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As the main spoken language of the Jews for more than a thousand years, Yiddish has had plenty to lament, plenty to conceal. Its phrases and expressions paint a comprehensive picture of the mind-set that enabled the Jews of Europe to survive persecution: they never stopped kvetching about God, gentiles, children, and everything else.

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Tracing Yiddish civilization from its roots in the Diaspora to the present, Paul Kriwaczek combines intimate family anecdote, travelogue, historical research, and interviews with scholars to give us a rich portrait of a nearly extinguished culture as it survived across the centuries. He begins his chronicle in Jerusalem, with the destruction of the Jewish temple at the hands of the Romans in the year 70. We see the burgeoning exile population disperse, moving outward and northward throughout the following centuries, making their mark in more far flung cities under Roman rule.

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Speak Yiddish in just one short week! LANGUAGE/30 zeroes in on the most essential phrases for day-to-day communication. Whether you are a vacationer, a business traveler, a student, or just need a refresher course, you'll learn what you need to know in just three 30-minute sessions a day. Developed for U.S. Government personnel, this accelerated learning method will have you conversing after just a few easy 30-minute lessons! These widely acclaimed courses have yielded proven results for over 60 years.

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  • Jewish New York

  • The Remarkable Story of a City and a People
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Based on the acclaimed multi-volume series, City of Promises: A History of the Jews of New York, Jewish New York reveals the multifaceted world of one of the city's most important ethnic and religious groups. Spanning three centuries, Jewish New York traces the earliest arrival of Jews in New Amsterdam to the recent immigration of Jews from the former Soviet Union.

Publisher's Summary

About a thousand years ago, European Jews began speaking a language that was quite different from the various tongues and dialects that swirled around them. It included Hebrew, a touch of the Romance and Slavic languages, and a large helping of German. In a world of earthly wandering, this pungent, witty, and infinitely nuanced speech, full of jokes, puns, and ironies, became the linguistic home of the Jews, the bond that held a people together.

Here is the remarkable story of how this humble language took vigorous root in Eastern European shtetls and in the Jewish quarters of cities across Europe; how it achieved a rich literary flowering between the wars in Europe and America; how it was rejected by emancipated Jews; and how it fell victim to the Holocaust. And also how, in yet another twist of destiny, Yiddish today is becoming the darling of academia.

Yiddish is a history as story, a tale of flesh-and-blood people with manic humor, visionary courage, brilliant causes, and glorious flaws. It will delight everyone who cares about language, literature, and culture.
©2001 Miriam Weinstein (P)2012 Steerforth Press L.L.C.

Critic Reviews

“A charming and highly readable history of the language . . . Weinstein succeeds in her efforts to recreate the sound of a world that is gone forever.” (The Washington Post)
“Yiddish: A Nation of Words reads like a folktale peppered with passionate characters." (The Boston Globe)
“Almost everyone knows a little Yiddish, a word or two, a joke perhaps, but what do they really know of the history, the tragedies, and bitter controversies that characterized a language now on the U.N.’s endangered list, but once spoken by eleven million people. . . . Part of the problem has been the lack of a serious, yet accessible book to fill the gap between glib entertainments. . . . Weinstein’s bookaims to do that and her success . . . is substantial.” (Los Angeles Times)

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Audible.com Reviews
Amazon Reviews
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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Must listen for language aficionados

I had no idea of the complex history of Yiddish.
I've heard it spoken and now I'm encouraged to learn more of the Mama Loschen.

Don't skip over this book, give it a try, you won't be disappointed.

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Sharon
  • Seattle, WA USA
  • 03-17-14

Good book, great reader

A nice Jewish history book written with information about Yiddish as the common thread. Well worth the listen.