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.

"That's How I Learned the Khazones": Cantor "Jackie" Remembers Singing Zmires With His Family

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Cantor Jack "Jackie" Mendelson—New York cantor and recording artist—sings some of his grandfather's zmires (Sabbath melodies) and recalls his bar mitzvah, where all of his relatives joined in song in remembrance of their zayde (grandfather).

This is an excerpt from an oral history with Cantor Jack "Jackie" Mendelson.

This excerpt is in English and Hebrew.

This interview is part of the Yiddish and the Arts: musicians, actors, and artists series.

Other video highlights from this oral history

"Corn beef was flying": Life in the famous Sachs and Mendelson NYC Jewish Deli and Borough Park

2 min 24 sec

"There are No Characters like that Anymore": A Tenor's Spontaneous Train Song

1 min 26 sec

"He sang to me, I sang back at him": Cantorial Lessons at 11-Years-Old on 48th Street

3 min 29 sec

"The New Generation Became Trapeze Artists": The Dying Art of Traditional Cantorial Singing

5 min 1 sec

"I Like What's Happening in the Klezmer World": Reflections on the State of Jewish Music and KlezKanada

2 min 5 sec

"What a Davener He Was!": Singing like the Great Cantors

3 min 33 sec

"Text Painting": The Art of the Cantor

4 min 19 sec

More information about this oral history excerpt

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