In honor of International Holocaust Memorial Day, which this January 27, 2025, marks 80 years since the Soviet Red Army liberated the Auschwitz death camp, we present interviews in Yiddish from your archive with four survivors of Auschwitz. As of the broadcast date all were alive and well to the best of our knowledge. The interviewees are: Joseph Alexander , originally from Kowal, Poland, who survived Auschwitz. In his interview he recounts his Holocaustr experience and other aspects of his long...
Jan 27, 2025•2 hr 41 min
Episode Highlights Air date : January 15, 2025 Rabbi Sholom Ber Diskin A shaliach at Chabad of Pacific Palisades, Rabbi Diskin shares his first-hand experience of surviving the Los Angeles wildfires that destroyed his home. He discusses the ongoing relief efforts he and his team are leading. We reached him at his temporary residence in the Pico Robinson neighborhood on Jan. 15, 2025. ➡️ Learn more about fire relief efforts: Chabad of Pacific Palisades Fire Relief ➡️ Support individuals directly:...
Jan 16, 2025•1 hr 12 min
Arele Schaechter Viswanath , the translator of the Harry Potter book series into Yiddish, was interviewed about, and read excerpts from, his translation of the second book, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets , which was recently published by Olniansky Press (Sweden, 2024) under the Yiddish title הערי פּאָטער און די קאַמער פֿון סודות . Arele works in the field of strategy and analytics at tech companies in New York City, while “moonlighting” as a Yiddish translator. His previous translations...
Dec 12, 2024•1 hr 6 min
Highlights: Moyshe Hoffman , proprietor of Hoffy’s Kosher Restaurant in Antwerp, Belgium, where you can “enjoy Yiddish traditional cuisine”. He talks about his restaurant, some personal and family history, and a bit about Yiddish life in Antwerp. We interviewed Moyshe Hoffman at Hoffy’s on Nov. 14, 2024. Hoffy’s website: https://hoffys.be Richard Fein ( רובֿן-יעקבֿ פֿײַן ) reads the poem “To My Father” in English, and Sholem Beinfeld reads the Yiddish. This was recorded at Fein’s home in Cambrid...
Dec 06, 2024•1 hr 12 min
Highlights: Rukhl Schaechter ( שׂרה-רחל שעכטער ), editor of Forverts (a/k/a the Yiddish Forward , פֿאָרווערטס ), online at forward.com/yiddish , reflects on 25 years with this Yiddish institution, originally as a writer and now as its editor. She spoke with us on Zoom from her home in Yonkers on Nov. 24, 2024. The Forward is celebrating her anniversary with a Celebrate Our Rukhl event in New York, NY, on Weds., Dec. 4, 2024. Info: https://www.pages.forward.com/rukhl-celebration Music: Intro inst...
Nov 28, 2024•55 min
Highlights: Abraham Friedman ( אבֿרהם פֿרידמאַן ), publisher of Di Tzeitung ( די צייטונג ), a major weekly newspaper in the Chareidi world, especially among the Chassidic community in New York. In this interview he talks about what his newspaper offers, discusses current events recently covered by his newspaper, and a little about himself. We reached him by phone at his home in Brooklyn on Wednesday, Nov. 20, 2024. Website of די צייטונג : http://ditzeitung.com/ From our archive, outtakes from pr...
Nov 21, 2024•1 hr 2 min
אַ גמר חתימה טובֿה! און אַ גוט געבענטשט יאָר! Highlights: Rabbi Itzik-Boruch Teitelbaum (Monroe, NY), known as Der Pshiskher Rov , with a vort for erev Yom Kippur . We reached him by phone at his home in Monroe on Wednesday, Oct. 9, 2024 Interviews with Israelis about Oct. 7, one year on. Avremi Zaks the host and producer of the weekly Israeli Yiddish radio program “ Kan Yidish .” He also teaches Yiddish. He was born in Israel and lives in Jerusalem with his wife and children. We reached him by ...
