The 'Yiddish Voice' Podcast
דאָס ייִדישע קול, ראַדיאָ פּראָגראַם און פּאָדקאַסט אויף ייִדיש
Yiddish Voice ייִדיש קול · The Yiddish Voice
Show overview
The 'Yiddish Voice' Podcast has been publishing since 2014, and across the 12 years since has built a catalogue of 374 episodes, alongside 12 trailers or bonus episodes. That works out to over 1400 hours of audio in total. Releases follow a fortnightly cadence.
Episodes typically run an hour to ninety minutes — most land between 1h and 1h 7m — and the run-time is fairly consistent across the catalogue. None of the episodes are flagged explicit by the publisher. It is catalogued as a YI-language Society & Culture show.
The show is actively publishing — the most recent episode landed 3 weeks ago, with 6 episodes already out so far this year. The busiest year was 2017, with 52 episodes published. Published by The Yiddish Voice.
From the publisher
Podcast of The Yiddish Voice, a weekly hour-long Yiddish-language radio show heard in the Boston area Wednesdays, 7:30 - 8:30 PM, on WUNR 1600 AM/Brookline, MA (USA) and live-streamed via yiddishvoice.com ״דאָס ייִדישע קול״ איז אַ וועכנטלעכע ראַדיאָ פּראָגראַם אויף ייִדיש און אַ פּאָדקאַסט אויך. אגבֿ, ייִדיש שרײַבט מען אויך יידיש אָדער אידיש. הערט זיך צו און האָט הנאה!
Latest Episodes
View all 374 episodesLeybl Botwinik on Israel at War for Yom Hazikaron & Yom Haatsmaut
Joe Szwarcberg; Pesach 2026; Rabbi Teitelbaum
We wish all our cohosts, sponsors and friends a Happy and Kosher Pesach. מיר ווינטשן אַלע אונדזערע אונטערשטיצער, פֿרײַנד און באַטייליקטע אַ פֿריילעכן און כּשרן פּסח HIGHLIGHTS: We welcome back Rabbi Yitzchok-Boruch Teitelbaum, known in his Monroe, NY, community as der Pshischer Rebbe, for Pesach greetings and words of wisdom. We reached Rabbi Teitelbaum by phone at his home in Monsey, NY, on Mar. 25, 2026. We hear Holocaust survivor Joe Szwarcberg (יוסף שװאַרצבערג) tell his story of survival in his own words. Joseph Szwarcberg was born in 1930 in Kozienice, Poland. He survived the Holocaust, including Buchenwald, where he was liberated by the US Army on April 11, 1945. At age 17, he emigrated to Australia, where he built a life and was active in the “Buchenwald Boys,” a group originally comprised of 45 young survivors liberated on that same day. Today, he is the only surviving member. We reached Joe via WhatsApp at his home in Melbourne, Australia, on Mar. 18, 2026. Special thanks to Jiri Kluc, Holocaust historian in the Czech Republic, for help producing this interview. Pesach 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 2026 Commemoration of Yom HaShoah, Sunday, April 12 at 10:00 AM Eastern. We reached them at their homes in Greater Boston by phone on March 25, 2026. League for Yiddish, New York, NY, (Gitl Schaechter-Viswanath, Chair of the Board). Recorded at her home in Teaneck, NJ, on March 25, 2026. Leah Shporer-Leavitt, Newton, MA, co-host of The Yiddish Voice / דאָס ייִדישע קול (recorded at her home in Greater Boston on March 24, 2026). Dovid Braun, Leonia, NJ, co-host of The Yiddish Voice / דאָס ייִדישע קול (recorded by phone at his office at YIVO on March 25, 2026). Yankele Bodo, Tel Aviv, Israel, actor and singer (from 2016). Eli Grodko, New Millford, NJ, friend of the show. Recorded at his home in Teaneck, NJ, on March 25, 2026. Boston Workers Circle, Brookline, MA (Yiddish committee member Linda (Libe-Reyzl) Gritz), recorded at her home in Greater Boston on March 24, 2026. Sholem Beinfeld, Cambridge, MA, co-host of The Yiddish Voice / דאָס ייִדישע קול, co-editor of the Comprehensive Yiddish-English Dictionary and Professor of History, emeritus, Washington Univ., St. Louis, with extended remarks on Pesach 5786. We recorded Sholem at his home in Cambridge, MA, by phone on March 25, 2026. Hy Wolfe, Director of CYCO Yiddish Book Center, Long Island City, NY. We recorded Hy by phone at his home in Manhattan on March 25, 2026. Music: Mark (מאָטל) Murstein: Mi Yodea (Recorded at his Brookline, MA, home for the Yiddish Voice, Pesach, 2019) Moishe Oysher: Kiddush for Pesach Lori Cahan and Meyshke Alpert: Zog, Maran Lori Cahan and Meyshke Alpert: In Dem Land Fun Piramidn Malavsky Family: Ho...
