This fascinating, useful, and funny collection of proverbs, curses, maxims, and ribald expressions will teach readers all they ever wanted to know about this remarkable language.
A treasure-trove of golden sayings and pearls of wisdom, mined from the righteous women of yesteryear and carefully passed down through the generations in exquisite Yiddish. Now available in a faithful English translation with the original Yiddish included, along with source material, metaphorical meaning, and relevant tales and anecdotes to illustrate the sayings. In reading this collection of expressions, some will make you laugh, others will bring on the tears, yet others will cause you to reflect, but the overall effect is an endearing, remarkable one. Breathe in the sparkling air of the 'alter heim'--the Old World--and find in it the refreshing insight that is so needed in the world of today.
With truly startling statistics and a wealth of anecdotes, Silbiger reveals the cultural principles that form the bedrock of Jewish success in America.
An illustrated A to Z reference containing over 800 entries providing information on the theology, people, historical events, institutions and movements related to the religion of Judaism.
Bursting with humor, insight, and above all the warmth of the Jewish people, this book is a passport to the wonderful maxims, proverbs, colloquialisms, curses, and ribald expressions that have been faithfully passed down in Yiddish through the ages.
In Stardust Lost, Stefan Kanfer brings the colorful Yiddish stage roaring back to life. Born of ancient traditions stretching back to the drama of the Old Testament, the Yiddish theater was a vibrant part of the immigrant experience. Kanfer invokes the energy, belief, and pure chutzpah it took to establish and run the thriving, influential theaters. He reveals the nightly drama and comedy that played out behind the scenes as well as onstage, and introduces all the players—actors, divas, playwrights, directors, and producers—who made it possible. A richly evocative chronicle of its brief but dazzling existence in America, this is both an elegy for and a tribute to Yiddish theater—lost, but not forgotten.
In the years around 1492, Moishe, a Bar Mitzvah boy, leaves home to join a ship's crew, where he meets Aaron, the polyglot parrot who becomes his near-constant companion. But Inquisition Spain is a dangerous time to be Jewish and Moishe joins a band of hidden Jews trying to preserve some forbidden books. He falls in love with a young woman, Sarah; though they are separated by circumstance, Moishe's wanderings are motivated as much by their connection as by his quest for loot and freedom. When all Jews are expelled from Spain, Moishe travels to the Caribbean with the ambitious Christopher Columbus, a self-made man who loves his creator. Moishe eventually becomes a pirate and seeks revenge on the Spanish while seeking the ultimate booty: the Fountain of Youth. Bestseller. Winner of the 2017 Stephen Leacock Memorial Medal for Humour. 2016.