouse). They have performed widely from college campuses to senior venues and more sharing the songs and stories of our past as well as new material. Their beautiful and strong performances speak for themselves! If you’d like to reach them, please email: rknaydel2@verizon.net

Note: Die Freyliche Knaidlach have their own page: www.YiddishLives.com/FK

Die Freyliche Knaidlach is a singing group comprised of 4 wonderful women (Rita Rubinstein, Susan Goldsamt, Michele Peck, and Ruth Newhouse). They have performed widely from college campuses to senior venues and more sharing the songs and stories of our past as well as new material. Their beautiful and strong performances speak for themselves! If you’d like to reach them, please email: rknaydel2@verizon.net.

Die Freyliche Knaidlach is a singing group comprised of 4 wonderful women (Rita Rubinstein, Susan Goldsamt, Michele Peck, and Ruth Newhouse). They have performed widely from college campuses to senior venues and more sharing the songs and stories of our past as well as new material. Their beautiful and strong performances speak for themselves! If you’d like to reach them, please email: rknaydel2@verizon.net.

Without further ado, then, are Belle and Lou Ganapoler:

Lou And Belle Ganapoler Singing – Part 1

Lou And Belle Ganapoler Singing – Part 2

Lou And Belle Ganapoler Tell Yiddish Story On The Radio

Lou And Belle Ganapoler Perform the Three Little Pigs in Yiddish

Lou Ganapoler Sings American Songs in Yiddish

Lou Ganapoler Sings American Songs in Yiddish – Part 2

Lou Ganapoler Sings American Songs in Yiddish – Part 3

Feel free to click this link to download here and then print and put up wherever you can:

Yiddish Lives Flyer PDF

Here’s what it looks like:

Yiddish Lives Flyer

http://naturarerum.wordpress.com/2009/09/26/creating-a-web-presence/

Listen to how her parents survived the war, the refugee camps, how she grew up in New York, and studied at Der Arbiter Ring (Workman’s Circle).

Luisa sings some Yiddish songs and explains the impact they had on her life.

Luisa Smith and Eric Edelstein have a chat about her family.

Time for some silliness!

First we explain how to do the hiwhat’snewhowareyagoodbye conversation and how it can earn you lots of candy (chocolates in particular):

 

Next we move on to how to answer some of those same questions:

 

Finally, since you’ve all mastered the language, it’s time to be the smart alec we all know you are!

Unfortunately, I’m still the only one adding content, but hopefully we can change that. If you need any help, just use our contact page to get ahold of us.

Since the site at this point is really geared at English speakers, I added a video in English explaining the point of this project. You can see it here:

Also, since the whole point is to preserve some unique family treasures, I recorded a rare song “Ven ikh nem” about a man announcing that he’s going to leave him family to join the Bolshevic army:

Dzhankoye is another song we always sang at family get-togethers. It’s righteous indignation at how people sees the Jews as elite intellectuals makes for a song that’s fun to sing:

And yes, I had to add a reaaaaallly ooooooldddd Jewish Joke about Mrs. Megillicuttie. Even Bart The Dog wanted in on the making of this one.

The Goal
Have people all over the world submit videos on YouTube in Yiddish in such a way that people can find songs, hear stories, listen to their relatives, and otherwise continue to have Yiddish as a part of their lives in the future.

How it Works
People upload Yiddish videos to YouTube with words that describe the content (tags). By using the same set of words, people can search and find what they’re looking for.

Who makes the videos?
Across the world, there are people who want to see Yiddish thrive. We call them Meyvns. These Meyvns will find people with video cameras, webcams, cameras that record videos, cell phones that record videos, and they will make movies of any and all Yiddish speakers they can find.

The Mayvn Network, open to any and all, will record the lives, songs, stories, joke, and thoughts of our precious Yiddish speakers and present them openly to the world.

Who is running this?
You.

Who else is running this?
There is no leader. Videos are available to the world because enthusiasts put them there.

How much does it cost?
No money is involved. This is about a love of our language, culture, and people.

See it in Action!
Look here!

For a slightly less academic explanation, here’s a short video on the subject in Yiddish.