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.

Moyshe-Leyb Halpern's Appearance

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Isaac (Ying) Halpern, son of Yiddish poet Moyshe-Leyb Halpern, describes the nature of his father's appearance, through both his own memory and his father's self-portaits. Drawing from the sternness represented in his father's self-portraits, Isaac considers the inevitability of a serious face when an artist approaches all of his work with seriousness.

This is an excerpt from an oral history with Isaac (Ying) Halpern.

This excerpt is in English.

Isaac (Ying) Halpern was born in New York, New York in 1923.

This interview is part of the Beyond the Books: Yiddish writers and their descendants series.

Other video highlights from this oral history

An Imaginary Kitchenette Menu: The Household Artwork Of Moyshe-Leyb Halpern

3 min 10 sec

"The Power of this Acting Business”: Advice From Yehuda Bleich For A Minor Yiddish Theater Role

2 min 30 sec

“I Missed That One”: When I Once Disappointed My Father, Moyshe-Leyb Halpern

2 min 44 sec

Moyshe-Leyb Halpern: Pinnacle of Modernism in Yiddish Poetry

2 min 27 sec

“Sometimes I Get Hung On Things”: Isaac (Ying) Halpern On Reading His Father Moyshe-Leyb’s Poetry

1 min 4 sec

Yingele: the Story Behind an Unusual Yiddish Nickname

1 min 41 sec

The Ironing Disaster: Moyshe-Leyb Halpern Didn’t Do So Well With Menial Jobs

2 min 15 sec

A Tradition of Father-Son (Recycled) Art in the Halpern Family

2 min 23 sec

"We Can't Afford A Real Gate-leg Table": Moyshe-Leyb Halpern's Whimsical Household Art

1 min 25 sec

As His Son, I Was Surprised to Realize Just How Well-Regarded My Father, Moyshe-Leyb Halpern, Was

2 min 30 sec

The Artistic Habits of Yiddish Poet Moyshe-Leyb Halpern

2 min 26 sec

“Beautiful Sounds In The Middle”: The Style of Moyshe-Leyb Halpern’s Yiddish Poetry

1 min 37 sec

Moyshe-Leyb Halpern as a Father

2 min 13 sec

Cross-generational Inspirations: Copying Each Other's Paintings in the Halpern Family

1 min 46 sec

“A Love-Hate Relationship" With The Modern World: My Father, Moyshe-Leyb Halpern’s Yiddish Poetry

1 min 34 sec

More information about this oral history excerpt

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