Oct 11, 2024•1 hr 49 min
אַ כּתיבֿה וחתימה טובֿה! Highlights: Avrom Novershtern (Israel) Professor Emeritus of Yiddish Literature, Hebrew University, Jerusalem. We reached him by phone on Friday, Sept. 27, 2024. Eli Sharfstein (Israel) writer and poet. We reached him by phone in Greece, where he was stranded due to cancelations of flights to Israel, on Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024. Rabbi Itzik-Boruch Teitelbaum (Monroe, NY), known as Der Pshiskher Rov . We reached him by phone at his home in Monroe on Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024. G...
Oct 02, 2024•1 hr 26 min
This week, greetings for Rosh Hashona from friends, participants, and sponsors of The Yiddish Voice / דאָס ייִדישע קול, combined with a poetry reading by Richard Fein and Sholem Beinfeld . אַ גוט, געבענטשט יאָר אַלע אונדזערע צוהערער - לשנה טובֿה Highlights: Author and translator Richard J. Fein (Yiddish name: Ruvn-Yankev), along with his friend, collaborator, and regular Yiddish Voice cohost Sholem Beinfeld , read from Fein’s book The Full Pomegranate: Poems of Avrom Sutzkever (SUNY Press, 2019)...
Sep 27, 2024•1 hr 8 min
This week, greetings for Rosh Hashona from friends, participants, and sponsors of The Yiddish Voice / דאָס ייִדישע קול, combined with an exciting new interviews with Rabbi Moshe Waldoks and Holocaust survivor Henry Slucki . אַ גוט, געבענטשט יאָר אַלע אונדזערע צוהערער לשנה טובֿה Highlights: Interview with Rabbi Moshe Waldoks , whose biographical one-man show “You Can Live If They Let You” recently debuted in Boston, amid much acclaim (including a Boston Globe feature article ) to sold-out audienc...
Sep 20, 2024•1 hr 20 min
This week, interviews with Perl Teitelbaum and Hy Wolfe . We spoke with them in person at 2024 Yugntruf Yidish-Vokh in Copake, NY, on Aug. 21, 2024. Paula (Perl) Teitelbaum is a Yiddish language at Arbeter Ring , Yivo Institute , and elsewhere. She talked about a new technique she’s been using for teaching Yiddish by watching films. A Yiddish singer who has performed on several album, she also shared memories of creating the popular song Vaserl along with co-writer Rukhl Schaechter. Hy Wolfe is ...
Aug 27, 2024•1 hr 5 min
This week, an interview with Dovid Braun , talking about the Yivo Bard Zumer-Program and a few related matters. Dovid serves as Academic Director for the summer program, which recently concluded, and year-round as Yivo’s Academic Director for Yiddish. And we hear from our archive (1995) Miriam Libenson on Tisha B’Ov , which falls this year on the night of Monday, Aug. 12. Music: Intro instrumental music: DEM HELFANDS TANTS , an instrumental track from the CD Jeff Warschauer: The Singing Waltz Ai...
Aug 08, 2024•1 hr 3 min
This week, Arieh Hecht , a patient advocate in Los Angeles, talks about his life as a child of Holocaust survivors originally from Transylvania (Hungary during WWII) and his work as a patient advocate. We spoke with Arieh in person in Los Angeles on July 4, 2024. We begin with a report from the Yivo-Bard Zumer-Program by Nokhem Lerner , who’s been a Yiddish teacher there the past two years. We reached Nokhem by phone in the New York area on July 29, 2024. Music: Intro instrumental music: DEM HEL...
Aug 04, 2024•1 hr 17 min
Highlights: Mark (“Marek”) Gaysinskiy reports from the Yivo-Bard Zumer-Program; Pnina Sharf , a resident of Los Angeles and a Holocaust survivor from Poland, talks about her life experiences; from Boston’s Yiddish past: a performance by the late Cantor Gregor Shelkan , performing a song about what will happen when Meshiekh (the Messiah) comes (recorded in 1999 at the Cantorial concert in honor of Cantor Simon Kandler). Intro instrumental music: DEM HELFANDS TANTS , an instrumental track from the...
