Sholem aleichem!
Yes, for some reason we’ve been on a Yiddish kick at Jewcy, with two articles about the mamaloshen (which happens to be the name of a Mandy Patinkin album, btw) this week alone. For one, we sent a budding Yiddishist to a feminist Yiddish-language podcast party (as you do), and her report back is delightful. Also, since we always enjoy a Jewish punk playlist (who doesn’t?), we were beyond excited to publish one that’s all punk rock songs sung in Yiddish. As we’re sure the musicians on the playlist would express it, in these exact words: HECK YEAH.
Another “heck yeah” goes to our interview with Rama Burshtein. You may have heard of Burshtein, because she directed Fill the Void, the Israeli-Oscar Best Picture about a young Hasidic woman being pressured into marrying the widower of her late sister. Burshtein is American-born, Israeli raised, and has been Orthodox since she was a young adult, making her a distinct figure as an increasingly popular director.
Burshtein talked to Jewcy about her latest film, opening in New York and Los Angeles next week: The Wedding Plan (also called Through the Wall.) It’s also about an Orthodox Israeli woman getting married, but that’s where similarities to Fill the Void end; this new movie is a romantic-comedy about a woman who, following a broken off engagement, continues planning her wedding, confident that God will provide a groom.
It’s all good stuff, but maybe the best detail from the interview is that Burshtein loves The Young Pope.
Finally, for Yom Ha’Atzmaut this week, I am using every opportunity I can to share this video. The world needs to know.
Gabriela Geselowitz is a writer and the former editor of Jewcy.com.