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.

How Yiddish Helped My Gay Partner Connect with My Jewish Family

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Marshall Forstein, psychiatrist, describes how his mother introduced Marshall's fiancé to friends and family at his son's bar mitzvah, and how Yiddish was helpful in building relationships with Marshall's older relatives.

This is an excerpt from an oral history with Marshall Forstein.

This excerpt is in English.

Other video highlights from this oral history

Adopting as a Gay Couple in the 1980s: Politics and Tribulations

6 min 40 sec

Doing Good and Other Jewish Values

3 min 9 sec

“Do the Right Thing and the World Will Get Better”: Borrowing Life Advice from Spike Lee

2 min 24 sec

"I Didn't Have the Language to Explain to Him What I Was Going Through": Abandoning My Path toward Becoming a Rabbi

3 min 54 sec

I Saw Yiddish as Just Another Heritage Language in a Multicultural Context

4 min 33 sec

Each Immigrant Community Handled the Fear of Discrimination Differently

1 min 34 sec

Half of My Generation of Gay Men Died from the AIDS Epidemic: Gay Liberation and Health Crisis in the 1980s

2 min 33 sec

More information about this oral history excerpt

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