Miriam Udel on Yiddish Children's Literature; Sholem Beinfeld on World Events
Highlights: Yiddish Voice co-host Sholem Beinfeld shares his commentary on the latest world events, including the Iran-Israel-USA war and the Russia-Ukraine war, from a Jewish perspective. Sholem spoke to us by phone from his home in Cambridge, MA, on Mar. 11, 2026. Emory University professor Miriam Udel (מרים אודעל) discussed her book Modern Jewish Worldmaking Through Yiddish Children's Literature (Princeton Univ. Press, 2025) with Yiddish Voice co-host Lillian (לאה) Shporer-Leavitt, who is a Boston-based Yiddish teacher and translator. We reached Miriam on Zoom at her home in the Atlanta area on Feb. 26, 2026. Publisher info for Miriam's book: https://press.princeton.edu/books/hardcover/9780691254371/modern-jewish-worldmaking-through-yiddish-childrens-literature Music: Fish Street Klezmer: Russian Freylekhs Medley Intro instrumental music: DEM HELFANDS TANTS, an instrumental track from the CD Jeff Warschauer: The Singing Waltz Air Date: March 12, 2026
Avremi Zaks on Iran Israel US War
This week, Avremi Zaks, presenter for Israel's Kan Yiddish (כאן יידיש) radio show, covers Israel's current military operation "Lion's Roar" and related matters. We reached Avremi in Jerusalem via WhatsApp on Purim, March 3, 2026, Boston time, and Erev Shushan Purim, after sundown in Israel, the same date. To hear Kan Yiddish, featuring Avremi and others, visit: https://www.kan.org.il/content/kan/kan-reka/p-10820/ Music: Chava Alberstein Avreml der Marvikher Intro instrumental music: DEM HELFANDS TANTS, an instrumental track from the CD Jeff Warschauer: The Singing Waltz Air Date: March 4, 2026
Dovid Fishman: The War in Ukraine: Jewish News
Dr. David E. Fishman (דוד-אליהו פֿישמאַן), historian and writer, talks about his substack "The War in Ukraine: Jewish News" (davidfishman.substack.com). Coming out about every two weeks since November 2024, this substack has covered the brutal Russia-Ukraine war, which began four years ago, from a Jewish perspective. Fishman is Professor of Jewish History at the Jewish Theological Seminary (JTS) in New York City and is the author of several books, notably, The Book Smugglers: Partisans, Poets, and the Race to Save Jewish Treasures from the Nazis (ForeEdge, 2017), which won the National Jewish Book Award for a work on the Holocaust. We reached Dovid in New York City via Zoom on Friday, Feb. 6, 2026. Music: Aaron Lebedeff: In Odess Bronya Sakina: Di Sapozhkelekh (from the album Live from KlezKamp! The Staff Concerts 1985-2003, recorded 1985; the singer was from Ukraine) The Alibi Sisters: Yuh Mein Liebe Tochter (the singers Anna and Angelina Zavalsky are based in Ukraine) Intro instrumental music: DEM HELFANDS TANTS, an instrumental track from the CD Jeff Warschauer: The Singing Waltz Air Date: February 11, 2025
International Holocaust Remembrance Day with Survivor Adela Dagerman
In observance of International Holocaust Remembrance Day we're airing an interview with Holocaust survivor Adela Dagerman. Adela (born Adela Kraus) grew up in Nyírbátor, Hungary. In 1944, as a 16-year-old, she and her family were deported to Auschwitz-Birkenau. She and her sister Rose survived. After her liberation, Adela returned to Hungary where she met and married her husband Jack. The couple immigrated to the United States in 1949, settling in Kansas City. We met Adela at her home in Overland Park, KS, on Oct. 13, 2025. From our archive: interview with Holocaust Survivor 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. Previously aired June 19, 2024. Additional details and archived podcast recording: https://podcast.yv.org/episodes/itel-landau Music: Sarah Gorby: Zog Nit Keynmol (Ne Dit Jamais) Intro instrumental music: DEM HELFANDS TANTS, an instrumental track from the CD Jeff Warschauer: The Singing Waltz Air Date: January 28, 2026
