Podcasts about yiddishist

In a letter to a "Yiddishist" who expressed concern about receiving correspondence from the Rebbe in English, the Rebbe explains the necessity of sometimes using non-Jewish languages in communication. The Rebbe highlights the importance of conveying messages and teachings to all Jews, regardless of language barriers, to help bring them closer to Torah and mitzvot.

In a letter to a "Yiddishist" who expressed concern about receiving correspondence from the Rebbe in English, the Rebbe explains the necessity of sometimes using non-Jewish languages in communication. The Rebbe highlights the importance of conveying messages and teachings to all Jews, regardless of language barriers, to help bring them closer to Torah and mitzvot.

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-socialst-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

"The Shmooze" visited with Jake Krakovsky, an Atlanta-based puppeteer, writer, actor, director, teaching artist, and as of late Yiddishist. In conversation, Jake recounted how he successfully turned the Yiddish story "Labzik" into a puppet film and how in the process he discovered the richness of Yiddish language, literature, and culture. Episode 331 August 4, 2022 Amherst, MA

I'm so pumped about this conversation with Etl Niborski, recorded in Tel Aviv this past summer. Etl is a 19-year-old left-wing activist and a native Yiddish speaker who recently completed her national service working in a school in Jaffa for at-risk youth. We talked all about what it's like to be an Israeli at the end of high school — all of the complicated decisions one has to make about joining the military or finding a way not to — how her Yiddishist background impacts her political thinking, what it was like to be a Yiddish-speaking, non-Hasidic kid on the streets of Jerusalem, and about her current Yiddish activities and projects.For more from The White Screen's album Sex, Drugs, and Palestine, click here.To see our most recent merch, click here.

This week "The Shmooze" goes transatlantic for a conversation with London-based Vivi Lachs, a social and cultural historian, Yiddishist, and postdoc research fellow at Queen Mary University of London. The author of several books including "White Chapel Noise," Vivi translated the newly released "London Yiddishtown: East End Jewish Life in Yiddish Sketch and Story, 1930–1950," a collection of previously untranslated short stories and sketches by Katie Brown, A. M. Kaizer, and I. A. Lisky. Episode 309 October 21, 2021 Yiddish Book Center Amherst, MA

…and we're back! Sorry for the very long delay, everyone. I don't know I've said this in any recent episodes, but I'm writing a book right now, and oof, has it taken a lot of time/energy out of me. But the clouds are clearing, both from the writing and from the Corona year we all just got through, and it finally feels like the right time to bring back Vaybertaytsh. I'm so excited, I could just scream!And a talk with Reyze Turner is quite a way to get back into things! Reyze is a passionate Yiddishist, a researcher, and a language teacher, and she is also about to go start a PhD in Wisconsin! We talked a lot about her life path, career, her time in Paris working at Medem Yiddish Center, and about the state of Yiddish itself. It was a blast to chat with Reyze, and I hope you all enjoy the episode as much as I enjoyed recording it!

Acclaimed Yiddish actor Shane Baker, recipient of the 2020 Adrienne Cooper Dreaming in Yiddish Award, has brought Yiddish theater, classes, and cultural events to every continent—including Antarctica!—through his work as director of the Congress for Jewish Culture, a Yiddishist organization based in New York. He chats with "The Shmooze" about his work both on and off the Yiddish stage. Episode 0281 December 2, 2020 Yiddish Book Center Amherst, Massachusetts

Meet the one and only Mikhl Yashinsky! A talented Yiddishist, actor, writer, director, and teacher, Mikhl is propelled by an undeniable energy to spread a love for the Yiddish language near and far. In this episode, Mikhl discusses the importance of Yiddish and how his passion for the language and culture blossomed, talks about the humbling and powerful experience he had when acting on stage in Fiddler on the Roof in Yiddish, and shares many nuggets of wisdom for those looking to explore and embrace new passions. Stay up to date with Mikhl's delightful Yiddish videos and creative content on Instagram at @mikhldarling.

What a pleasure to talk to Sasha Berenstein, a musician and Yiddishist who recently led a communal effort of to create a list of words and phrases that have to do with transkayt and queerkayt! The list can be read here. We talked about what inspired the list and went through some of Sasha’s favorites. Thanks Sasha!Vaybertaytsh Shmueskrayzn continue on Zoom, every Thursday at 12PM!

