Tony Michels: Judaism Unbound Episode 207 - American History of Yiddish
Tony Michels, the George L. Mosse professor of American Jewish History at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, joins Dan Libenson and Lex Rofeberg for a conversation about the evolving role of Yiddish in America, from the late-19th century through the present. [1] This episode is the fifth in a series of episodes produced in collaboration with the Yiddish Book Center, as part of its Decade of Discovery initiative, in honor of 40 years since the Yiddish Book Center’s founding. [2]
(0:01 - 14:01): Michels opens the conversation with an assertion that Yiddish isn’t dying, despite what people might have predicted a few decades ago. He also remembers his surprise as a graduate student upon learning that the Yiddish literary culture that flourished in the early 20th century was first established in the U.S., not Eastern Europe, by journalists who began writing in Yiddish after immigrating. Next, Michels provides an overview of historical American Yiddish cultural institutions, including the Yiddish press. [3] He notes that what he calls Yiddish culture was not seen as such by the Jews who created it --many believed that it was destined to disappear. Michels also names restrictions on immigration to America and the Holocaust as contributors to the demise of Yiddish culture.
(14:01 - 30:24): Beginning with a reference to Aaron Lansky’s book Outwitting History, [4] Michels discusses commonalities and differences between Eastern European and American Jewish communities. He recounts the intracommunal debates that divided the American Jewish community at the beginning of the 20th century and considers the stakes of preserving Yiddish in our own time. Michels recognizes the burst of Yiddish cultural creative energy that arose in America, which we continue to benefit from today. He asserts two important points -- first, that centers of Yiddish culture existed in multiple cities, all around the country. Second, he describes New York as the capital of a national culture that connected those disparate communities to one another. [5] Shifting gears to the topic of Jewish Studies on university campuses, Michels attributes the appeal of academic Jewish studies courses to their potential to be more nuanced than many Hebrew school educations. [6] He also acknowledges the tension between identity-building and academic interest as motivation for Jewish studies.
(30:24 - 46:12): Michels thinks through realms of Jewish culture, including humor and politics, in which knowledge of Yiddish is in some ways crucial to fully understanding their historic evolutions. He says that a growing body of Yiddish translations can provide background for a generation of young Jews who are interested in the history of Jewish socialism. Michels discusses the struggles of working class Jewish immigrants to the U.S., which drove a Jewish socialist movement, and he discusses his personal affinity for lost causes and the marginal. [7] To close the episode, Michels connects (of all things!) Judaism and surfing, and asks expansive questions about the incongruity of inherited vs acquired identity in American-Jewish life. [8]
[1] Find Tony Michels’ books on modern Jewish history, Jewish radicals, and Yiddish socialists here. In particular, we recommend Jewish Radicals: A Documentary History.
[2] Explore the Yiddish Book Center’s offerings at YiddishBookCenter.org, and learn more about the Decade of Discovery in particular here.
[3] Learn more about the Yiddish Press here, through a video and article offered by MyJewishLearning.com.
[4] Listen to our previous interview with Aaron Lansky, Episode 203 - Yiddish in America, and check out his book Outwitting History: The Amazing Adventures of a Man Who Rescued A Million Yiddish Books, which is available as an audiobook.
[5] Michels mentions the Yiddish Forverts, as one important publication that was part of the Yiddish Press. The Forverts still publishes in Yiddish today (digitally, no longer in print), and you can check it out here. For an article reflecting on the evolutions of The Forward in recent years, see this piece, by Mairav Zonszein, in Columbia Journalism Review.
[6] Lex references our interview with Aaron Hahn Tapper as we discuss encountering Judaism through academics. Listen to Episode 195: Judaisms - Aaron Hahn Tapper to hear our discussion of Judaism’s multiple forms.
[7] You can find the full video of Michels’ oral history for the Yiddish Book Center here or watch an excerpt of him discussing his affinity for underdogs here.
[8] Read Michels’ entertaining article on the incongruity of American Jewish life, entitled “Himmelfarb Don’t Surf,” here.