Alex Dafner on the Massacre at Bondi Beach, Sydney, Australia
Happy Hanukkah ! אַ פֿרײלעכן חנוכּה Our normally happy Hanukkah programming was overshaddowed by the horrific massacre of Jews at a Hanukkah celebration in Sydney, Australia's Bondi Beach. We spoke with Alex Dafner, Australia's main Yiddish radio presenter the past 40 years and a leading Yiddish and Jewish cultural activist and teacher based in Melbourne, about the horrible massacre and about the situation of Australian Jewry in general. Also heard are short excerpts from the funeral of Rabbi Eli Schlanger, who was murdered in the massacre. Alex Dafner is host of the Kadimah Yiddish Show, a radio show and podcast produced by Melbourne's J-Air Jewish radio station. To listen to the live show and podcasts, go to their website: https://www.j-air.com.au/kadimah-yiddish-show-2/ Follow Alex on social media at Twitter/X: @AlexDafner or Facebook: facebook.com/YiddishRadio. We reached Alex Dafner via Zoom at his home in Melbourne, Australia, on Tuesday, Dec. 16, in the evening, Boston time, and Wednesday, Dec. 17, in the morning, Melbourne time. Music for Hanukkah: Cantor Pierre Pinchik (פּינחס פּינטשיק): Maoz Tsur (מעוז צור) Cantor Sidor Belarsky: Haneros Halolu Intro instrumental music: DEM HELFANDS TANTS from Jeff Warschauer: The Singing Waltz Air date: December 17, 2025
Sender Botwinik on New CD and Hanukkah Songs
Happy Hanukkah ! אַ פֿרײלעכן חנוכּה Highlights: Sender Botwinik (סענדער באָטװיניק), music and Yiddish teacher, chorus director and Yiddishist, discusses the new CD he produced and publishedZumer iz Shoyn Vider Do – זומער איז שוין ווידער דאָ featuring the music of his late father Dovid Botwinik, the Vilna-born music composer, music teacher, songwriter, chorus director and Holocaust survivor. Info here: https://botwinikmusic.com/new-album/ We reached Sender Botwinik in Philadelphia via Zoom on Dec. 8, 2025. Music from CD Zumer iz Shoyn Vider Do – זומער איז שוין ווידער דאָ: Anna Reisner, Tessa Pearlstein:Vider brent dos alte lempl Mackenzie Sherman and Chorus (Anna Reisner, Joelle Pearlstein, Kendall Gold-Rappe, Laney Gold-Rappe, Skylar Zachian, Tessa Pearlstein): Shtoltse likhtelekh Chorus: Nem in hant dos kleyne dreydl Chorus: Dreydele Skylar Zachian, Tessa Pearlstein and Chorus: A khanike-nes Dina-Malka Botwinik: Dreydele Other Music for Hanukkah: Avram, Elisha and Sarah Mlotek: Lesht nit di likhtlekh oys Yossi Desser: Dreidelech Jordan Wax: Khanike iz Freylekh / Spin Around Like a Dreydl Moishe Oysher: Blessing of the Candles Klezmer Conservatory Band (soloist: Judy Bressler): Chanuka, Oy Chanuka Lori Cahan-Simon: Kinder haynt iz khanike Arbeter-Ring Kinder Khor: Hanukkah song medley Intro instrumental music: DEM HELFANDS TANTS from Jeff Warschauer: The Singing Waltz Air date: December 10, 2025
Mikhl Yashinsky, Translator of Max Spitzkopf, the Yiddish Sherlock Holmes
Highlights: Mikhl Yashinsky (מיכל יאַשינסקי), a multifaceted actor, playwright, director, lyricist, translator and Yiddishist, discusses his new English translation of Adventures of Max Spitzkopf: The Yiddish Sherlock Holmes by Jonas Kreppel, published by White Goat Press in October 2025. Publisher’s page: https://www.yiddishbookcenter.org/about/white-goat-press-0/jonas-kreppel More on Mikhl: https://yashinsky.com The interviewer, Lillian ("Leah") Shporer-Leavitt, is a frequent cohost of The Yiddish Voice and an experienced Yiddish translator and teacher. She has taught Yiddish for many years at various institutions in the Boston area, including Workers Circle and Gann Academy. Music: Moishe Oysher: Blessing the Chanukah Candles Ikh Bin a Kleyner Dreydl Pripetshik Singers: Kh'Bin a Dreydl Marthe Schlamme: Chanuke o Chanuke Pripetshik Singers: Akht Likhtelekh Sidor Belarsky: O, Ir Kleyne Lichtelech Intro instrumental music: DEM HELFANDS TANTS from Jeff Warschauer: The Singing Waltz Air date: November 19, 2025
