JTA: The Global News Service of the Jewish People

06/26/08 04:11 PM

For that matter, how do you say it in English?  My choice would be Buckeye, not Buckeyeite.

06/26/08 04:12 PM

i heard on the radio a few yrs back an african-american sing borsch-belt yiddish songs. when the white host asked him why he chose yiddish songs he concluded a very strong great response by questioning her asking such a question with the question..it sounds racist for you to ask me a black why i am singing yiddish songs. do you ask whites why they sing blues or jazz songs. that threw her for a big loop.

06/26/08 04:13 PM

oh, he was very good, i first thought he was a jewish-yiddisg singer. he said he sings at bar mitzvah’s, conferences, weddings and does shows.

06/26/08 04:14 PM

more: he was not jewish, but said as soon as he heard these songs he feel in love with them.

06/28/08 03:03 PM

Not a doctorate in Yiddish literature but here is a cute story.  My grandfather owned a clothing store in a small town in NC.  His shoe repairman was an African-American who had spent many years in NYC working for a Yiddish speaking employer before returning to NC.  When Jewish salesmen tried to impress my grandfather with a few Yiddish phrases, he would take them to the shoe repair area and say “you want to talk Yiddish, here, talk to Ike”.  I loved to watch their reaction to this African-American in NC speaking fluent Yiddish.

06/28/08 03:06 PM

My grandfather owned a clothing store in a small town in NC. His shoe repairman was an African-American who had spent many years in NYC working for a Yiddish speaking employer before returning to NC. When Jewish salesmen tried to impress my grandfather with a few Yiddish phrases, he would take them to the shoe repair area and say “you want to talk Yiddish, here, talk to Ike”. I loved to watch their reaction to this African-American in NC speaking fluent Yiddish.

07/11/08 03:45 AM

Sure, a Phd, but think of that Bushwick dude on Marcy Avenue who cooks in the kosher kitchen over there. He’s yelling the orders in Yiddish through that weird microphone they got there.

Also, I’m very interested in reading that dissertation, I wrote my undergraduate thesis on Berysh Vaynshteyn, a Yiddish poet fascinated by Harlem and southern blacks. There has been a decent amount of scholarship on Yiddish and African America. Take for example a recent book by an Italian scholar about Jacque Faitlovitch’s work among the black Jews of Harlem, or Malke Bachman’s book “Recovering Yiddishland.” I applaud the work of Ms. McCallum-Bonar, but its important to note that others have tread and will continue to tread those academic waters.