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.

"Yoma Yoma": A Live Performance of a Yiddish Folksong

Watch now:

Sue Ehrlich—New York native, Yiddish activist, and artist—sings Yoma Yoma, accompanied by her guitar and explains the Yiddish lyrics in English.

This is an excerpt from an oral history with Sue Ehrlich.

This excerpt is in Yiddish and English.

Sue Ehrlich was born in New York, New York in 1928.

Other video highlights from this oral history

"It was very, very tragic": Yiddish play about Tsarist Army Conscription

1 min 10 sec

"They would maim the child sufficiently": 'Fixers' Helping Children to Avoid Tsarist Army Conscription

2 min 10 sec

"I Didn't Mind Being Deprived of the English Stations": WEVD Yiddish Radio Station

2 min 34 sec

"Women Were the Transmitters of this Language": Yiddish transmission in the 18th Century

1 min 20 sec

"I'm grateful to the Yiddish Book Center": The Future of Yiddish

1 min 19 sec

"Tsi Hot Ir Lib Gehat Lokshn? (Do You Like Noodles?)": A Yiddish Folktale

2 min 26 sec

"Hop! Mayne Hamentashen": A Live Performance of a Yiddish Folksong

1 min 33 sec

A Shock That Was Too Much for Some: Immigration from Kamenets, Ukraine to New York City

43 sec

"When the labor inspector came, they had a little ditty that they sang as a warning": Children working illegally in the Garment Factories of New York City

1 min 13 sec

"My brother was a character": Jews protecting Jews in Ethnically Mixed New York City Neighborhood

1 min 22 sec

"Nobody Would Hire You If You Were Jewish": Boy's Clubs' "connections" in New York City during the 1940s

1 min 28 sec

"They served a wonderful function": Landsmanshaft in New York City

1 min 20 sec

More information about this oral history excerpt

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