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.

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

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Jack Wolofsky, co-founder of KlezKanada, reflects on the impact personal experience and cultural heritage have on artistic authenticity. He offers Josh Dolgin (aka DJ SoCalled) as an example from the younger generation who is using his own background to connect to the art he's making.

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 Beyond the Books: Yiddish writers and their descendants 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

Singing Yiddish Folks Lider (Folk Songs) at Home

1 min 21 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

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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