Mikhl Yashinsky (מיכל יאַשינסקי, aka Michael Yashinsky) is an actor, playwright, stage director, and Yiddishist. He sits down with Rabbi Mintz to discuss the importance of carrying on the language and what it means to him, his family, and the history of Jewish people.

Welcome to Episode 31 of Hatradio!  My guest is Miriam Borden, a vivacious person, full of verve and a zest for life. Miriam is Lynda Kraar's daughter, whom I schmoozed with on Episode 11. You'll notice the two share a certain melody in their speak and a certain speed to their delivery, generally reserved for those who think a lot. Like mother, like daughter. I so enjoyed this schmooze. It was full of sun! Full of light!  And indeed, Miriam is a thinker. She is Ph.d student. Her major is Yiddish and throughout the show we speak about her passion for this medieval, 9th century Jewish language, including some of the quirky, uncomfortable, but to-the-point sayings. Check this one out: in response to the question of 'how are things' --  mi shlukt yiddin (1:03:35), Jews are being attacked (with a little shrug). Interestingly, Miriam laughs a lot and she laughed at this expression. Why? I think it has to do with her deep love for the Jewish people, and Judaism, which she calls "very rich", and an acceptance of our plight in history. Despite the fact Jews have been so persecuted, we've managed to develop an entire culture, a certain intellect and a major spiritual body of work. Miriam gets that!   At the 24:50 mark of the show, Miriam responds to the question: 'Why Yiddish?'. She says, "I study Yiddish because it yet another way to inhabit my Jewishness.  I study Yiddish for exactly the same reason I studied Gemarah (Talmud)....history...and that I love Jews...it's all part and parcel of the same landscape. It's the same reason I want to educate my kids in a Jewish way." Interestingly, she's married to a non-Jew. I asked her how that works? Miriam answered freely.  Herring! At 52:28, I asked Miriam what her relationship is to herring, as she wrote a 2,000 word article, front page for the Canadian Jewish News (CJN). Well, apparently, the article started out as a joke with friends, and eventually Miriam was encouraged to offer it up to the CJN. In the article, and in this interview, we learn about  'herring anti-Semitism'; schmaltz herring versus marinated herring; and of course, the many centuries of this small fish as part of the Jewish menu. Miriam speaks a lot about food. And she's a baker with some special and sweet insight into the character of air kicklach otherwise known as 'nothings',  and tsimis,  a traditional Jewish sweet stew. It's fascinating how she ties these foods into the Jewish pscyhe.    1:00:56:  Miriam talks about being third generation Holocaust Survivor. She accepts the responsibility that comes with it especially as Survivors are dying off. Miriam says we are now the "keepers of that knowledge. We are the living legacy of 'those people' ". Listen to her wonderfully crafted description of her relationship with her Boobie and Zaidy, which was very special and a tad wonky.  When asked what she would do to continue the discussion about the Holocaust, she responded, "I  think I'm doing it."  1:06:57:  A 5-minute play I wrote called: "Whether to to Save or Not, Jews in our Barn, in the town of Auschwitz'. I did so, in response to the question of: 'would you be a righteous Jew/Gentile?'. Miriam and I voiced the play. Howard Pasternack, produced the show afterward, brilliantly!!! Listen to this podcast-theatre about the quandary of rescuing a life at the peril of one's own life, the lives of one's children.   