The Migdal Chapter of Hadassah Announces…
The Return of the Yiddish Club!
The Migdal Chapter Of Hadassah At North Shore Towers Presents…
AUGUST BOOK SELECTION:
“BOOKSHOP OF THE BROKEN
HEARTED”
BY ROBERT HILLMAN
DISCUSSION WEDNESDAY,
AUGUST 24, 4:00 PM -
COLERIDGE LOUNGE
“Bookshop of the Broken Hearted” by Robert
Hillman will be discussed on August 24 at 4:00
PM in the Coleridge Lounge. The discussion
will be led by Arlene Augenbraun and Bern
Rosenthal.
It is 1968 in rural Australia and lonely Tom
Hope can’t make heads or tails of Hannah
Babel. Newly arrived from Hungary, Hannah
is unlike anyone he’s ever met–she’s passionate,
artistic, and fiercely determined to open sleepy
Hometown’s first bookshop. Despite the fact
that Tom has read only one book in his life,
the two soon discover an astonishing spark.
Recently abandoned by an unfaithful wife,
Tom dares to believe that he might make
Hannah happy. But Hannah is a haunted
woman: Twenty-four years earlier, she had
been marched to the gates of Auschwitz.
Amazon.com
“An uplifting exploration of how people
rise above tragedy to find joy...An impressive,
riveting tale of how two disparate
and well-drawn people recover from
soul-wrenching grief and allow themselves
to truly love again.”—Publishers Weekly
“A complex exploration of grief, faith,
and restoration ... In poignant, meditative,
and stirring prose, Hillman tells a heartrending
and heartwarming tale of love and
sacrifice." – Booklist, starred review return
“Hillman’s vivid observations of regional
details, keen perceptions of local customs,
absorbing storyline, and sympathetic
characters make the novel impossible to
put down.” —Washington Independent
Review of Books
BY DEE DEE GOIDEL
During the pandemic, the
Yiddish Club at NST, according
to the CDC guidelines,
could not meet in person.
That was very unfortunate because
the Yiddish Club did not translate
well to Zoom. I guess you have to be
personally together to savor the Yiddish
it would be like “feeling the
fabric of the Language as you would
a piece of silk.” However, that did
not dim the members’ desire. They
missed the Club Leader, Zona
Schreiber and the peer interaction.
Zona, a retired teacher of languages
and fine scholar of Jewish history,
carefully plans for each session.
Her lessons always include a special
surprise. Being an outstanding
educator, Zona encourages the
members to also contribute to the
lesson. It might be a Yiddish song,
joke, phrases or story.
The Yiddish Club is about much
more than Yiddish. The members
became an extended family during
the shutdown, keeping in touch
with one another by phone. The
end result was that they had
developed a phone bank, making it
easier for Zona to restart the Club.
In fact they have been meeting
every Tuesday at 10:30 since June
15 in the Coleridge Lounge.
When interviewing a few members,
I realized that the motivating
forces that bind the group are a
desire to keep a strong sense of
generational Jewish culture, as
well as history and identity, alive.
Any Hadassah member can attend
the sessions and you don’t have
to be well versed in the language.
Nostalgia is sometimes the reason
for attending. Yiddish may
have been spoken by parents and
grandparents at home. The members’
knowledge of the language is
varied, running the gamut of speaking,
reading, just comprehending
well-used Yiddish phrases or
words. It is important to note that
some Yiddish words have found
their way to Webster’s Dictionary
(comedians of yesteryear may have
been responsible for that!).
Yiddish, if you think about it, is
a very descriptive language. The
spoken words sound like what
is being referred to, sort of like
onomatopoeia. Example: “Shiviner
Vinkle” translates to “small corner.”
The Yiddish Language is a fusion
of medieval Germanic dialects,
Hebrew, Aramaic, Romance and
Slavic Languages. The language
was used by the Jewish people
of Central and Eastern Europe
and the immigrants who came to
America, around the turn of the
20th century.
In the 1900s, 20s, 30s and 40s,
Yiddish plays flourished. The
Adlers were a family of well-known
Yiddish Stage Actors later to be
discovered by Hollywood and the
Broadway stage. The pushcarts of
the Lower East Side were owned
by Yiddish-speaking peddlers.
Many Jewish families wishing to
assimilate considered the language
a form of slang and therefore did
not wish their children to speak
Yiddish after they began to attend
school. The language became dormant
and was only spoken by the
Hasidic communities.
If you want to experience the
true meaning of “kvelling,” stop a
Yiddish Club member, they are so
happy the club is back in session.
How to Participate
in the Yiddish Club
The Yiddish Club meets
every Tuesday at 10:30 am in
the Coleridge Lounge.
If you wish to join the
Yiddish Club, you must be a
member of Hadassah. Many
of you may have belonged to
other chapters before moving
to NST and Hadassah
National has a record of your
membership.
However, it is very easy to
join the Migdal Chapter right
at your doorstep, or have dual
membership. (By the way, men
are welcome at an Associate
level.)
For more information,
contact Marcia Jacobson,
Chair of Membership
(Bldg. 3). Telephone her at
718-631-1067.
July 2021 ¢ NORTH SHORE TOWERS COURIER 9