In this extract from Mendele Moykher Sforim's Fishke der krumer, Fishke describes his wife, a blind orphan who makes her living by...

"Elul days" from Khaim Shoys, Dos Yontef Bukh (1933). Life goes on in the shtetl as usual. Yet, at the same time it is clear to anyone...

Since it's the last day of Khanike, when, in some communities, the left over "dead thread" from Yom Kippur would be used to make khanike...

I'm getting ready today to teach my final class on this online course with JTS, in which we will be taking a closer look at the...

In the summer of 2018, my little sister Viv got married. Our mother died when she was 2 and I was 4, and I was incredibly honoured when ...

In the memorial book to the Jewish community of Volkovisk (Vawkavysk, Belarus), I found my second description of a real life...

This is an extract from Sh. Leibovitsh 'A krankn a refue' - healing for the sick - in the Tomashover Yizker Bukh (1965.) Leibovitz...

This is one section of a long article by H. Heyoys, published in YIVO's filologishe shriftn in 1928, entitled 'Beliefs and customs in...

This week I've been teaching an online workshop at Yiddish New York about Ashkenazi Jewish women's customs and practices. For the past...

The following text is an excerpt from A.S. Zaks' 'Khoreve Veltn' ­– Ruined Worlds ­– describing Jewish customs in the month of Elul - the...

Among the professions listed in this memorial book from Kremenets, Ukraine, between "goose plucker" and "mechanic", is "cemetery zogerke"...

In the Yizker (memorial) book written by former residents of the shtetl Kletsk, now in Belarus, I found the following short description...

In Yiddish literature, the practices described on this website are often viewed disparagingly, especially when women used to do them for...