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.

"Mieskeit! You Know What That Is?"

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Joseph Heller, summer 2013 Steiner student, recounts how his first Yiddish words were gleaned from his mother's impassioned rants.

This is an excerpt from an oral history with Joseph Heller.

This excerpt is in Yiddish and English.

Joseph Heller was born in 1994.

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

Other video highlights from this oral history

Yiddish is Not Dead, It's Taken On a New Form

1 min 40 sec

"Hak Mir Nisht Keyn Tschaynik!": My Favorite Yiddish Phrase

1 min 18 sec

Yiddish Became a Burden During the McCarthy Era

1 min 23 sec

"All That Remains is a Dream" - The Bittersweet Nostalgia of "Vu Iz Dos Gesele?"

1 min 35 sec

More information about this oral history excerpt

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