The Yiddish Book Center's Wexler Oral History Project

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  • Solomon Simon: Yiddish Writer and Pedagogue | Yiddish Book Center

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    The Yiddish Book Center's Wexler Oral History Project presents a portrait of prolific writer and Jewish thinker Solomon Simon, through the lens of oral history.

    The prolific Yiddish writer Solomon Simon was born Shlomo Simonovich in a shtetl in what is now Belarus. At 13, he went to his first o...

  • Who Will Remain?

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    The Yiddish Book Center presents "Who Will Remain?", a new feature documentary produced by The Wexler Oral History Project! | Attempting to better understand her grandfather Avrom Sutzkever, Israeli actress Hadas Kalderon travels to Lithuania, using her grandfather’s diary to trace his early life...

  • Live Long and Prosper: The Jewish Story Behind Spock | Yiddish Book Center

    Leonard Nimoy - Jewish actor best known for his role as Spock on the Star Trek science fiction series - explains the Jewish story behind the hand-gesture he made famous through his role as Spock in the Star Trek science fiction series.

    The Yiddish Book Center's Wexler Oral History Project is a g...

  • Leonard Nimoy’s Mame-loshn: A Yiddish Story | Yiddish Book Center

    Yes, Leonard Nimoy speaks Yiddish. Learn more about Leonard (Leyb) Nimoy from his Jewish roots in Boston's heymish West End neighborhood to his brief stint working with famous Yiddish theatre maven Maurice Schwartz in these video highlights from the Wexler Oral History Project's interview with t...

  • What's the Matter with the Klezmer? The Peter Sokolow Story |Yiddish Book Center

    Peter "Klezmer Fats" Sokolow likes the “real sound”—the Jewish sound. But how many musicians are left who appreciate klezmer music as an art form and not a nostalgic artifact? In this short film, Sokolow retells his compelling life story, from growing up the son of a musician in New York, to perf...

  • Ida Maze: The "Den Mother" of Yiddish Montreal | Yiddish Book Center

    Born in Belarus in 1893, Ida Maze came to Montreal with her family when she was a girl and soon began writing lyric poetry, much of it for children, which was published in books as well as in Yiddish journals and newspapers. Maze was also deeply involved in cultural activities in Montreal’s Jewis...

  • BEYLE: The Artist and Her Legacy | Yiddish Book Center

    “It’s not “Jewish,” it’s Yiddish”- Beyle Schaechter-Gottesman was a central figure in a vibrant Yiddish world based in the Bronx, New York. Her poetry, songs, and artwork are foundational to the canon of that tradition. The legacy of her creative output spans two centuries, multiple continents, a...

  • Anthony Mordechai Tzvi Russell: Yiddish Opera Singer | Yiddish Book Center

    As a young child, Anthony (Mordechai Tzvi) Russell sang along to opera records—the beginning of an artistic journey that eventually led him to Yiddish folk songs and the repertoire of the legendary Sidor Belarsky.

    The Yiddish Book Center's Wexler Oral History Project is a growing collection of i...

  • Alter Esselin: Craftsman of Wood and Words | Yiddish Book Center

    Alter Esselin, a carpenter and Yiddish poet, was born Orkeh Serebrenik in the small town of Tchernigov, Russia. Esselin, who published his poetry in three books and many Yiddish journals around the world, spent years travelling around the United States as a journeyman before settling in Milwaukee...