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.

Yiddish, Then and Now

Watch now:

Shirley Cohen Steinberg, writer and director of Yiddish plays, reflects on Yiddish's place in history and its role in contemporary society.

This is an excerpt from an oral history with Shirley Cohen Steinberg.

This excerpt is in English.

Shirley Cohen Steinberg was born in Brooklyn, New York in 1926.

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

Other video highlights from this oral history

"It Was Chutzpah!" Directing a Yiddish Play

2 min 1 sec

Bar Mitzvah Strudel

2 min 25 sec

Shirley Cohen Steinberg Performs Yossele Rosenblatt's "Shema"

1 min 22 sec

Shirley Cohen Steinberg Sings Mordechai Gebirtig's "Kinderyorn"

2 min 30 sec

WEVD and Zvi Schooler

1 min 45 sec

Memories of the 2nd Avenue Yiddish Theater

3 min 1 sec

My Children's Interest in Yiddish

2 min 14 sec

More information about this oral history excerpt

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