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I grew up Jewish on a chicken farm. This book gets it right.

JL;DR SUMMARY Seth Stern's book "Speaking Yiddish to Chickens" delves into the lives of Holocaust survivors who settled in southern New Jersey post-World War II and established a unique Jewish community through chicken farming. 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 TraditionsHolocaust SurvivorsJewish IdentityJewish ImmigrationNew JerseyShtetlsJewish FarmingEconomic HardshipVinelandThird Generation Narratives

Places mentioned

Vineland, New Jersey, United States
"Instead, here I am in the Bronx writing about Holocaust survivors whose south Jersey community of chicken farmers had its moment and then failed."
New Jersey, United States
"If only I had a dollar for every time I heard that growing up Jewish on a chicken farm in southern New Jersey was somehow an inauthentic Jewish experience."
Bronx, New York, United States
"Instead, here I am in the Bronx writing about Holocaust survivors whose south Jersey community of chicken farmers had its moment and then failed."
Brooklyn, New York, United States
"Their arrival coincided with the New York race riots, protests in Harlem and Brooklyn against police brutality."
East Flatbush, New York, United States
"Sterns grandparents finally threw in the towel in July 1964 and left Vineland for East Flatbush in Brooklyn."

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Cairo Item ID 68370
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Retrieved 2025-11-25 05:31:14 UTC
Curated 2025-11-25 08:31:14 UTC