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Yiddish in Texas: An unexpected language is still riding the bronco

JL;DR SUMMARY Yiddish has a long-standing and vibrant history in Texas, despite the state's popularly perceived linguistic identity. 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 HistoryYiddishEducationImmigrationCommunityUniversity Of TexasCultural HeritageTexasHoustonGalveston Movement

Places mentioned

Houston, Texas, United States
"Dana Yudovich Katz teaching a Yiddish lesson using the song Sheyn vi di levone (Lovely as the moon) to students at Kehillah High in Houston, Texas, February 2025."
Austin, Texas, United States
"A Yiddish inscription on the gravestone of Samuel Zavil Brilles, 18151876, Oakwood Cemetery, Austin"
Galveston, Texas, United States
"Instead of Ellis Island, ships from Europe now docked in Galveston, a port on the Gulf of Mexico."
Fort Worth, Texas, United States
"By the early 1920s, Houston had a Yiddish library and Fort Worth had a bilingual newspaper."
San Antonio, Texas, United States
"Alexander Ziskind Gurwitz, wrote his autobiography in Yiddish. Chaya Rochel Andres, a poet in Dallas, published her work in the language until 1990."
Dallas, Texas, United States
"Chaya Rochel Andres, a poet in Dallas, published her work in the language until 1990."

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Cairo Item ID 47492
Cairo Source ID 35
Retrieved 2025-03-26 05:30:50 UTC
Curated 2025-03-26 08:30:36 UTC