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.

Discovering Great-Grandfather's Tallis from the Old Country

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Thelma Oldak Finkler, Yiddish translator and English teacher who grew up in Mexico, shares the story of discovering her great-grandfather's tallis at her grandfather's funeral.

This is an excerpt from an oral history with Thelma Oldak Finkler.

This excerpt is in English.

Thelma Oldak Finkler was born in Mexico City, Mexico in 1965.

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This interview is part of the Yiddish in the Academy: scholars, language instructors, and students series.

Other video highlights from this oral history

"We Used to Go from One House to the Other through the Roofs": Growing Up In Mexico City

2 min 7 sec

"We Were Isolated Then": Many Different Jewish Schools in Mexico City

1 min 40 sec

Fighting With Philosophy Professor About Religious Freedom

1 min 48 sec

Differences Between Contemporary Yiddish Dialects

1 min 23 sec

Inventing New Yiddish Words as a Translator

1 min 16 sec

The Role of the Internet in the Future of Yiddish

2 min 3 sec

A Vision for Collaboration Between the World's Yiddish Translators

2 min 12 sec

A Fight Between Polish and Russian: My Jewish Family's Culinary Traditions

2 min 10 sec

More information about this oral history excerpt

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