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How 'a bundle of letters' became a cornerstone of life advice for American Jews

JL;DR SUMMARY A Bintel Brief, the advice column from the Yiddish-language newspaper Der Forverts (The Forward), celebrates its 120th anniversary as a significant element of Jewish-American culture. 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

IdentityA Bintel BriefThe ForwardImmigrant ExperiencesAb CahanAdvice ColumnCultural AdaptationJewish American CultureEastern European Jewish ImmigrantsDer Forverts

Places mentioned

Israel
"which is preserved online at the National Library of Israel,"
New York, United States
"immigrants trying to make their way in early-20th-century New York."

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Cairo Item ID 73154
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Retrieved 2026-01-21 05:30:50 UTC
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