Miriam was a wonderful interview. She was because of her celebration of life, her laughter, her full embrace of her Jewishness and her life. In episode 31, we learn about Miriam's deep love for her family, her husband and really for all person-kind. And she is having fun. Enjoy this show. It is truly inspiring, thoughtful and full of meaning.  Lynda did a great job with her daughter. Miriam did a splendid job with her Mom. I have hope in our existence, our world, because of their effervescence and commitment to the beautiful spirit that lies within all of us. Well done, Miriam! And thank you for a fine schmooze.  Hatradio! The show that schmoozes.  _______________________________________________________________________ Thank you David Nefesh for the Hatradio! song, and to Howard Pasternack for his brilliant post-production stuff. The make the show very special.  Music from https://filmmusic.io"Measured Paces" and "Despair and Triumph" by Kevin MacLeod (https://incompetech.com)License: CC BY (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) Credit for music in commercial:"Slow Burn" by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Yitskhok Niborski was born in Buenos Aires in 1947 and raised in a Yiddishist, secular family. He attended the Yiddish schools that then thrived in Buenos Aires and the Yiddish teachers' training academy (Lerer-Seminar), specializing in Yiddish literature. He moved to Paris in 1979 to take up a position as Director of the Medem Library while also teaching at the prestigious Ecole Nationale des Etudes Orientales. He remained at the head of the Medem Library for over thirty years, helping to turn the Medem Library-Paris Yiddish Center into one of the most active Yiddish institutions in the world. He has devoted his entire adult life to Yiddish education: in elementary schools, in classes for adults, and in universities. He participated in publishing several Yiddish dictionaries and textbooks, nobably the Verterbukh fun Loshn-koydesh Shtamike Verter in Yidish (first edition 1997) and the Dictionnaire Yiddish-Français (Yiddish-French Dictionary) (2002), both published by the Medem Library-Paris Yiddish Center. He has also written and published over twenty poems in Yiddish. See also: Medem Library-Paris Yiddish Center home page: http://www.yiddishweb.com/ The interviews are conducted by Sholem Beinfeld, who 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. The Dictionary is based on the Yiddish-French Dictionary edited by Yitskhok Niborski and published by the Medem Library/Paris Yiddish Center. Sholem's connection with the Medem Library goes back many decades, beginning with his Fulbright Fellowship in Paris as a graduate student. Today's show continues our series of interviews with activists on the Yiddish scene around the Paris Yiddish Center-Medem Library, which began Wednesday June 12 2019 with an interview with Ri J. (Reyze) Turner. Tonight's guest: Yitskhok Niborski Other interviewees in this series are Ri J. (Reyze) Turner, whose interview was aired on June 12 2019, and Gilles Rozier, whose interview will be aired on an upcoming program, to be announced. Note: watch for bonus podcast soon: we ran low on time, so not all of Niborski's interview could be aired at this time, so we'll put out the remainder in a bonus podcast. Also: a talk with Leana Jelen, the Activities Coordinator for Yidish-Vokh, the annual summer Yiddish immersion summer camp organized by Yugntruf - Youth for Yiddish. See also: Yidish-Vokh: https://yugntruf.org/yvokh/ Music Leyke Post: Yiddish Redt Zikh Azoy Sheyn (Yiddish Sounds So Beautiful), accompanied by Rubin Ossofsky Jan Pierce: Mai-Ko-Mashma-Lon Intro instrumental music: DEM HELFANDS TANTS, an instrumental track from the CD Jeff Warschauer: The Singing Waltz Air date: June 26, 2019