Jul 19, 2024•46 min
Highlights: A report from the Yivo-Bard Yiddish Summer Program by student Tara Neuwirth , who has attended several times beginning in 1983. This year’s Zumer-program kicked off last week and seems off to a good start. We spoke to Tara by phone on July 10, 2024. We hope to hear more from other students and teachers from this and other Yiddish summer courses around the world. Info on the Yivo-Bard Yiddish Summer program here: https://summerprogram.yivo.org Prof. Sholem Beinfeld , professor emeritu...
Jul 11, 2024•1 hr 14 min
Meet Itel Landau (maiden family name: Brettler), a Holocaust survivor originally from Vișeu de Sus (Felsővisó in Hungarian, אויבערווישעווע in Yiddish), a shtetl in Transylvania (prewar Romania, Hungary during WWII, now Romania), discussing her life — before, during, and after the Holocaust. Itel was born into a Hassidic family, the Brettlers, who sold manufacturing materials. In 1940, Transylvania was taken over by Hungary. Among other changes, her school days were ended. In the spring of 1944, ...
Jun 24, 2024•51 min
This week, Yiddish poetry lovers are in for a treat: an interview with Sarah Traister Moskowitz with her reading of poems in the collection „דאָס ליד איז געבליבן“ (“The Song Remains”) along with her English translations. Sarah is the translator of the collection of poems Dos Lid is Geblibn, or The Song Remains, on the new website thesongremains.org , an anthology of Yiddish poems with English translations from the Nazi German occupation of Poland. The collection is taken from the book of the sam...
May 23, 2024•1 hr 3 min
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 co-authored 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 Unive...
May 20, 2024•1 hr 9 min
This week we observe Yom HaAtzmaut (Israel Independence Day) talking with Mike Burstyn , Miriam Trinh , Eli Sharfstein and Avremi Zaks . Mike Burstyn is a distinguished actor and singer known for his roles in Yiddish, Hebrew, and English theater and film across Israeli, American, and international stages. Recently, he starred in the German comedy drama The Zweiflers , awarded Best Series at the 7th annual Canneseries festival in April 2024. Burstyn first gained prominence in Israel as a child ac...
May 11, 2024•2 hr 4 min
This week, for Yom HaShoah, which falls this year on May 6, we present past interviews with survivors of the Holocaust in Hungary as we mark the deportation of Hungarian Jews to Auschwitz in the spring of 1944, 80 years ago. After a brief intro and announcement of Boston’s 2024 community Hazkure , we hear: Mel Mermelstein ז״ל We had a short but memorable interview with Mel in 2008. Mel lived in Munkacs until May 1944, when he was deported to Aushwitz. He passed away in January 2022 at age 95. Se...
May 03, 2024•1 hr 14 min
This week, Pesach greetings and words of wisdom from Rabbi Yitzchok-Boruch Teitelbaum , Rabbi Moshe Kesselman , and Holocaust survivor Naftali (Tuli) Deutsch , as well as greetings from many of our cohosts, friends, and sponsors, as follows: Israel Book Shop ( Eli Dovek ז״ל recorded Mar 28 2007) American Association of Jewish Holocaust Survivors of Greater Boston (member and Holocaust survivor Tania Lefman , and member and Holocaust survivor Mary Erlich ), co-sponsor of Boston’s 2024 In-Person a...
Apr 19, 2024•1 hr
This week, Cantor Herschel Fox , long-time chazzan at Valley Beth Shalom Synagogue in Los Angeles and veteran of the Cantorial world as well as the Yiddish stage, and even Yiddish radio. The interview is filled with stories and anecdotes covering many aspects of his life and his illustrious career, including close working relationships with such legends as Molly Picon, Cantor Dovid Koussevitzky, and many others. He also treats us to many insights into Yiddish song and khazones , with many demons...
Apr 12, 2024•1 hr 9 min
Happy Purim !! אַ פֿריילעכן פּורים Part 1: Jokes and humor for Purim told by Libby Pollak , Sholem Beinfeld , Sheila (Sheyndl) Lieberman-Reich , Sheldon (Shulem) Londner , and Hy Wolfe . Part 2: Arele Schaechter Viswanath discusses his Google Doc “אַ בלעטל פּורים־מאַטעריאַלן”, which the פֿאָרווערטס/Forverts/Yiddish Forward described as “Lively Yiddish Purim materials for teachers, students and parents”. All guests were recorded, by phone or Zoom, Mar. 19-20, 2024. Links mentioned in this episode...
