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David: This is All Of It. I'm David Furst in for Alison Stewart. Netflix once said sharing was caring, but now, it's more paying is staying. Later this hour, we speak with Wall Street Journal reporter, Jessica Toonkel about how the company is cracking down on users sharing passwords and whether other streaming services might follow. That's still ahead, but right now, let's get things started with a little Yiddish singalong. On we go with something by The Klezmatics.

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David: That's New York Psycho Freylekhs by The Klezmatics. A freylekhs, by the way, is a type of jubilant Yiddish dance. The Klezmatics will be playing in Central Park tonight at 7:00 PM as part of a free Yiddish singalong concert from SummerStage and the National Yiddish Theater, Folksbiene. Consider this your invitation to head to Central Park and sing along to your heart's content this evening.

National Yiddish Theater of Folksbiene is also partnering with a group called The Workers Circle to host a new digital archive of Yiddish music, which they are launching at tonight's show. We welcome Zalmen Mlotek, the National Yiddish Theater of Folksbiene's artistic director to talk about the concert. Hey, Zalmen.

Zalmen: Hey, how are you?

David: Also here is Ann Toback, CEO of the Jewish community organization, The Workers Circle. Ann, welcome.

Ann: Thank you, and shalom aleichem, as we say in Yiddish.

David: Thank you. Listeners, for this conversation, we are schmoozing about Yiddish music and the Yiddish language more generally, and we would love to hear from you. If you have a favorite Yiddish song, give us a call and tell us about it, or even better, sing a bar or two. Give us a call at 212-433-9692, that is 212-433-WNYC, with your favorite Yiddish songs, or call in to tell us what Yiddish words or phrases you use in your daily life, or maybe what phrases have a special meaning for you. Give us a call. Again, the number, 212-433-9692. You can also text at that number or message us on social media @allofitwnyc.

Now, there's a lot of Yiddish that we use every day. If you've ever futzed with something or schlepped to the beach, you have borrowed from Yiddish. Ann, as we talk about those borrowed phrases, we have to acknowledge the fact that Yiddish is not a novelty language nor is it a dead language. Give us the basics here. What is Yiddish? How did it come to be?

Ann: The earliest Yiddish that we've seen was published in 1100. We're talking about a language that's been around about a thousand years. Pre-World War II, pre-Holocaust, they had a high of 11.5 million people in the world, but mostly in Eastern Europe who spoke Yiddish. Today, post-Holocaust, of course, there was an enormous loss of people.

Also, a lot of the Yiddish-speaking Eastern European community had come to other countries, primarily the United States and also Israel, and Yiddish became a second language, a secret language that many people remember their parents spoke when they didn't want them to hear. Today, I think Yiddish both represents a language and a culture. It's activism, it's literature, and it's song. It's really the heart or the Yerusha, as we say, of our Jewish identity.

David: Zalmen, about 150,000 people in the metropolitan area speak it regularly at home and in their communities. That's about a quarter of all Yiddish speakers worldwide, according to the New York Times. Zalmen, that makes New York City really the perfect place for the National Yiddish Theater Folksbiene to set up shop, and really the perfect place to hold this Yiddish singalong.

Zalmen: Exactly. We have been producing cultural works for the last 108 years. Recently, we did Fiddler On the Roof in Yiddish, which was a big hit with English supertitles. Everything is with English supertitles so that when you come to a Yiddish concert or you come to a Yiddish performance, you can see the supertitles. Because Yiddish has so many words, as you mentioned, that are familiar, audiences stop looking at the supertitles and enjoy watching and listening.

David: Zalmen, the free Yiddish singalong concert is happening SummerStage in Central Park tonight. I feel like I'm taking time away from you getting ready right now.

Zalmen: Yes, I'm about to do a sound check. It is raining at the moment, but they say it's going to clear up. It usually does clear up for these concerts. We've had a tremendous track record.

David: The concert starts at 7:00 PM. You're getting ready now. Tell us what to expect.

Zalmen: We have assembled, really, an all-star cast from The Klezmatics to Daniel Kahn and Josh Dolgin, Eleanor Reissa. These are the top names who are performing Yiddish music today. What's unique about it is, as you mentioned, The Workers Circle is launching this new website, yiddishsongs.org, where there's going be a QR code where people can just pull up their phones and get the codes on their phone so they can sing along, with Yiddish transliteration as well. Or if you don't know, don't want to sing, you can just listen. It's going to be a glorious evening of music.