Zach Golden: Yiddish Activist in Los Angeles
Highlights: Rabbi Zach Golden (זכריה גאָלדן) was ordained at the Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies in Los Angeles in 2020. He is the co-founder of Der Nister Downtown Jewish Center and previously served as Deputy Editor at the Forverts Yiddish newspaper. He is the co-founder of Los Angeles Yiddish Day 2025, which takes place Sunday, November 23, 2025, on the campus of Hebrew Union College near Downtown Los Angeles. For information and registration, visit: LAYiddish.org We interviewed Zach in person at a meeting of the West Hollywood Yiddish Shmues-Krayz in Los Angeles on Sunday, November 9, 2025. From our archive: 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 celebrated 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 (A longer version of this interview originally aired Nov. 27, 2024.) Music: Sidi Tal:Nokhemke Mayn Zun Intro instrumental music: DEM HELFANDS TANTS from Jeff Warschauer: The Singing Waltz Air date: November 12, 2025
Remembering Ben Lesser
As our show aired Erev Yom Kippur, we again presented excerpts of our past interviews on The Yiddish Voice/דאָס ייִדישע קול with Holocaust survivors who died during the past year. Since our previous episode, we've lost Ben Lesser, who died the first day of Rosh Hashona, so we were unable to include this in our previous week's show. The remainder of the show is a repeat of the previous week's show. Ben Lesser (died September 23, 2025, age 96) - Ben was a Holocaust Survivor, Author, Lecturer, and visionary founder of The ZACHOR Holocaust Remembrance Foundation. He was known around the world for his courageous testimony, tireless advocacy and unwavering commitment to education and remembrance. Born in Krakow, Poland in 1928 to Shari Segal and Lazar Leser. Ben was the second youngest of five children, Moshe Leser, Lola Lieber-Schwartz, Goldie Leser and baby brother Naphtali Leser. At age ten his life as a boy was forever changed. He endured four concentration camps, a seven-week death march, and two death trains, one of which was the notorious ill-fated death train from Buchenwald to Dachau where of the 6,000 inmates that walked on, only 18 walked off. Ben was the last living survivor from that train. We reached him by Zoom on Apr. 17, 2023. Originally aired April 19, 2023. NOTE: MEMORIAL SERVICE OCT 19 2025: https://templebethsholomlv.shulcloud.com/form/ben-lesser-memorial (for additional show notes, see show notes for last week's episode: https://podcast.yv.org/episodes/remembering-aron-bell-bielski-natan-gipsman-judy-altmann-zoli-langer) Air date: October 1, 2025
Remembering Aron Bell (Bielski), Natan Gipsman, Judy Altmann, Zoli Langer
We are again airing excerpts of interviews with Holocaust survivors, past guests of The Yiddish Voice/דאָס ייִדישע קול who died during the past year. Since our previous episode, we've lost Ben Lesser, who died the first day of Rosh Hashona, so we were unable to include this in our previous week's show. The remainder of the show is a repeat of the previous week's show. Aron Bell (Bielski) (died September 22, 2025, age 98) - born in the village Stankiewicze, near Navaredok (now in Belarus), he was the last of the famed Bielski brothers, who led the Bielski Partisans, which collectively saved more than 1,200 Jews from the Nazis during the Holocaust. We reached him by phone at his home in Palm Beach, FL, on Jan. 12, 2009. Originally aired Jan. 14, 2009. Natan Gipsman (died the night of September 10th, 2025, age 100) - born in Hindenburg (Upper Silesia, Prussia), Germany (now Zabrze, Poland), he was confined in the Będzin (Yiddish: בענדין) Ghetto and survived six concentration camps, including Buchenwald. We interviewed him at his home in Los Angeles on Jan. 26, 2024. Originally aired