Mar 22, 2024•1 hr 3 min
This week, interview with Holocaust survivor Nathan Gipsman , originally from Będzin ( Bendin ), who recently celebrated his 99th birthday; Alona Bach and Sarah Biskowitz cover Farbindungen 2024 , the third annual Farbindungen Yiddish Studies Conference, taking place online from February 18 – 19th, 2024; Kolya Borodulin announces the Yiddish classes offered by Workers Circle/ Arbeter Ring , starting next week; and a little -ליבע (love-) related music in honor of Valentin-Tog (Valentine’s Day). I...
Feb 15, 2024•1 hr 8 min
Last week, we learned the sad news that David (Dovid) Lenga has died at the age of 96. He was buried in Los Angeles on Jan. 28, 2024. Los Angeles survivor and community leader Harry Davids said of him, “David was a survivor of Dachau and Auschwitz. He frequently spoke at the museums, synagogues and schools, and his presentations were known for their oratory and inspirational style.“In his memory, we’re airing his interview recorded and originally aired on Jan. 4, 2023. Link to original podcast. ...
Feb 14, 2024•1 hr 1 min
In observance of International Holocaust Rememberance Day (Jan. 27) we’re listening to and discussing Silent Tears: The Last Yiddish Tango , the acclaimed 2023 CD with new music and songs based on poetry and other writing by several women who are, or were, Holocaust survivors in Toronto. These songs recall their terrible and traumatic experiences during the Holocaust, including sexual abuse and torture. Some of the songs were collected and adapted by Dr. Paula David, a social worker, from a grou...
Jan 25, 2024•57 min
Last week, we received via Facebook the sad news that Avrohom Fuchs has died at the age of 99. He was buried in Jerusalem on Jan. 15, 2024. In his memory, we’re airing part of an interview recorded in Jerusalem on Jan. 2, 2015, and originally aired Jan. 21, 2015. Fuchs, who survived the Holocaust, including Auschwitz and Ebensee, was a scholar of the Jewish history of the Carpathian Mountains, as well as a travel agent and guide who led over 35 tours to the Carpathians for former residents and t...
Jan 22, 2024•1 hr 5 min
Highlights: Mikhl Yashinsky discusses his new Yiddish-language plan די בשׂורה לויט חיים ( The Gospel According to Chaim / Di Psure Loyt Khaim ), which is based on the true-life figure Chaim Einspruch, who translated the New Testament into Yiddish. When Einspruch tried to publish his book during the early 1940’s, he was refused by every Yiddish printer, so learned how to do his own printing and published his work himself in 1941. The play is being performed under the auspices of New Yiddish Rep a...
Dec 28, 2023•1 hr 35 min
Highlights: Sholem Beinfeld , cohost of The Yiddish Voice and Professor of History, Emeritus, of Washington University, St. Louis, gives an analysis of Israel’s war with Hamas in the aftermath of the Oct. 7 massacre. Hershl Hartman passed away last week, Monday, December 11, 2023, a few days after his 94th birthday. In his memory we are reairing our interview with him, discussing his work as a Yiddish journalist, an educator in secular Yiddish-oriented schools, and a translator from Yiddish to E...
Dec 22, 2023•1 hr 10 min
Interview with Berele Messinger , an Israeli member of ZAKA who was on the scene in Kibbutz Be’eri the day after the October 7 massacre. We reached him by WhatsApp on Nov. 29, 2023. Music: Moshe Stern: A Gezang Tzu Yisroel Rina Gordon: Far Nakht In Yerusholayim (words: Zalman Shazar) Moshe Stern: Undzer Eygn Land Moshe Stern: Ver Bistu Mentsh Moyshe Oisher: Broches far Khanike Pripetshik Singers: S’iz Khanike Haynt Essential Voices USA: Borukh Ate Zingt der Tate Pripetshik Singers: Kinder, Haynt...
Dec 01, 2023•1 hr