David: Absolutely. Ann, I love that you were holding up your phone.

Ann: I did, to show you. It's so much fun. I've been lucky enough to be part of Yiddish concerts for 15 years now, many of which Zalmen led. The idea of just having a phone that you can follow and sing along is really exciting and fun.

David: Listeners, we are talking about the Yiddish language. We want to hear from you if you have a favorite Yiddish song or a phrase you want to talk about. We have Heather joining us right now from Teaneck, New Jersey. Thank you for joining us.

Heather: Thank you. Thank you. Hi, Zalmen.

Zalmen: Hello. Hi.

Heather: Hi.

David: Is there a phrase you wanted to talk about?

Heather: Yes. When I was a child, I was looking for something and I couldn't find it. I was complaining to my mother about it, "I just can't find this. I can't find this." All of a sudden, my mom says, "[Yiddish language]." I'm like, "What?" Because she didn't speak Hebrew, she didn't speak Yiddish, and all of a sudden, this came out of her mouth, and I'm like, "What is going on? I don't understand." She said, "If it had a mouth, it would have bitten you. It's right in front of you and you didn't see it." I remember that to this day.

David: Zalmen, is that a phrase you're familiar with?

Zalmen: Actually, no, it's not a phrase I'm familiar with. It's a great phrase though.

David: We also have Maxine joining us. Are you on the line, in Manhattan?

Maxine: I am. Hey, Zalmen. How are you?

Zalmen: Good.

Maxine: I'm excited to know that Dudu Fisher is joining you tonight.

Zalmen: Yes, Dudu is coming in from Israel this morning. He came in this morning.

Maxine: Yes. He's landed and he's happy to be part of the concert and also part of the concert on Sunday at the museum.

Zalmen: Yes. We're excited that Dudu is here. He's making a special appearance and he's doing a special concert at the Museum of Jewish Heritage on Sunday.

David: Zalmen, just to make sure we know how to find this concert, can you tell us exactly where it is in the park?

Zalmen: Yes. It's at the SummerStage Theater. You enter through 72nd Street on the east side. It's a short walk from 5th Avenue and then there are signs all over. Doors open at six o'clock. The concert starts at 7:00. We're hoping for a big crowd.

David: Thank you so much for that information. Abe in New Jersey joining us. Do I have this right, you used to work as an MC at Catskill's hotels?

Abe: At a Catskill hotel up in Liberty.

David: Oh, that's wonderful.

Abe: It's one nobody remembers, was called Kramer's Charles Hotel. I was what was called a tumbler. I was 17 years old. I was told by the owner of the hotel, "Your name is too Jewish," so he had me change my name to Al Varon, and that was my name there. First of all, the Yiddish expression, my grandfather used to say it in Yiddish "[Yiddish language]," which means, "I can't dance at two weddings with one tushy." That's when I gave him too much to do. He would say that to me in Yiddish. The song everybody loved more than any other song was Tina Tina Tina.

David: Zalmen, is that a song that you know?

Zalmen: Absolutely. It's a Hebrew song. We won't be including that tonight, but there'll be a lot of very popular chestnuts in tonight's program.

David: Let's hear from Angela in Brooklyn. Thank you for joining us today.

Angela: Hi. I just wanted to tell a quick story that when I first moved to New York almost 20 years ago, a friend told me, "One of the signs you're a real New Yorker is when you speak more than three Yiddish words in a conversation."

David: That's what makes it official?

Zalmen: Right.

David: Thank you for that very much, Angela. Lauren in Riverdale, do you have a story to tell as well?

Lauren: Hi, yes. I'm 35 years old and I grew up in a Yiddish-speaking household due to my Holocaust survivor grandparents. I just want to quickly say before the expression that though I think Yiddish needs some resuscitation among secular and non-Orthodox jury, it's very vital and very growing in the Orthodox world.

A caller just a moment ago mentioned that there was an expression her mother said when she was looking for something, and my grandmother had a different one. If you were looking for something and you couldn't find it, she would say, "[Yiddish language]," which means put your eyeballs in your hands and go look for it, basically.

David: That's good advice.

