Weekly Bite of Yiddishkayt: Being a “Kitchen Jew” is Authentic to Me

Lynn Yanis reflects on how she authentically expresses her Jewish identity – in the kitchen.

Weekly Bite of Yiddishkayt: Peysekh (Passover) Seders at the Home of Yiddish Writer Solomon Simon

Miriam Forman and David Simon, children of Yiddish writer Solomon Simon, remember all the humorous particulars of their Peysekh (Passover) seder growing up.

Weekly Bite of Yiddishkayt: Helping My Grandmother Prepare for Passover

Jews around the world are preparing for Passover, which begins tonight at sundown. David Schorr fondly recalls how he used to help his grandmother clean before the holiday.

Weekly Bite of Yiddishkayt: Khanike (Hanukkah) in Ireland

Linda Gritz remembers teaching her Irish friends about Khanike (Hanukkah) – including their surprising reaction to latkes.

Weekly Bite of Yiddishkayt: A “Strange” Arrangement: Growing Up With My Yiddish-Speaking Grandparents So My Father Could Write

Troim Katz Handler, daughter of Yiddish poet Menke Katz, describes the unique household in which she was raised. She speaks of her distant relationship with her father, as well as the beloved grandparents who helped raise her.

Weekly Bite of Yiddishkayt: Chased By A Headless Chicken- Lyber Katz Remembers Visiting Family in The Shtetl As a Boy

We mourn the loss this week of Lyber Katz, progressive activist and son of Yiddish writer Moishe Katz. Here he recalls a visit to the family’s shtetl in Tolochin, Belarus and a ‘memorable’ encounter with a chicken.

Weekly Bite of Yiddishkayt: “Yiddish-speaking shtetlekh in 1940s Tel Aviv”

I am still busy recording amazing stories from Yiddish writers and scholars here in Israel. Leading Israeli historian Israel Bartal remembers the presence of Eastern European culture and Yiddish language in his childhood in Tel Aviv, then Palestine.

Leonard Nimoy’s Mame-loshn: A Yiddish Story

Greetings from the gegnt,

Yes, we interviewed Leonard (Leyb) Nimoy. And, yes, he speaks Yiddish. Learn more about the man behind Star Trek’s Spock, from his Jewish roots in Boston’s heymish West End neighborhood to his stint working with the world-renowned Yiddish theatre director Maurice Schwartz. Explore our produced shorts, selected from the two-hour interview that follows Leyb’s early years all the way to the present.

Watch more Nimoy shorts:

• The West End, Boston’s bygone neighborhood
• Meet West End local legend Al Tabatchnik.
• The Jewish Story Behind Spock
• Tales of Yiddish theatre director and actor, Maurice Schwartz

Watch the full two-hour interview.

Archival photographs courtesy of the West End Museum, the Jules Aarons Estate, Gallery Kayafas and Leonard Nimoy’s personal collection.

-From the individual desks of Christa and Amanda.