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.

Underwear and Packed Lunches: Jewish Immigrant Beginnings in Downtown Mexico City

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Becky Rubinstein—Mexican Jewish writer and niece of founder of Mexican-Yiddish newspaper "Di Shtime"—describes the center of Mexico where Jewish settlers first opened their garment shops and introduced European customs to Mexico.

This is an excerpt from an oral history with Becky Rubinstein Wolochviansky.

This excerpt is in Spanish.

Becky Rubinstein Wolochviansky was born in Mexico City, Mexico in 1948.

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This interview is part of the Beyond the Books: Yiddish writers and their descendants Yiddish in the Academy: scholars, language instructors, and students series.

Other video highlights from this oral history

Personal Connections to Yiddish Alongside Mexican and Hebrew Cultures

1 min 18 sec

Yiddish as a Priority for the Survival of Yiddishkayt and Jewish Culture

2 min 17 sec

Reading Sholem Aleichem with Ink Stained Hands: Memories of Yiddish in My Mexican Jewish Home

1 min 17 sec

Di Shtime: Moises Rubinstein, Founder of A Yiddish Newspaper for Jewish Community in Mexico

2 min 55 sec

Isaac Berliner and Diego Rivera: A Famous Collaboration Portrays the Reality of Poverty in Mexico

1 min 52 sec

"To Speak of the Glantz is to Speak of a Dynasty": The Jacobo Glantz Family Legacy

2 min 22 sec

La Bonita: Memories of a Mother's Assimilation to Mexico

1 min 4 sec

Reconstructing Memories of Jewish Life in Mexico: Culture, Jobs, and Education

3 min 12 sec

More information about this oral history excerpt

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