Zalmen: [Yiddish language]. It's good.

David: That's great advice. Thank you so much for joining us today. Ann, I want to get you to talk about this a little bit. Your organization is launching an online archive of Yiddish music.

Ann: Yes.

David: What can people find there? This is at yiddishsongs.org. How would you like to see people engaging with this material?

Ann: We have hundreds of songs there. They're based on five books that were created by Yosl and Chana Mlotek. There's a lot of connections to Zalmen, the Mlotek family, the Folksbiene, and The Workers Circle. In fact, we founded the Folksbiene, how many years ago, Zalmen, 108?

Zalmen: Wow, 108.

Ann: We have an incredible partnership. You go to this site, you find songs from the five books. You can download the music for free, you can see the transliterations. We also have indexed them by love songs, by activist songs, songs of revolution. One of my favorite is lullabies, songs for children, which has been incredibly successful. A lot of grandparents are looking up songs that they can sing to their grandchildren.

David: Let's hear one of these songs. Let's listen to one of the recordings hosted on the site. This is called Yidl Mitn Fidl.

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Molly: Iber felder vegn,

Oyf a vogn hey

Mit zun un vint un regn,

Forn klezmer tsvey

A khidesh, oy, a khidesh,

Zog ver zenen zey? Yidl mitn fidl,

Arye mitn bas

Dos lebn iz a lidl,

To vozhe zayn in kas.

Hey, Yidl, fidl, shmidl,

Dos lebn iz a shpas.

Yidl mitn fidl,

Arye mitn bas--

David: Ann and Zalmen, I want to hear you talk about this piece of music, both of you. First of all, can you translate the title for me?

Zalmen: Yidl Mitn Fidl is "Little Jew with His Fiddle". It's actually a popular Yiddish theater song that was made into a movie. I believe the singer is Molly Picon, who was a great Yiddish actress who crossed over and did Yente in the Fiddler movie. Anyway, the song talks about how happy they are to be on the road and happy with their song, and singing a song is the best medicine.

David: This song is great medicine, the way this music sounds. It's an irresistible sound. The lilt in this music, the playing with tempo, the anticipation, and then the picking up again of the speed, it's just so playful.

Zalmen: The major and the minor changes, it's all why Yiddish music and Klezmer music has had such an incredible resurgence in the last 50 years because people of all ilks can just listen to it and just get excited by it.

Ann: If I could add, one of the ways we teach Yiddish because The Workers Circle in addition to social justice activism has one of the largest Yiddish language programs in the world. We teach it through music, one of our opportunities to take a class. You learn the music and you learn the language.

David: It helps.

Ann: It's so interconnected. I'm at a point, I didn't start out a Yiddish speaker. I sing Yiddish very happily, and I'll be singing tonight. I'm learning the language along the way, but the music, it is irresistible. It catches you and you want to dance.

David: It catches you. That's a really good way--

Ann: It connects you to a thousand years of Jewish life. It touches your heart. It's one of the many ways we can connect to our heritage and it's a beautiful way.

David: The Yiddish singalong is happening tonight. We're speaking with Zalmen Mlotek and also with Ann Toback. We're going to continue with this conversation. Lots of calls from you to get to as well here on All Of It on WNYC.

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David: You're listening to All Of It here on WNYC. I'm David Furst. We are schmoozing about the Yiddish language and talking about the Yiddish singalong that is happening this evening in Central Park here with our guests Zalmen Mlotek and also Ann Toback. We're hearing from a lot of you this hour as well. I want to welcome Sheila in Highlands, New Jersey to the conversation. Sheila, you went to The Workmen's Circle School 60 years ago?

Ann: Wow.

Sheila: Yes, I did. Yes, I did in Jersey City. 60 years ago, Workmen's Circle School was taught by a wonderful woman, Esther Feldman. In those days, we didn't realize what a jewel she was. I grew up in a secular Jewish family. My grandparents were all orthodox, but as they passed on, none of that was continued. We went to the Arbeter Ring school, and it was quite an experience. Essentially, none of the kids were really religious, but Ms. Feldman taught my friend, Ronnie, everything he had to know in Hebrew for his [unintelligible 00:17:23] even though she was a Yiddish teacher.

