Marilla

The Forward Hour – episode 13

For the first half of 2006 Michael Wex recorded thirteen five-minute pieces in Yiddish for The Forward Hour, a Yiddish radio show from the Forward newspaper. Here is the thirteenth show broadcast on June 24th 2006. The Yiddish Forward Hour - 24th June 2006 Below are some items for sale from eBay for those of you with an interest in Yiddish. US Auctions Australian Auctions Austrian... Read more here

Marilla

“The Frumkiss Family Business” will be launched at Ashkenaz

The Frumkiss Family Business is published next Tuesday and will have its first big outing at the Ashkenaz Festival in Toronto. Wex will be giving a lecture at the Brigantine Room at the Harbourfront Festival at 5pm on Labour Day (Monday 6th September) focussing on his new novel. The event is free and open to the general public. There will be copies of the book available to buy from the Ashkenaz store -... Read more here

Wex

Poo Poo Poo

Jews are superstitious. What's up with that? I think that this is a tradition, but I do not know how it came about. Why when we wish to avoid ain horah do we extend the pointer finger and the tall finger when we spit three times and then say poo, poo, poo? My guess (and it really is a guess) is that the fingers were there to keep anybody else from being able to catch the saliva and put a spell on the... Read more here

Marilla

The Forward Hour – episode 12

For the first half of 2006 Michael Wex recorded thirteen five-minute pieces in Yiddish for The Forward Hour, a Yiddish radio show from the Forward newspaper. Here is the twelfth show broadcast on June 3rd 2006. The Yiddish Forward Hour - 3rd June 2006 Below are some items for sale from eBay for those of you with an interest in Yiddish. US Auctions Australian Auctions Austrian... Read more here

Marilla

Kosher innovations

Rosh Hashanah is coming soon and here's a great resource for gifts for friends who are observant. Kosher Innovations re a small Jewish company based out of Toronto. whose goal is to invent and market creative products that benefit the observant Jewish community (i.e. those who keep kosher and shabbes etc.). They describe themselves as "constantly exploring ideas for Jewish products that are practical,... Read more here

Wex

Oy daddy

We get a lot of pronunciation queries. Here's one: I'm currently in a production of 'Ragtime' in Chicago, and we've got a question about the pronunciation of the word "Tateh". Given that he's a Latvian Jewish immigrant in the early 1900s, how would "Tateh" be pronounced? We've had two Tatehs and one pronounced it "Tah-tuh" and the other pronounces it "Tah-tay". Is either correct? We're just really curious!... Read more here

Wex

Veys ikh voos!

We’re into the month of Elul now, when we’re supposed to begin examining our deeds and telling the truth to God and ourselves. Contempt for the kind of b.s. that we use to justify our dodgier actions has given rise to one of the most remarkable, not to mention useful, of Yiddish phrases: veys ikh voos (literally, “I know what”; more literally, “know I what”). Uriel Weinreich, in his Modern... Read more here