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Watch out for the Yiddish professor with a manifesto. Saul Noam Zaritt takes us back to a time when Jewish was German — that is, when Yiddish was taytsh. But taytsh is much more than that; it’s a way of understanding a language and the culture it carries as anything but fixed, stable, and unified.
Oy! A real kopdreyenish for political power and national sovereignty.
In some ways, Yiddish is all the cliches you think it is. In others, it’s a language between languages, extending in all directions; in pursuit of empire, getting crushed by it, only to be reimagined in other times and places.
Want more? Check out Saul’s database of Yiddish popular fiction. And if you like this episode, show your support by sharing and subscribing to The Bupkes.
Music by The Bupkes’ own Chief Goy Liaison Officer, Wiliam Succumbs. Let us know what you think of it!
NB: Transcript and captions are auto-generated, so errors — spelling and otherwise — are to be expected. The interview has been lightly edited for length and clarity.
