The Yiddish Book Center's

Wexler Oral History Project

A growing collection of in-depth interviews with people of all ages and backgrounds, whose stories about the legacy and changing nature of Yiddish language and culture offer a rich and complex chronicle of Jewish identity.

Kheyder? I Hated Every Moment of It

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Howard Nenner, retired professor of legal and political history, remembers his brief childhood tenure at a kheyder (traditional religious primary school) where the teacher lay in wait to punish students who made mistakes.

This is an excerpt from an oral history with Howard Nenner.

This excerpt is in English.

Howard Nenner was born in Bronx, New York in 1935.

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Other video highlights from this oral history

"It's Not the Hebrew That's Important to Me, It's the Yiddish": Visiting the Yiddish Book Center

1 min 19 sec

“A Certain Caché”: Why My Family Identified As Austrian

1 min 52 sec

Discovery in the Map Room: Finding My Family’s Shtetl

2 min 46 sec

Laundry in an East Bronx Kitchen

5 min 52 sec

"If You're Sleeping, You're Cheating!": How My Grandfather Observed Yom Kippur

1 min 9 sec

"Creative Kashres"

1 min 4 sec

A Code Language: Yiddish in My American Home

48 sec

Parade, Automat, and A Movie: Thanksgiving Day in Manhattan with Izzy and Mama

3 min 18 sec

"The Worst Christmas Present"

1 min 21 sec

Leftist But Cautious: My Father's Political Attitude During The McCarthy Era

3 min 58 sec

Education, a Good Job, and a Fear of the World: Values My Jewish Parents Instilled

2 min 36 sec

"No More Religious, But A Lot More Jewish": How My First Trip To Israel Changed My Jewish Identity

4 min 41 sec

"The Biggest Mistake of My Life": Reflections on Child-rearing, Cultural Transmission, and Identity

3 min 56 sec

Connecting to the Jewish World: Why I Subscribe to the Jewish Daily Forward

1 min 2 sec

More information about this oral history excerpt

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