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.

Translating My Grandfather's Books Word by Word

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David Forman, grandson of Yiddish writer and educator Solomon Simon, remembers his "stint as an auto-didact," when he first tried translating his grandfather's books without yet knowing Yiddish.

This is an excerpt from an oral history with David Forman.

This excerpt is in English.

David Forman was born in 1960.

This interview is part of the Beyond the Books: Yiddish writers and their descendants series.

Other video highlights from this oral history

Solomon Simon's Controversial Pedagogy and Involvement in the School System

3 min 51 sec

"The Synagogues Began to Empty, The Woods Began to Fill": Solomon Simon's Religious Education

3 min 17 sec

The Intention of My Grandfather's Autobiography: Solomon Simon's Idealization of the Shtetl

4 min 37 sec

He was Ancient to Me: Describing My Zeyde, Solomon Simon

4 min 27 sec

My Relationship to Yiddish Growing Up: The Yiddish Legacy in Solomon Simon's Descendants

3 min 25 sec

Yiddish is the Salt in Your Food: The Peculiar Relationship Americans Have with Yiddish

3 min 21 sec

The Delight of My Life: Getting to Know My Grandfather, Solomon Simon, Through His Books

2 min 13 sec

How Solomon Simon Wrote for Children

6 min 10 sec

More information about this oral history excerpt

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