She was a wonderful, wonderful woman. I remember the speech that I gave at an event that we had, probably a Purim party. It was just remarkable that I can even remember this stuff.

David: A speech that you made in Yiddish?

Sheila: Yes. [Yiddish language], et cetera.

David: Wow.

Sheila: 60 years ago. I can't believe it.

David: 60 years ago. That is incredible.

Ann: Sheila, I'm just excited to hear from you. I want to share that we still have schools for kids through b'nai mitzvah in Brooklyn and New York City, in lower Manhattan. We're back on the lower east side. It's so incredible. We have thousands and thousands of people across the country who learned about their Jewish identity, who were immersed in Jewish and Yiddish identity through The Workers Circle. Today, we continue that through activism, through trips to Eastern Europe.

I just came back from one. I was in Lithuania and Poland, a trip to really connect with Jewish life, the thousand years of Jewish life, and the five years that ended it. We teach Yiddish, so I hope maybe you'll come back and get involved in some of the things we do today.

David: That's great. Thank you so much for that call. Also, let's welcome Carol in Manhattan. Do you have a story to tell?

Carol: Yes. Just two comments. In the 1940s when I attended William Howard Taft High School in the Bronx, they offered Yiddish as a language for credit. It was treated as just one of the world languages. Also, at that time, I had a classmate whose name was Eugene Secunda, who kept bragging about his uncle, Sholom Secunda, I think, who wrote Bay Mir Bistu Sheyn which was a popular song at the time.

Ann: And still is. I will be surprised if it's not on the agenda for tonight. Zalmen?

Zalmen: It's actually not because it's not part of the books.

Ann: Oh, right.

Zalmen: We're limiting the songs to songs that are in the books, which include [unintelligible 00:19:58] Dona Dona, all the pop jumbo, like very popular ones and some not popular ones, but some of the Yiddish theater ones are not in actually. We had to limit it. It's only an hour and a half concert and we can only do X amount of songs.

David: Next time.

Zalmen: Next time.

David: Right.

Ann: It's always hard to end these concerts I've always found because not just the audience but the musicians are going to be on stage having the time of their lives. It's an indescribable connection between the audience and the musicians at Klezmer concerts. Tonight's going to be an incredible explosion of song and dance and music on both sides.

David: This is the Yiddish singalong. Again, this is happening at SummerStage Central Park this evening. It starts at 7:00 PM. We had a couple of musical references in some calls. We couldn't keep Michael on the phone calling in from Bridgewater, New Jersey. Said, "Used to be part of a Yiddish Gilbert and Sullivan Opera company on Long Island. All of the songs were in Yiddish."

Ann: Yes. Folksbiene has done that. Many of our members have been part of groups. This is a wonderful Yiddish connection. I've seen a few of Gilbert and Sullivan in Yiddish.

David: Is it great?

Ann: It's great. It's so much fun. It's delightful.

Zalmen: A few years ago, we produced a Yiddish version of the Pirates of Penzance called Di Yam Gazlonim, the sea pirates, actually.

Ann: It was incredible, Zalmen. It's a delight.

David: Another reference here. Let's hear from Judy in Brooklyn talking about some other Yiddish songs. Judy?

Judy: Yes. I have an album. It's like 40 years old. Connie Francis sings Yiddish favorites and she is so good. My Yiddishe Momme always makes me cry.

David: Oh. Zalmen, is that a work that you're familiar with?

Zalmen: Of course, of course, of course.

David: That's great. You're nodding your head too.

Ann: Of course. I've heard it many times, and yes, it makes you-- that's another part of our Yiddish song website. Also, the concert, the songs both make you laugh, they make you cry. They really bring a world of emotions out. I know we're hitting our time soon. I just want to encourage people to please go to circle.org. We have about 50 classes on tap for the month of July. We offer classes, all virtual, live, in the fall, in the spring, and in the summer.

Our summer classes are so accessible. They're four weeks, most of them. People love them. It goes from introduction to spoken Yiddish. I hope people will consider learning more about the language and the culture at the Workers Circle, and of course, through the Folksbiene's incredible productions like tonight.

David: Like tonight. Thank you so much for talking about that. Thank you, everybody, for joining this conversation. We want to hear from Jeffrey in Long Beach. Can you talk about your story?

