JL;DR SUMMARY Dr. Eddy Portnoy, a Senior Researcher at YIVO Institute for Jewish Research, explores intriguing tales from the Yiddish press in his book "Bad Rabbi and Other Strange But True Stories from the Yiddish Press," shedding light on the peculiar aspects of Jewish culture in pre-WWII New York and Warsaw. 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'.