In Whitechapel Noise: Jewish Immigrant Life in Yiddish Song and Verse, London, 1884-1914 (Wayne State University Press, 2018), Vivi Lachs, social and cultural historian, Yiddishist, performer, and associate research fellow at Birkbeck, University of London, looks at London's Yiddish popular culture. She positions it in historical perspective within Anglo-Jewish history, English socialist aesthetics, and music-hall culture. This book breaks lots of new ground, and is an exciting, entertaining and revealing peek into this vibrant and noisy world. Max Kaiser is a PhD candidate at the University of Melbourne. He can be reached at kaiser@student.unimelb.edu.au. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In Whitechapel Noise: Jewish Immigrant Life in Yiddish Song and Verse, London, 1884-1914 (Wayne State University Press, 2018), Vivi Lachs, social and cultural historian, Yiddishist, performer, and associate research fellow at Birkbeck, University of London, looks at London's Yiddish popular culture. She positions it in historical perspective within Anglo-Jewish history, English socialist aesthetics, and music-hall culture. This book breaks lots of new ground, and is an exciting, entertaining and revealing peek into this vibrant and noisy world. Max Kaiser is a PhD candidate at the University of Melbourne. He can be reached at kaiser@student.unimelb.edu.au. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In Whitechapel Noise: Jewish Immigrant Life in Yiddish Song and Verse, London, 1884-1914 (Wayne State University Press, 2018), Vivi Lachs, social and cultural historian, Yiddishist, performer, and associate research fellow at Birkbeck, University of London, looks at London's Yiddish popular culture. She positions it in historical perspective within Anglo-Jewish history, English socialist aesthetics, and music-hall culture. This book breaks lots of new ground, and is an exciting, entertaining and revealing peek into this vibrant and noisy world. Max Kaiser is a PhD candidate at the University of Melbourne. He can be reached at kaiser@student.unimelb.edu.au. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In Whitechapel Noise: Jewish Immigrant Life in Yiddish Song and Verse, London, 1884-1914 (Wayne State University Press, 2018), Vivi Lachs, social and cultural historian, Yiddishist, performer, and associate research fellow at Birkbeck, University of London, looks at London's Yiddish popular culture. She positions it in historical perspective within Anglo-Jewish history, English socialist aesthetics, and music-hall culture. This book breaks lots of new ground, and is an exciting, entertaining and revealing peek into this vibrant and noisy world. Max Kaiser is a PhD candidate at the University of Melbourne. He can be reached at kaiser@student.unimelb.edu.au. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In Whitechapel Noise: Jewish Immigrant Life in Yiddish Song and Verse, London, 1884-1914 (Wayne State University Press, 2018), Vivi Lachs, social and cultural historian, Yiddishist, performer, and associate research fellow at Birkbeck, University of London, looks at London's Yiddish popular culture. She positions it in historical perspective within Anglo-Jewish history, English socialist aesthetics, and music-hall culture. This book breaks lots of new ground, and is an exciting, entertaining and revealing peek into this vibrant and noisy world. Max Kaiser is a PhD candidate at the University of Melbourne. He can be reached at kaiser@student.unimelb.edu.au. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In Whitechapel Noise: Jewish Immigrant Life in Yiddish Song and Verse, London, 1884-1914 (Wayne State University Press, 2018), Vivi Lachs, social and cultural historian, Yiddishist, performer, and associate research fellow at Birkbeck, University of London, looks at London's Yiddish popular culture. She positions it in historical perspective within Anglo-Jewish history, English socialist aesthetics, and music-hall culture. This book breaks lots of new ground, and is an exciting, entertaining and revealing peek into this vibrant and noisy world. Max Kaiser is a PhD candidate at the University of Melbourne. He can be reached at kaiser@student.unimelb.edu.au. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Vivi Lachs joins us to talk about her newly published book, Whitechapel Noise: Jewish Immigrant Life in Yiddish Song and Verse, London 1884–1914. Vivi is a social and cultural historian, Yiddishist, and associate research fellow at Birkbeck, University of London. Drawing from archival material from the London Yiddish press, songbooks, and satirical writing, Whitechapel Noise offers a fascinating window into the untold cultural life of the Yiddish East End, positioning London's Yiddish popular culture in historical perspective within Anglo-Jewish history. Episode 0189 June 14, 2018 Yiddish Book Center Amherst, MA