Jeffrey: Sure. Thank you. I am a 72-year-old son of Holocaust survivors and Yiddish was my first language. I didn't speak English until they packed me off to school. I'm told as a small kid, I spoke with a heavy Yiddish accent. If you asked me where my father was, I would say my daddy went to work. My favorite Yiddish expressions were the kind of curses that you would lay on people. My favorite one in Yiddish is [Yiddish language] which is in English, you should look to be 120. 60 years in jail and 60 years in a hospital. Now, this is how we treated-- we'd say to people.

Ann: There are some more positive ways to talk about living to be 120, but keep going.

David: That's hardcore, Jeffrey. I hope that's not coming in my direction.

Jeffrey: Of course not, but these are the expressions I grew up with in my home. When you talk about Yiddish songs, I keep thinking of [unintelligible 00:24:34]. That song still makes me well up and yearn for something I never experienced.

Zalmen: That's a song we're going to hear tonight. Come to Central Park and you'll hear an amazing rendition of it.

David: Oh, well, that's wonderful after hearing that story, to know that that's going to be part of the singalong this evening. Again, that gets started at 7:00 PM in the SummerStage in Central Park. We also have time for Barbara Hastings on Hudson. Thank you for joining us today.

Barbara: Hi. Can you hear me?

David: Yes. Is there a particular story or expression that you want to share?

Barbara: Yes. My grandparents spoke fluent Yiddish and my parents had particular phrases. I think that one of the things I like most about the language is that the words often sound like what they mean. I was with my mother and we were shopping, when I was a young girl for shoes. We were going from store to store and couldn't find what we needed.

She was exasperated. We were sitting at a red light and she said, "If we have to go to one more [Yiddish language] shoe store, I'm going to lose my mind." I didn't know what the word meant but I knew exactly what the word meant. That's my favorite Yiddish story.

Ann: We have a saying at the Workers Circle, "Everything's better in Yiddish," and I think it's true.

David: That's wonderful. I want to ask both of you this question. What are each of your hopes for the future of the Yiddish language and the future of this music as well? Ann?

Ann: My hope is that what I'm seeing is more and more secular people. People who may be affiliated with synagogues but are not orthodox are wanting to connect with our heritage. I think it's filling what's been a void since the Holocaust where we've spent 80 years mourning something incredible that we've lost, but we're looking back and connecting with the people we lost, what they represented, and what came before.

I think, as the Jewish people, we're made stronger by connecting with these roots. I hope more and more people want to connect with it, both the language, the music, and the traditions. I think it's a rich treasure trove of opportunity to learn about a very unique people who influence so much in our world today.

David: Zalmen.

Zalmen: It's a world-class art form. It's unknown to many because of the language. What I'm hoping is that Yiddish will be made accessible to all people, to people who have no connection with Yiddish, whatsoever, and have interest in hearing what these sounds are and what this culture is because the culture tells so many incredible stories about the Jewish people but it can be shared with any people.

Every people has the same experiences, typically. Fiddler on the Roof is so popular in Japan and in China. Why? Because it's talking about tradition. When we did our Yiddish Fiddler, people stopped looking at the super tiles because they so experienced the emotion of the language. We're hoping that people will just want to hear what this is and see if they get excited by it.

David: We're going to get to hear some of those stories and feel some of those stories on stage tonight. The free Yiddish singalong concert is happening at SummerStage Central Park tonight. The concert starts at 7:00 PM. Lyrics are going to be projected on a giant screen, so get ready to sing. Zalmen, I know you have to get ready here, but what happens? I'm not saying this is going to happen, but what happens if it rains tonight?

Zalmen: It's not going to rain. It's absolutely not going to rain. It's going to stop around three o'clock. Maybe 3:00, maybe 3:30 with plenty of time to dry out before six o'clock when the doors open. Seven o'clock we're going to have people singing, enjoying the night away. That's my hope and my answer.

David: I like that answer. Thank you for that assurance. Zalmen Mlotek, the National Yiddish Theater Folksbiene artistic director, and Ann Toback, CEO of the Workers Circle. Hopefully, I'm saying your name correctly. Did I get that right, Ann?

Ann: You did. You did.

David: Yay. Thank you both for joining us and have a great concert.

Ann: Thank you.

Zalmen: Thank you so much.

Ann: We can't wait.

Zalmen: Thank you so much.

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