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.

"My Grandparents Would Speak in Fluent Yiddish When They Didn't Want Us to Understand"

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Merlin Shepherd, klezmer musician and instructor, recalls an incident in which his grandfather started yelling at another driver in Yiddish in order to keep him from understanding.

This is an excerpt from an oral history with Merlin Shepherd.

This excerpt is in English.

Merlin Shepherd was born in Cardiff, Wales, United Kingdom in 1963.

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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

My Best Teachers were Recordings: Discovering Klezmer and Finding My Sound

1 min 50 sec

Playing Klezmer not "Kletzmer" in Germany

3 min 57 sec

The British Klezmer Scene

3 min 5 sec

"All Gigs Are the Same": Channeling Healing Energy Through My Music

2 min 7 sec

Jewish Boyhood in Rural Wales: My Grandfather's Story

1 min 36 sec

Becoming a Clarinetist

3 min 10 sec

"There Was Always a Flavor, Without Being Dogmatic": Growing Up in a Secular Jewish Home

2 min 2 sec

More information about this oral history excerpt

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