Interview with writer Miriam Hoffman discussing her recently published memoir A Breed Apart: Reflections of a Young Refugee which describes her fascinating life, from childhood in Sibera and Germany through adulthood in New York, raising a family in Yiddishist society in New York and finding success as a columnist and feature writer for the Yiddish "Forward" Newspaper ("Forverts"), as a Yiddish educator at Columbia University, and as a playwright, including cofounding the Joseph Papp Yiddish Theatre. 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: Sarah's Lullaby & Hagar's Lament, performed by Shirim Klezmer Band, from the CD Of Angels and Horseradish, sung by Rosalie Gerut (Sarah) and Betty Silberman (Hagar), lyrics by Itzik Manger and Miriam Hoffman, from the play Lider fun Gan Eydn (Songs of Paradise), based on the poetry of Itzik Manger, play written by Miriam Hoffman and Rena Berkowicz Borow. Rav Myer Loketch discusses Shvues and Megilas Rus (Repeated from 2007.) Music: Shvues, performed by Cantor Louis Danto, Composer: Yoel Engel, Author: Shimon Shmuel Frug Intro instrumental music: DEM HELFANDS TANTS, an instrumental track from the CD Jeff Warschauer: The Singing Waltz Air Date: May 16 2018

Break out the bug juice—it’s summer camp week on Unorthodox! We’re talking campfires, Color War, and Mark’s traumatic summer at a nudist camp. Our first guest is Sandy Fox, a doctoral candidate studying language and everyday life in Zionist, Yiddishist, and denominational summer camps. She’s also the founder of Vaybertaytsh, a feminist podcast entirely in Yiddish. She explains how different Jewish ideologies shaped each kind of camp, tells us about a post-war summer camp for children of Holocaust survivors, and breaks the news that while summer camp is distinctly Jewish in many ways, Jews didn’t actually invent it (we totally reshaped color war, though). Micah Hart, co-host of the podcast Campfires and Color Wars, talks to us about what summers were like as the camp director’s son, the difference between a Jewish camp and a camp where most of the campers happen to be Jewish, and what it means to be ‘camp hot.’ We also talk to writer Jordana Horn, who hated camp but whose kids love it—all six of them are attending some form of Jewish camp this summer. She tells us how Jewish camps give her children a space to develop their own Jewish identity and community, how social media has changed the camp experience for campers and their parents, and what really goes down when the kids ship out for the summer. Sign up for our weekly newsletter to get new episodes, behind-the-scenes photos, and more! Email us at Unorthodox@tabletmag.com—we may read your note on air. Follow us on Twitter: @tabletmag  @markopp1 @liel @stuffism This episode is brought to you by Harry’s. Go to Harrys.com and enter code UNORTHODOX at checkout to get a free post shave balm. This episode is also brought to you by AT&T. Enjoy unlimited entertainment with unlimited data from AT&T. Learn more at att.com/unlimited. Music:  "Mikveh Bath" by Golem "Hello Muddah, Hello Faddah" by Allan Sherman "Suburban Kids with Biblical Names" by Shitty Weekend "Gucci Gucci" by Kreayshawn "Rose's Turn" by Stephen Sondheim, performed by Bette Middler "Hatikvah" performed by Francki Perez et Broadway "That Power" by Childish Gambino Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Klezmer From Belarus Klezmer Podcast 123- Litvakus. This episode features an interview with Zisl Slepovitch of the new band Litvakus, from Brooklyn. They have just released their first album Raysn- The Music of Jewish Belarus. Zisl is a great musician, singer, musicologist, and Yiddishist. Originally from Minsk, Belarus, he brings the music of that region … Continue reading Klezmer Podcast 123- Litvakus →

For us, every “nation” has and has always had a “culture,” meaning a defining set of folkways, customs, and styles that is different from every other. But like the modern understanding of the word “nation,” this idea of “culture” or “a culture” is not very old. According to the OED, the modern meaning gained currency in English only in the nineteenth century. In a way, that’s not surprising: the nineteenth century was the era of high-nationalism and, as we’ve said, every “nation” had to have an essence that distinguished it from all others. That essence came to be called “culture.” This nation-culture equivalency, however, presented some nationalists with a problem, particularly if their “nation” had what looked to be several cultures. Jews are the archetypal example. They were spread all over the place, spoke many languages, and practiced many customs. There was nothing to unite them except Judaism–itself hardly unified. If you believed in a Jewish nation, then you had to believe that there could be a “Jewish culture.” But what would it be? In his fascinating new book Jewish Renaissance in the Russian Revolution (Harvard, 2010), Kenneth Moss explores the ways in which Eastern European Jewish culture-builders attempted to answer this question in the Russian Revolutionary era. As Ken points out, there was no simple answer. Rather, there were a lot of competing answers (Yiddishist, Hebraist, Socialist, etc.). But there was also a lot of deep, deep thought about what it meant to build and have a culture. These thinkers knew what we have forgotten, namely, that all cultures are made. They knew this because they were making one. Whether we admit it or not, we are too… Please become a fan of “New Books in Jewish Studies” on Facebook if you haven’t already. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

