The 'Yiddish Voice' Podcast

This is a special "Shloyshim" (memorial) program for Hasia Segal z"l, co-founder and co-host of the Yiddish Voice, who died January 16, 2017. Participants in the show include Rivke Basman Ben-Haim, Hankus Netsky, Ruth Shulman, Esther Ritchie, Iosif Lakhman, Dovid Braun, Sholem Beinfeld, and Mark David. Rivke Basman Ben-Haim, a world-renowned Yiddish poet and a good friend of Hasia's, presents a new, original poem that she composed specially for this occasion. Hankus Netsky is the founder of the Klezmer Conservatory Band and a leader in preserving and reviving Yiddish music, language, and culture. Shulman and Ritchie are Hasia's daughters. Lakhman, Braun, Beinfeld, and David are regular participants on the Yiddish Voice. Original air date: Feb. 15, 2017

Zackary (Sholem) Berger, M.D., Ph.D., is the author of the new book Making Sense of Medicine: Bridging the Gap between Doctor Guidelines and Patient Preferences (amzn.to/2kiKpLT). We reached him by phone in Baltimore, MD, to talk about his new book, primarily, and a few other things. In memory of our cofound and cohost Hasia Segal o"h (see http://yiddishvoice.com/#announcements) we played one of Hasia's segments from our archives, an interview with Professor Rabbi Dovid Neiman (o"h). We'll be continuing to air segments from Hasia's radio archives in the coming weeks until our Shloyshim (Memorial) program, scheduled for Feb. 15, 2017. Also: news report from Kol Israel in Jerusalem presented by Avremi Zaks. Original broadcast date: Feb. 2, 2017. NOTE: The interview with Zackary (Sholem) Berger was repeated the following week, Feb. 9, 2017.

Sosye Fox is the host and producer of Vaybertaytsh, a new podcast in Yiddish that calls itself "a feminist podcast for the Yiddish-speaking and Yiddish-curious". We reached her by phone in Tel Aviv. Hasia Segal o"h: reaired our report on the sad news of the passing of Hasia Segal. For further details, see our web site in the announcement section, here: http://yiddishvoice.com/#announcements In this broadcast we played one of Hasia's segments from our archives, an interview with Yiddishist Rabbi Gershon Winer (o"h). We'll be continuing to air segments from Hasia's radio archives in the coming weeks until our Shloyshim (Memorial) program, scheduled for Feb. 15, 2017. Also: news report from Kol Israel in Jerusalem presented by Avremi Zaks. Original broadcast date: Jan. 25, 2017

Mira Kessler is a rising star of the Yiddish theater scene in New York with a major supporting role in the new hit of the season Got fun Nekome (God of Vengeance), now being performed by New Yiddish Rep (http://newyiddishrep.org). We spoke to her by phone this morning. Hasia Segal o"h: Dovid and Meyer were extremely saddened to announce that Hasia Segal died this past Monday night, January 16, 2017. Hasia (whose name you'll also find spelled Chasia, Chassia, or Khasye, and in English as Harriet) was a co-founder of the Yiddish-language radio show "The Yiddish Voice" (WUNR-1600AM, from 1994 to the present) and its predecessor "The Yiddish Hour" (WBRS-100.1FM, years 1990-1994). Further details were given on the air, and are currently on our web site in the announcement section, here: http://yiddishvoice.com/#announcements In this broadcast we played one of Hasia's segments from our archives, a presentation about the Boston Zionist hero Dewey Stone. We'll be continuing to air segments from Hasia's radio archives in the coming weeks until our Shloyshim (Memorial) program, scheduled for Feb. 15, 2017. Also: news report from Kol Israel in Jerusalem presented by Avremi Zaks. Original broadcast date: Jan. 18, 2017

Workmen's Circle Online Yiddish Classes (circle.org) are offered online with real live instructors and their students communicationg via video chat sessions. We spoke to Kolye Borodulin, who runs the operation, besides teaching one of the courses. Yiddish Pop is a web site, yiddishpop.com, giving online, automated Yiddish classes with animation and sound geared toward grade school age kids. We spoke about Yiddishpop with Brukhe Lang, who writes the course materials. Also: news report from Kol Israel in Jerusalem presented by Avremi Zaks. Original broadcast dates: Jan. 4, 2017, and repeated verbatim (except for news update) the following week, Jan. 11, 2017

Interview with Daniel Kahn. He recently had a viral Yiddish music video of him singing his own Yiddish translation of Leonard Cohen's Hallelujah, which was released almost at the same as the news that Leonard Cohen had just died. We reached Daniel Kahn by phone in Berlin, Germany. Also: news report from Kol Israel in Jerusalem presented by Avremi Zaks. Original broadcast date: Dec. 21, 2016

