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.

Attitude towards Yiddish in Russia, Ukraine and Belarus

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Israel Bartal shares his experience as a professor in Jewish Studies in countries of Eastern Europe. Despite the surprising presence of Yiddish speakers, he is pessimistic about the future of Yiddish in this part of the world.

This is an excerpt from an oral history with Israel Bartal.

This excerpt is in English.

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This interview is part of the Yiddish in the Academy: scholars, language instructors, and students series.

Other video highlights from this oral history

Linguistic Diversity in Palestine of the Forties

3 min 19 sec

An Unexpected Journey: How My Israeli Hebraist Education Lead Me To a Love for Yiddish Literature And Eastern European Jewish History

5 min 37 sec

Yiddish in Israel: Epitome of Diaspora Culture

2 min 33 sec

The Tel Aviv I Grew Up In...

3 min 52 sec

A Conflict Over Yiddish While on Vacation in Tzfat

3 min 19 sec

Popularity of Yiddish in Israel Today

2 min 57 sec

Future of Yiddish

3 min 23 sec

Auntie Fryda

2 min 48 sec

He Spoke My Parents' Dialect

1 min 40 sec

"It Is Incredible How Much We Still Have To Do": Advice for Young Yiddishists

2 min 51 sec

More information about this oral history excerpt

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