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.

Singing Yiddish Folks Lider (Folk Songs) at Home

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Jack Wolofsky, co-founder of KlezKanada, remembers Saturday afternoon gatherings at home, when his grandparents and their friends would sing Yiddish folk music together.

This is an excerpt from an oral history with Jack Wolofsky.

This excerpt is in English.

Jack Wolofsky was born in Montreal, Quebec, Canada in 1931.

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This interview is part of the Yiddish and the Arts: musicians, actors, and artists series.

Other video highlights from this oral history

"In der Heym": Home Was Still Russia to My Grandparents After They Moved to Montreal

5 min 36 sec

The Keneder Adler and Imperial Tobacco

2 min 38 sec

"Before Wolosfky, a Settlement; After Wolofsky, a Community": My Grandfather Founded The Keneder Adler (Canadian Eagle), Montreal's Yiddish Newspaper

5 min 48 sec

The First Jewish Army in Two Thousand Years

2 min 34 sec

Mischief at the Keneder Adler (Canadian Eagle) Yiddish Newspaper

3 min 49 sec

The Strike: Students Organizing Against Antisemitism in Montreal

4 min 37 sec

Authors at the Office of the Keneder Adler (Canadian Eagle) Yiddish Newspaper

3 min 28 sec

Rediscovering the Story of a Drowned Aunt

8 min 5 sec

The Birth of KlezKanada

3 min 26 sec

Speak From Your Roots: On Culture, Heritage, and Making Life Meaningful

4 min 43 sec

Where? Why? What Does it Mean?: The Depth of Itzik Manger's Poetry

4 min 39 sec

More information about this oral history excerpt

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