Feb 15, 2024. Judy Altmann (died April 30, 2025, age 100) - born in Jasina, Czechoslovakia (Körösmezö, Hungary during WWII; now Yasinya, Ukraine), she survived Auschwitz and death marches. We reached her by phone at her home in Stamford, CT, on Aug. 18, 2018. Originally aired Apr. 25, 2019. Zoli Langer (died February 28, 2025, age 98) - born in the village Minai, near Uzhgorod, Czechoslovakia (Ungvar, Hungary during WWII, now Uzhhorod, Ukraine), he survived Auschwitz and death marches. We interviewed at his home in Los Angeles on Oct. 31, 2019. Originally aired Apr. 22, 2020. אַ גמר חתימה טובֿה! Featured Announcements for Rosh Hashona/Yom Kippur: Greetings on behalf of the American Association of Jewish Holocaust Survivors and Descendants of Greater Boston, featuring members Tania Lefman (Treasurer), Mary Ehrlich and Rosalie Reszelbach. Recorded Sept. 9 and 10, 2025. Hy Wolfe, manager of CYCO Books, Hebrew Actors Foundation and the Yiddish National Theatre. Recorded Sept. 21, 2025. Greetings on behalf of the League for Yiddish / די ייִדיש-ליגע by Gitl Schaechter-Viswanath, Board Chair. Recorded Sept. 9, 2025. Greetings from Eli Dovek ז״ל, late proprietor of our sponsor Israel Bookshop, Brookline, MA. Recorded in 2009. Greetings on behalf of the Boston Workers Circle / דער באָסטאָנער אַרבעטער-רינג by Libe Gritz. Recorded Sept. 17, 2025. Greetings by The Yiddish Voice co-hosts Leye Schporer-Leavitt, Sholem Beinfeld and Dovid Braun. Recorded Sept. 17, 2025. Music: Sholom Katz: Zochreinu L'Chayim Sholom Katz: Kol Nidre Jan Peerce: Ovinu Malkeinu Shalom Katz: El Moleh Rachamim Leibele Waldman: Der Nayer Yor Goldie Malavsky: Zochreinu L'Chayim Intro instrumental music: DEM HELFANDS TANTS, an instrumental track from the CD Jeff Warschauer: The Singing Waltz Air date: September 24, 2025
Shmuel Bak, Painter and Holocaust Survivor from Vilna
Shmuel Bak (Samuel Bak), the internationally renowned artist and Holocaust survivor, presented in a lengthy conversation with his friend, The Yiddish Voice co-host Sholem Beinfeld. Excerpts from Pucker Gallery's page about Bak: *Samuel Bak was born in Vilna, Poland in 1933, at a crucial moment in modern history. From 1940 to 1944, Vilna was under Soviet, then German occupation. Bak’s artistic talent was first recognized during an exhibition of his work in the Ghetto of Vilna when he was nine years old. While he and his mother survived, his father and four grandparents all perished at the hands of the Nazis. At the end of the war, he fled with his mother to the Landsberg Displaced Persons Camp, where he enrolled in painting lessons at the Blocherer School in Munich. In 1948, they immigrated to the newly established state of Israel. He studied at the Bezalel Art School in Jerusalem and completed his mandatory service in the Israeli army. In 1956, he went to Paris to continue his education at the École des Beaux Arts.... Bak has exhibited extensively in major museums, galleries, and universities throughout Europe, Israel, and the United States. He lived and worked in Tel Aviv, Paris, Rome, New York, and Lausanne before settling in Massachusetts in 1993 and becoming an American citizen. Bak has been the subject of articles, scholarly works, and over twenty books, most notably a 400-page monograph entitled Between Worlds. In 2001, he published his touching memoir, Painted in Words, which has been translated into four languages, and a biography entitled Art & Life: The Story of Samuel Bak was published in 2023. Related links: Wikipedia page for Samuel Bak: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samuel_Bak Pucker Gallery page for Samuel Bak: https://www.puckergallery.com/samuel-bak Samuel Bak Museum: The Learning Center (Omaha, NE): https://www.unomaha.edu/samuel-bak-museum-the-learning-center/ Sholem Beinfeld is co-editor-in-chief of the Comprehensive