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.
Yiddish: As Great a Language as All the Major Languages
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Eva Raby - former director of the Montreal Jewish Public Library - compares the beauty of Yiddish and her mother's singing with the nostalgia and kitsch of Yiddish.
This is an excerpt from an oral history with Eva Raby.
This excerpt is in English.
Eva Raby was born in Montreal, Québec, Canada in 1942.
Other video highlights from this oral history
Yiddish: As Great a Language as All the Major Languages
2 minutes
The Origins of the Yiddish Talking Books
58 seconds
My Grandfather Said Go To Canada, Now!: The Famous Roskies Family Immigration Stories
5 minutes 13 seconds
Storytelling at the Jewish Public Library
2 minutes 38 seconds
Any Yiddish Writer that Came to Montreal Visited Our Home
1 minute 21 seconds
Yiddish Culture Was Their Religion: Founders Of The Montreal Jewish Public Library
2 minutes 32 seconds
Recorded Lectures at the Jewish Public Library
6 minutes 13 seconds
History Behind The Multilingual Holdings Of The Montreal Jewish Public Library
3 minutes 59 seconds
Named After a Yiddish Research Institute: The Stories Behind My Name, Eva
2 minutes 11 seconds
How I Came To Record Kinder Klangen Children's Music Tapes
3 minutes 41 seconds
My Father Heard Trotsky and Lenin Speak
1 minute 13 secondsMore information about this oral history excerpt
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About the Wexler Oral History Project
Since 2010, the Yiddish Book Center’s Wexler Oral History Project has recorded more than 500 in-depth video interviews that provide a deeper understanding of the Jewish experience and the legacy and changing nature of Yiddish language and culture.
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Do you (or someone you know) have stories to share about the importance of Yiddish language and culture in your life?