For us, every “nation” has and has always had a “culture,” meaning a defining set of folkways, customs, and styles that is different from every other. But like the modern understanding of the word “nation,” this idea of “culture” or “a culture” is not very old. According to the OED, the modern meaning gained currency in English only in the nineteenth century. In a way, that’s not surprising: the nineteenth century was the era of high-nationalism and, as we’ve said, every “nation” had to have an essence that distinguished it from all others. That essence came to be called “culture.” This nation-culture equivalency, however, presented some nationalists with a problem, particularly if their “nation” had what looked to be several cultures. Jews are the archetypal example. They were spread all over the place, spoke many languages, and practiced many customs. There was nothing to unite them except Judaism–itself hardly unified. If you believed in a Jewish nation, then you had to believe that there could be a “Jewish culture.” But what would it be? In his fascinating new book Jewish Renaissance in the Russian Revolution (Harvard, 2010), Kenneth Moss explores the ways in which Eastern European Jewish culture-builders attempted to answer this question in the Russian Revolutionary era. As Ken points out, there was no simple answer. Rather, there were a lot of competing answers (Yiddishist, Hebraist, Socialist, etc.). But there was also a lot of deep, deep thought about what it meant to build and have a culture. These thinkers knew what we have forgotten, namely, that all cultures are made. They knew this because they were making one. Whether we admit it or not, we are too… Please become a fan of “New Books in Jewish Studies” on Facebook if you haven’t already. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

For us, every “nation” has and has always had a “culture,” meaning a defining set of folkways, customs, and styles that is different from every other. But like the modern understanding of the word “nation,” this idea of “culture” or “a culture” is not very old. According to the OED, the modern meaning gained currency in English only in the nineteenth century. In a way, that’s not surprising: the nineteenth century was the era of high-nationalism and, as we’ve said, every “nation” had to have an essence that distinguished it from all others. That essence came to be called “culture.” This nation-culture equivalency, however, presented some nationalists with a problem, particularly if their “nation” had what looked to be several cultures. Jews are the archetypal example. They were spread all over the place, spoke many languages, and practiced many customs. There was nothing to unite them except Judaism–itself hardly unified. If you believed in a Jewish nation, then you had to believe that there could be a “Jewish culture.” But what would it be? In his fascinating new book Jewish Renaissance in the Russian Revolution (Harvard, 2010), Kenneth Moss explores the ways in which Eastern European Jewish culture-builders attempted to answer this question in the Russian Revolutionary era. As Ken points out, there was no simple answer. Rather, there were a lot of competing answers (Yiddishist, Hebraist, Socialist, etc.). But there was also a lot of deep, deep thought about what it meant to build and have a culture. These thinkers knew what we have forgotten, namely, that all cultures are made. They knew this because they were making one. Whether we admit it or not, we are too… Please become a fan of “New Books in Jewish Studies” on Facebook if you haven’t already. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

For us, every “nation” has and has always had a “culture,” meaning a defining set of folkways, customs, and styles that is different from every other. But like the modern understanding of the word “nation,” this idea of “culture” or “a culture” is not very old. According to the OED, the modern meaning gained currency in English only in the nineteenth century. In a way, that’s not surprising: the nineteenth century was the era of high-nationalism and, as we’ve said, every “nation” had to have an essence that distinguished it from all others. That essence came to be called “culture.” This nation-culture equivalency, however, presented some nationalists with a problem, particularly if their “nation” had what looked to be several cultures. Jews are the archetypal example. They were spread all over the place, spoke many languages, and practiced many customs. There was nothing to unite them except Judaism–itself hardly unified. If you believed in a Jewish nation, then you had to believe that there could be a “Jewish culture.” But what would it be? In his fascinating new book Jewish Renaissance in the Russian Revolution (Harvard, 2010), Kenneth Moss explores the ways in which Eastern European Jewish culture-builders attempted to answer this question in the Russian Revolutionary era. As Ken points out, there was no simple answer. Rather, there were a lot of competing answers (Yiddishist, Hebraist, Socialist, etc.). But there was also a lot of deep, deep thought about what it meant to build and have a culture. These thinkers knew what we have forgotten, namely, that all cultures are made. They knew this because they were making one. Whether we admit it or not, we are too… Please become a fan of “New Books in Jewish Studies” on Facebook if you haven’t already. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices