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.
Judeo-Italian, Judeo-Provençal and a Women's Siddur
Watch now:
George Jochnowitz, professor emeritus of linguistics at the College of Staten Island, speaks about a fascinating adventure exploring Jewish languages and dialects, culminating in a chance to speak with probably the last living speaker of Judeo-Provençal and the discovery of women's prayerbook in the language that predates printing! The prayerbook's blessing, "...who made me a woman" does not follow the traditional wording of "...who made me according to His will" -- perhaps an early feminist revision!
This is an excerpt from an oral history with George Jochnowitz.
This excerpt is in English.
George Jochnowitz was born in Brooklyn, New York in 1937.
This interview is part of the Yiddish in the Academy: scholars, language instructors, and students series.