Yiddish-English Dictionary and Professor of History, Emeritus, Washington University, St. Louis. He translated The Rudashevsky Diary, which was published as the November, 2024, issue of The Jewish Quarterly. אַ כּתיבֿה וחתימה טובֿה! Featured Announcements for Rosh Hashona: Greetings on behalf of the League for Yiddish / די ייִדיש-ליגע by Gitl Schaechter-Viswanath, Board Chair. Recorded Sept. 9, 2025. Greetings on behalf of the American Association of Jewish Holocaust Survivors and Descendants of Greater Boston, featuring members Mary Ehrlich, Rosalie Reszelbach and Tania Lefman (Treasurer). Recorded Sept. 9 and 10, 2025. Greetings from Eli Dovek ז״ל, late proprietor of our sponsor Israel Bookshop, Brookline, MA. Recorded in 2009. Greetings on behalf of the Boston Workers Circle / דער באָסטאָנער אַרבעטער-רינג by Libe Gritz. Recorded Sept. 17, 2025. Greetings by The Yiddish Voice co-hosts Leye Schporer-Leavitt, Sholem Beinfeld and Dovid Braun. Recorded Sept. 17, 2025.<...
Matty Mendlowitz: Multisingual on YouTube
Matty Mendlowitz runs the YouTube channel Multisingual, featuring Yiddish-language vlogs of her travels, deep dives into world languages (especially Yiddish and its history and grammar, with a focus on contemporary Chassidic Yiddish), Disney clips dubbed into Yiddish, and much more engaging content. In this interview Matty talks about her background, including growing up speaking Yiddish, and what caused her to embrace Yiddish and learn many other languages and about her travels and other content she presents on her YouTube channel. Several excerpts of her YouTube content are presented during the show. We reached Matty via Zoom in Helsinki, Finland, on September 5, 2025. Related links Matty Mendlowitz's Multisingual YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@multisingual1241 Featured Multisingual videos Disney Frozen’s Let it Go sung in Yiddish: https://youtu.be/QnIYfnHmyfc?si=BVakMguPCV5od7Mj Hannukah Story in Yiddish: The Festival of Lights Explained: https://youtu.be/brF2Xqmx4Ng?si=J_Y-4XRLtm4cWkZ- Synonyms in Yiddish: Expanding your Yiddish Vocabulary with Like Words: https://youtu.be/TKp5QRcrSC8?si=4WRPgGbtkp1K3ip8 Frieda Vizel's recent (Aug., 2025) interview with Matty (in English): https://youtu.be/OhEuezMqyaE?si=5jq1vfGjAjPL_COs אַ כּתיבֿה וחתימה טובֿה! Featured Announcements for Rosh Hashona: Greetings on behalf of the League for Yiddish / די ייִדיש-ליגע by Gitl Schaechter-Viswanath, Board Chair. Recorded Sept. 9, 2025. Greetings on behalf of the American Association of Jewish Holocaust Survivors and Descendants of Greater Boston, featuring members Mary Ehrlich, Rosalie Reszelbach and Tania Lefman (Treasurer). Recorded Sept. 9 and 10, 2025. Greetings from Eli Dovek ז״ל, late proprietor of our sponsor Israel Bookshop, Brookline, MA. Recorded in 2009. Music: (Partial List) Sholom Katz: Zochreinu L'Chayim Intro instrumental music: DEM HELFANDS TANTS, an instrumental track from the CD Jeff Warschauer: The Singing Waltz Air date: September 10, 2025
Marc Caplan: A Complete Unknown and Bob Dylan; Yiddish Charlie on the MTA
Charlie on the MTA in Yiddish is performed by Yiddishists from Boston’s Arbeter Ring and exclusively recorded for The Yiddish Voice on Labor Day, Sept. 1, 2025, in Medford, MA. All of the following sang, with additional contributions noted: ליליע װײַצמאַן — Lily Weitzman · איבערזעצונג און נײַע סטראָפֿע (translation, introduction and new verse) יונה סידמאַן — Jonah Sidman · גיטאַר (guitar) עמאַ ברעסלאָװ — Emma Breslow · טשאַרלי צאָלט זײַן דײַם (“Charlie pays his dime”) verse שׂרה־לו האַרטמאַן — Lou Hartman · הערט אויס בירגער פֿון באָסטאָן (“Citizens of Boston, hear me out”) verse ליבע גריץ — Linda Gritz Marc Caplan in conversation with Yiddish Voice host Mark David (Meyer) about the recent Bob Dylan biopic A Complete Unknown. The film traces Dylan’s formative