Yiddish Culture -

Italy is having a Yiddish moment. An unprecedented I.J. Singer translation is part of the boom.

August 21, 2026August 21, 2026Jesse Orine

In September 1932, Israel Joshua Singer boarded a ship bound for New York, where he had been invited to report on the United States for Yiddish-speaking Jews like himself. “Americans are a difficult people to understand,” the famed novelist wrote in one of his first articles from the U.S. “They have tried at all costs […]

How the NY Public Library acquired a ‘treasure trove’ of Jewish and Yiddish music

November 11, 2024November 11, 2024Jesse Orine

A collection of documents described as a treasure trove of Jewish music has been acquired by the New York Public Library, after being hidden in a cantor’s basement in Yonkers for 40 years. Sheet music, manuscripts and orchestral arrangements for close to 4,000 musical works — including cantorial music, Hasidic melodies, Yiddish theater, klezmer and […]