From our archives: Replays of Miriam Libenson (o"h) and Hasia Segal (tsu lange yor) of Hanukkah presentations, along with Hanukkah music and greetings from friends and cohosts. Hasia Segal's Hanukkah presentation for Hanukkah is from 1991, and Miriam Libenson's presentation for Hanukkah is from 1993. Both were originally broadcast on Di Yidishe Sho (The Yiddish Hour) on WBRS 100.1 FM/Waltham, MA. Hanukkah music rounds out the show. Also: news report from Kol Israel in Jerusalem presented by Avremi Zaks. Original broadcast date: Dec. 28, 2016

Interview with Sidney Polak. Like his good friend Fishl Goldig, who was our guest last week, he's been performing for years in the Yiddish theatre of Montreal, and also, like Fishl, he's a Holocaust survivor. We interviewed him last month at a convention of holocaust survivors in Los Angeles. You'll learn more about him in our interview. Also: news report from Kol Israel in Jerusalem presented by Avremi Zaks. Original broadcast date: Dec. 14, 2016

Interview with Philip Goldig (Yiddish name: Fishl). He's been a performer for years in the Yiddish theatre of Montreal. He also serves as a High Holiday cantor. We interviewed him last month at a convention of holocaust survivors in Los Angeles. You'll learn more about him in our interview. Also: news report from Kol Israel in Jerusalem presented by Avremi Zaks. Original broadcast date: Dec. 7, 2016

Interview with Prof. David G. Roskies. This is part 2 of 2. Part 1 aired last week. About Dr. Roskies: David G. Roskies is the Sol and Evelyn Henkind Chair in Yiddish Literature and Culture and a professor of Jewish literature at The Jewish Theological Seminary. Since 2013, he has also served as the Naomi Prawer Kadar Visiting Professor of Yiddish Studies at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Dr. Roskies was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2012. Roskies has published nine books, including, notably, Yiddishlands (2008), a personal and family memoir described as a "whirlwind tour of modern Yiddish culture", which is discussed in detail in his interview with the Yiddish Voice. Roskies received his undergraduate and graduate education at Brandeis University, where he received his doctorate in 1975. He was an early member of the highly influential Havurat Shalom in Somerville, MA, and co-founded Yugntruf (Youth for Yiddish; yugntruf.org), an organization of Yiddish-speaking young adults. Also: music: Vaserl (Yugntruf); Rozhinkes mit Mandlen (Freydele Oisher); Besarabye (Miryem-Khaye Seigel; Dem Milners Trern (Yiddish Princess)

Interview with Prof. David G. Roskies. This is part 1 of 2. Part 2 airs next week. About Dr. Roskies: David G. Roskies is the Sol and Evelyn Henkind Chair in Yiddish Literature and Culture and a professor of Jewish literature at The Jewish Theological Seminary. Since 2013, he has also served as the Naomi Prawer Kadar Visiting Professor of Yiddish Studies at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Dr. Roskies was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2012. Roskies has published nine books, including, notably, Yiddishlands (2008), a personal and family memoir described as a "whirlwind tour of modern Yiddish culture", which is discussed in detail in his interview with the Yiddish Voice. Roskies received his undergraduate and graduate education at Brandeis University, where he received his doctorate in 1975. He was an early member of the highly influential Havurat Shalom in Somerville, MA, and co-founded Yugntruf (Youth for Yiddish; yugntruf.org), an organization of Yiddish-speaking young adults. Also: in honor of Thanksgiving: "Intervyu Mitn Toyrki" (Interview with a Turkey) by the late Yiddish radio host, actor, and cantor Ben Gailing, from his radio show "Der Freylekher Kabtsen". Thanks to Hankus Netsky, tsu lange yor, Ben's producer, for this recording.

Interviews: * Theo Bikel, in his last Yiddish interview before hd died in June 2015, discussed his autobiography "Theo" and the film "Theodore Bikel: In the Shoes of Sholom Aleichem" (originally aired May 2015) * Mikhoel Felsenbaum, novelist, poet, and playwright, discussed his early life in part 1 of an interview recorded and originally aired in 2014.

Interviews: Vera Szabo, editor of Yiddish-English/English-Yiddish Dictionary & Phrasebook (replay from 2012) Harry Bochner and Solon Beinfeld, editors of Comprehensive Yiddish-English Dictionary (replay from 2012)

Holocaust survivor, educator, and author Moshe Avital discusses his book Not To Forget, Impossible to Forgive. (Part 2) For further information: ALSO: Harold Minuskin, who adapted and translated of his mother's memoirs as the book "My Children, My Heroes: Memoirs of a Holocaust Mother" (2009) (replay from 2013) For further information: [My Children, My Heroes: Memoirs of a Holocaust Mother](<a target=) Air Date: Nov. 2, 2016

Holocaust survivor, educator, and author Moshe Avital discusses his book Not To Forget, Impossible to Forgive. (Part 1) Air Date: Oct. 26, 2016

For Succos and Simchas Torah: Miriam Libenson z"l (from the '90's) and Myer Loketch (from 2006) (Note: this is REPEAT of last week's episode except for the introductory announcement about the death Nora Bogot and the news from Israel.)

