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An unprecedented, and unfinished, work of Yiddish scholarship is now an opera

JL;DR SUMMARY Alex Weiser and Ben Kaplan have transformed the unfinished scholarly project of the Yiddish language dictionary into a chamber opera, bringing the postwar struggles of Yiddish linguists to life. A way out west there was a fella, fella I want to tell you about, fella by the name of Jeff Lebowski. At least, that was the handle his lovin' parents gave him, but he never had much use for it himself. This Lebowski, he called himself the Dude. Now, Dude, that's a name no one would self-apply where I come from. But then, there was a lot about the Dude that didn't make a whole lot of sense to me. And a lot about where he lived, likewise. But then again, maybe that's why I found the place s'durned innarestin'.

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Tags

Jewish CultureYiddishLanguage PreservationYivo InstitutePost HolocaustMax WeinreichOperaBen KaplanYudel MarkGideon Dabi

Places mentioned

New York, United States
"The project wasnt only too large; it was a fight for the soul of Yiddish."
Israel
"The action then follows Marks showdown with Weinreich, and his efforts, in Israel, to finish the work."
Manhattan, New York, United States
"Weiser and Kaplans The Great Dictionary of the Yiddish Language has performances Sept. 18 and 21 at the Center for Jewish History in Manhattan."

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Cairo Item ID 61824
Cairo Source ID 35
Retrieved 2025-09-18 05:31:06 UTC
Curated 2025-09-18 08:31:19 UTC