years, culminating in his landmark performance of Like a Rolling Stone at the 1965 Newport Folk Festival in a mostly-Jewish band of blues-rock musicians — Bob Dylan (guitar and vocals), Michael Bloomfield (guitar), Al Kooper (bass), and Barry Goldberg (organ). (Drummer Sam Lay was the non-Jewish member.) Marc Caplan is a Yiddish literature and Bob Dylan expert, currently Visiting Professor of Jewish Studies at Dartmouth. We reached Marc at his home in the Dartmouth College/Hanover, NH, area via Zoom on Sept. 3, 2025. CORRECTION: Murray Lerner, who filmed the Newport Folk Festivals (including Dylan’s 1965 performance), is incorrectly identified by Meyer as “Lerman” in the interview. Related links: Marc Caplan's article in Afn Shvel #351-350 Winter-Spring 2006: באָב דילאַן: פֿאַרנומען מיטן געבױרן װערן: https://docs.leagueforyiddish.org/mark-brukhes-artikl.pdf Marc Caplan's academic website: https://dartmouth.academia.edu/MarcCaplan Wiki page for the film: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Complete_Unknown Mike Bloomfield's Final Interview - Part Two (1981): https://youtu.be/K7cKLr6tOdE Bob Dylan - Like A Rolling Stone (Live at Newport 1965): https://youtu.be/a6Kv0vF41Bc (from Murray Lerner's film The Other Side of the Mirror) Music: Kingston Trio: M.T.A. (A/K/A "Charlie on the MTA") (from YouTube: https://youtu.be/S7Jw_v3F_Q0) (Yiddishists in Boston - see credits above): Charlie on the M.T.A. (in Yiddish translation, with added verse) Bob Dylan: Like a Rolling Stone (recorded live at the Newport Folk Festival in 1965) Intro instrumental music: DEM HELFANDS TANTS from Jeff Warschauer: The Singing Waltz Air Date: September 3, 2025
Deborah A. Green: Jews Who Fought in the Spanish Civil War
Deborah A. Green (דבֿורה גרין)— author, historian, translator, Yiddishist and retired litigator — discusses her translation of the late Yiddish journalist S. L. Schneiderman's book קריג אין שפּאַניען about the Spanish Civil War, with an emphasis on the outsized role of Jews among the International Brigades who took part. Deborah's new translation into English is Journey Through the Spanish Civil War. We reached Deborah by Zoom on Aug. 7, 2025. The interviewer Sholem Beinfeld is co-editor-in-chief of the Comprehensive Yiddish-English Dictionary and Professor of History, Emeritus, Washington University, St. Louis. He translated The Rudashevsky Diary, which was published as the November, 2024, issue of The Jewish Quarterly. In the second half of our show, we present two recordings from our archive in memory of 12 August 1952 and the execution of leading Jewish figures by the Soviet authorities: (1) Yosef Lakhman (in memory of the victims of 12 August 1952, originally aired in 2010) and (2) Interview with Gennady Estraikh about the 12 August 1952 events and their memorialization in the years since (originally aired in 2012). Related links: About page at Fighting Fascism: https://jewsfightingfascism.com/about/ Book: Journey Through the Spanish Civil War Music: Emil Gorovets: Ikh Bin a Yid Intro instrumental music: DEM HELFANDS TANTS from Jeff Warschauer: The Singing Waltz Air Date: August 13, 2025
Riki Rose
Riki Rose (ריקי רױז) — who works as a singer, songwriter and comic in both Yiddish and English — discusses her life and career. She's built up a substantial following over the past several years through concerts and social media performances. Her latest recording, גלות Blues, has just been released on YouTube, Spotify and most other platforms. We reached her by phone at her home in the New York City area on Aug. 6, 2025. Related links: Home page: https://rikirose.com Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/riki_rose X (Twitter): https://x.com/Riki_Rose Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@therikirose YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@riki_rose Upcoming performance Aug. 24 in NYC/UWS: https://www.instantseats.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=home.event&eventID=F6B95EE0-ABD8-F36E-F1507EED3192742C Music: Riki Rose: Galus Blues Riki Rose: Utem Arein Utem Arois Intro instrumental music: DEM HELFANDS TANTS from Jeff Warschauer: The Singing Waltz Air Date: August 6, 2025