For Succos and Simchas Torah: Miriam Libenson z"l (from the '90's) and Myer Loketch (from 2006)

Dovid Braun reviews Yomim-Noroyim greetings (repeat from last week) Khazn Moshe Kraus (Ottowa) 2010 Interview, Part 2 (repeat; part 1 was last week) Yom-Tov greetings from Mark Murstein and many sponsors and friends. Musical highlights: Yosele Rosenblatt: Kol Nidre, Sholom Katz: Zochreinu L'Chayim; Jennie Goldstein: Ovinu Malkeynu; Malavsky Family: Unsanneh Tokef; Leibele Waldman: Shofar Shel Moshiach

Boris Sandler gives an update on his post-retirement doings. Dovid Braun reviews Yomim-Noroyim greetings. Khazn Moshe Kraus (Ottowa) 2010 Interview, Part 1 (repeat) Yom-Tov greetings from Mark Murstein and many sponsors and friends.

We invented a new Yiddish game show for our radio show called Verterbukh-Shpil, a variant of Fictionary (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fictionary), and we recorded it being played in front of a live audience at the annual Yiddish Week (Yidish-Vokh) in Copake, NY, in recognition of the recent publication of Yiddish dictionaries, several of whose creators were on hand, taking advantage of the presence of the lively Yiddish-speaking audience present at Yugntruf ()'s annual "Yiddish Week". Naturally, hilarity ensued ... in Yiddish! Listen to tonight's show, and you'll laugh a little while testing and improving your own knowledge of Yiddish. We recommend you have a pencil handy so you can write down the words, and try playing yourself! Air Date: August 31, 2016

Local long-time listener and occasional contributor Mark (Motl) Murstein recited his own translation of a poem written in Polish about the Holocaust, which to our knowledge had never been translated, much less broadcast, before! Also, Mark gave sang us a "popular" song, of which we have to date not found any recordings. Also, we replayed excerpts of the interview aired July 13, 2016, with English-Yiddish Dictionary editors, which we described as follows: Gitl Schaechter-Viswanath and Paul (Hershl) Glasser, the editors of the just-published Comprehensive English-Yiddish Dictionary. Airing part 1 tonight (7/13/16) and part 2 next week (7/20/16). Interviewers: Iosif Lakhman and Dovid Braun. Check out dictionary web page at League for Yiddish: http://store.leagueforyiddish.org/verterbukh.html Air date: August 24, 2016

Air date: August 17, 2016

Part 1: Elie Wiesel: Shloyshim (In Memoriam). Featuring a 2012 interview of Elie Wiesel by Max Kohn, originally broadcast on SBS Radio Australia's Yiddish service, and an excerpt of Wiesel's first book, in Yiddish, "Un Di Velt Hot Geshvign", from the Jewish Public Library of Montreal's collection, courtesy of the National Yiddish Book Center's online archive. Part 2: Tisha B'Ov: An Interview with Rabbi Simen Jacobson (replay).

[Replay from previous week almost exactly except for a brief announcement to that effect near beginning. Sorry, it's summer. :)) Elye Davis from Yugntruf.org talks about the Yidish-Vokh. (replayed from last week's show) Rabbis Dovid Weiss-Halivni and Joseph Pollak celebrated Elie Wiesel's 80th birthday in 2008 here in Boston and were interviewed by the Yiddish Voice. Here are some excerpts from those interviews, which we last played in 2008. Note: we'll have a full program on Elie Wiesel for the Shloyshim next week. Sheva Zucker, exec. dir. of League for Yiddish, interviewed by Iosif Lakhman, talking about various things in the Yiddish world. Replayed from 2008. Miriam Libenson o"h, or beloved late poet and holiday presenter, discusses Tisha B'Ov and the Three Weeks of mourning. Replayed from early 1990's.

Elye Davis from Yugntruf.org talks about the Yidish-Vokh. (replayed from last week's show) Rabbis Dovid Weiss-Halivni and Joseph Pollak celebrated Elie Wiesel's 80th birthday in 2008 here in Boston and were interviewed by the Yiddish Voice. Here are some excerpts from those interviews, which we last played in 2008. Note: we'll have a full program on Elie Wiesel for the Shloyshim next week. Sheva Zucker, exec. dir. of League for Yiddish, interviewed by Iosif Lakhmans, talking about various things in the Yiddish world. Replayed from 2008. Miriam Libenson o"h, or beloved late poet and holiday presenter, discusses Tisha B'Ov and the Three Weeks of mourning. Replayed from early 1990's.