The Yiddish Book Center's Wexler Oral History Project presents a portrait of a prolific writer and Jewish thinker, through the lens oral history. In this segment, we explore Simon’s philosophical views on Jewish identity and tradition.

Simon set out to create a Jewish community without ritual or public worship of God—a true secular Yiddish culture. He expressed his beliefs through his teachings, his writings, and in his family home. While the Simons kept more-or-less kosher and observed holidays, the answer to "Why?" would be, "Because we're Jewish," and never, "Because God dictates it." Simon believed Judaism came from the teachings of Yiddish culture and Jewish history, and not from "a man up in heaven with a long white beard," as his daughter Mimi remembers him saying. But still, the house felt Jewish in every way.

Passover was the most important holiday for the Simon family—an exercise in a progressive interpretation to Jewish thought and history. The family read unconventional Haggadahs in English, Hebrew, and Yiddish from Solomon's institutions of choice for their seder. The occasion was one to celebrate Jewish history and Jewish knowledge—to explore Jewish thought and food and debate. For the Simon family, holidays were a site of Jewish philosophy—they would never be caught in shul.

Within the family and among those who knew him well, there lingers a bit of a debate about whether or not Simon personally returned to faith at the end of his life.