Marvin Zuckerman: A Revisit Since LA Fires
This week, we present our second interview in the past year and a half with Marvin Zuckerman. Our first took place in his warm and welcoming home in LA’s Pacific Palisades, where the walls were adorned with beautiful paintings and lined with bookshelves holding thousands of volumes. Unfortunately, that house was destroyed in the LA fires of January 2025. Marvin and his wife, Kathy Kohner Zuckerman, have since relocated to a rental apartment in Santa Monica, where we conducted this follow-up interview on June 26, 2025. In this conversation, Zuckerman reflects on the devastating fire and shares further insights from his remarkable and multifaceted life. Zuckerman was raised in the Yiddish-speaking milieu of the Jewish Labor Bund in the Bronx, New York. He later became a professor of English at a Los Angeles college and co-authored the well-regarded Yiddish textbook Learning Yiddish in Easy Stages as well as several other works in the field of Yiddish. He also translated the memoir of prominent Bundist Bernard Goldstein, Twenty Years with the Jewish Labor Bund: A Memoir of Interwar Poland (Purdue University Press, 2016). His latest book is Dickinson in Yiddish & Other Essays & Translations (Brass Tacks Press, 2024). Music: Sveta Kundish & Patrick Farrell: Ikh un di Velt (words by Avrom Reyzen) Ida Gillner & Livet Nord:Mayn heym – Mitt hem (words by Anna Margolin; Swedish translation by Beila Engelhardt Titelman) Levyosn: Fisher-Lid (words by Aliza Greenblatt) Levyosn: Fun der Khupe / Moh Rabu / Kleyne Printsesin Intro instrumental music: DEM HELFANDS TANTS from Jeff Warschauer: The Singing Waltz Air Date: July 15, 2025
Adi Mahalel: Yiddish Language & Literature Scholar; Avremi Zaks: Latest on Israel's Wars
Adi Mehalel (עדי מהלאל) talks about teaching Yiddish language and literature at Univ. of Maryland and Yivo Summer Program and discusses the writers I. L. Peretz, the subject of his book The Radical Isaac: I. L. Peretz and the Rise of Jewish Socialism, and Hanan Ayalti, whose book Boom and Chains: A Yiddish Novel Set in Israel/Palestine is forthcoming with Mehalel's translation and introduction. Interviewed in New York City via Zoom on July 2, 2025. Book links: Boom and Chains: https://wsupress.wayne.edu/9780814351802/ The Radical Isaac: https://sunypress.edu/Books/T/The-Radical-Isaac Avremi Zaks (אבֿרהמי זאַקס), host of the Kan Yiddish (כאן יידיש) radio show in Israel, discusses Israel's recent war with Iran and its ongoing war with Hamas. Interviewed in Jerusalem via Zoom on July 2, 2025. Archive of Kan Yiddish: https://www.kan.org.il/content/kan/kan-reka/p-10820/ Music: Yiddish songs about America, in honor of the July 4th Independence Day holiday: Mandy Patinkin: American Tune Aaron Lebedeff & Alexander Olshanetsky Orchestra:Vot ken you makh? Es iz Amerike! Yiddish Philharmonic Chorus, directed by Binyumin Schaechter: Amerike di Prekhtike Intro instrumental music: DEM HELFANDS TANTS from Jeff Warschauer: The Singing Waltz Air Date: July 2, 2025
Leybl Botwinik, Sholem Beinfeld, Avremi Zaks on Israel Iran War
Sholem Beinfeld (in Cambridge, MA, recorded by phone, June 26, 2025) Leybl Botwinik (in central Israel, recorded via Zoom, June 26, 2025) Avremi Zaks (recorded June 20, 2025, courtesy of Kan Israel radio (https://www.kan.org.il/content/kan/kan-reka/p-10820/)) Music: (Yiddish music performed by various artists) Intro instrumental music: DEM HELFANDS TANTS from Jeff Warschauer: The Singing Waltz Air Date: June 25, 2025