This week on Unorthodox, we’re partying like it’s 5777.
Our Jewish guest is Gitl Schaechter-Viswanath, co-author of the new Comprehensive English-Yiddish Dictionary, an 850-page volume that chronicles and adapts the Eastern European language for the modern world. She tells us about growing up speaking only Yiddish at home (her father, Mordkhe Schaechter, is credited with the invention of modern Yiddish studies), and creating Yiddish words for things Isaac Bashevis Singer could never have imagined, like sexting.
Our Gentile of the Week is actress Tessa Kim, whose one-woman show, The Bad German, which tells the story of reconciling her German identity in America, debuted at last year’s Fringe Festival. She tells us about abandoning her medical studies in Germany to move to New York, meeting Jews for the first time, and taking on a nation’s worth of guilt.
We love hearing from you! Email us at Unorthodox@tabletmag.com with comments or questions, or just to say hi. We may share your note on air.
Today’s episode is brought to you by Harry’s. For a great shave at an affordable price, go to Harrys.com and use promo code UNORTHODOX at checkout to get their free trial set and post-shave balm.
This episode is brought to you by the new film Denial. From the screenwriter of The Hours and The Reader comes the true story of one woman’s court battle for historical truth against a Holocaust denier. Starring Rachel Weisz and Tom Wilkinson.
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