You now have before you this volume which contains an assemblage of popular Yiddish humor: jokes both folksy and racy, proverbs and colloquial curses which originated in the hundreds of towns and cities of Eastern Europe up to the Second World War. In recent decades interest in Yiddish has been growing in Israel and in many other countries. It expresses itself as a longing, a nostalgia, for the language that was spoken in people's parents' home, and that they heard from their grandparents. This volume reveals some of the treasures of Yiddish humor to the many lovers of Yiddish around the world. This sampler does not specify the origin of the jokes it contains, because "An anecdote and a cat have no master, they belong to whoever manages to catch them." (N. Stutchkoff, p. 571, see Bibliography.) In order to select the approximately 400 jokes and sayings appearing in this book, the collector spent many months searching through anthologies, joke books, lexicons etc. The most important sources are listed in the Bibliography. In their world of poverty, pogroms, persecutions and evil decrees, the Jewish masses of Eastern Europe were in dire need of spiritual support and psychological defence. They found this support in humor, which relieves tension and makes life more bearable. This book is organized by theme into 51 sections, each section exhibiting a particular aspect or feature of Jewish life in the cities, towns and townlets of Eastern Europe.

This dictionary contains mainly idioms, which are combinations of words of an idiomatic nature and have an adopted, metaphorical meaning. Some are commonly used expressions, and are not necessarily idiomatic or metaphorical. These second kind of expressions which are termed "collocations" in linguistic parlance have been included only in cases where they do not appear in existing dictionaries of Yiddish. This dictionary offers four options for the user to find the required expressions: 1. By alphabetic order; 2. By alphabetized lists of the equivalent expressions in Hebrew, English and Russian; 3. By a list of the nouns and numerals that appear in the Yiddish expressions; 4. By a subject index. The alphabetized lists of equivalent expressions in Hebrew, English and Russian enable the dictionary to be used in two directions – Yiddish to Other Languages and Other Languages of Yiddish. The expressions in the dictionary are of three types: 1. Expressions which reflect the everyday life of the Jews of Eastern Europe (food, occupations, etc.): 2. Expressions associated with Jewish customs and religious life: 3. Loan translations (literal translations of expressions from other languages):

The Yiddish proverbs in this book have accumulated for hundreds years. They originate from the Bible, the Talmud, the Eastern European and German folklore, but some were coined by Yiddish speakers themselves. Parallel proverbs and literal translations in Hebrew, English and Russian accompany the Yiddish proverbs. The dictionary also contains alphabetical indexes of the Hebrew, English and Russian proverbs and references to the original Yiddish proverbs, thus producing a combined two-way dictionary. Eastern European Jewish folklore is distinguished by an unusual degree of self-criticism, which is reflected in the proverbs. A large proportion of Yiddish proverbs are humorous, perspicacious, and sophisticated and some make opposite statements about the same matter.

A first attempt is made here to portray this folklore genre in Yiddish lexicography. The 200 blessings and around 450 curses included in this dictionary are arranged alphabetically. The Yiddish entries are accompanied by their equivalent in Hebrew, Russian and English. Also added are literal translations (in Hebrew and English), for readers whose knowledge of the Yiddish language is at a minimum, but who would still like to know the actual ideas and images behind the Yiddish expressions. The dictionary is illustrated by amusing drawings. Also included is an introductory essay in Yiddish, Hebrew, English and Russian on the blessings and curses – a subject almost never researched until now. This genre of Yiddish folklore is evidence of the fertile imagination of the Yiddish speaker and their keen sense of humor, and will be eagerly welcomed by specialists and Yiddish lovers around the world. “May you grow like an onion with your head in the ground!” Or, as it goes in the original Yiddish: “Zolst vaksn vi a tzibele mitn kop in dr’erd!” That’s just one of the colorful curses to be found in the new book, Let’s Hear Only Good News: Yiddish Blessings and Curses, by Dr. Josef Guri of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Among the blessings is the familiar, “Foon dein moil in gotz oieren” – “From your mouth to God’s ears,” an expression said in reply to a good wish. All told, there are 200 blessings and 450 curses in this folkloric work, which is illustrated with amusing drawings. The items are listed alphabetically in Yiddish, with the equivalent expressions in English, Hebrew and Russian. Indexes are provided in the translated languages according to alphabetical listing and by themes. This is the seventh lexicographical work by Dr. Guri, of the university’s Department of Russian and Slavic Studies. His other works include Yiddish idiomatic expressions and proverbs. Dr. Guri says that his latest work is the culmination of three years of work and is the first attempt to assemble and describe blessings and curses (or good and bad wishes) as a genre of Yiddish folklore. “This genre is highly developed in Yiddish and is richer and more variegated than similar expressions in the folklore of many other peoples,” says Dr. Guri. He acknowledges, however, that his book is by no means an exhaustive list of such blessings and curses since Yiddish has been spoken in many parts of the world, with local variations, and new expressions are still being coined. Among many peoples, curses are characterized by the use of foul language (swear words). Among the Yiddish-speaking Jewish Eastern European population, however, curses took the form of often humorous maledictions. Yiddish speakers, continue Guri, are accustomed to witty remarks and do not become overwrought when someone hurls an expressive curse at them. As the Yiddish proverb says, “Fun a kloleh shtarbt men nit,” or “Curses do not kill.” At the same time, neither does a blessing create a new reality, adds Guri. Josef Guri – a self-described “Yiddish addict” -- immigrated to Israel from Lithuania in 1957. After eight years of work compiling the Great Yiddish Dictionary, he began work on a series of dictionaries compiling various forms of expression in Yiddish, including proverbs and idioms. Dr. Guri points out that his latest book is intended not only for Yiddish lovers but also for those learning the language, for translators from Yiddish and for those interested in folklore.

The dictionary has several aims; 1. To help advanced Yiddish students to better understand all kinds of texts and to use the idioms in their Yiddish conversation; 2. To serve as a lexicographic source for linguistics researching Yiddish and spoken Hebrew, and specialists in comparative phraseology; 3. To give the lovers of Yiddish a handbook that will help them find and recall the meaning of Yiddish idioms.

The dictionary contains common similes and is a first attempt to depict these kinds of phrases in the field of Yiddish lexicography. The Yiddish similes are accompanied by their Hebrew, English and Russian equivalents, and by example sentences which demonstrate their use. Humoristic illustrations illuminate the book.

The second edition of the Dictionary differs from the first one on account of the fact that it also includes English proverbs. The over majority of the Jews living on the globe nowadays speak Hebrew, English and Russian, and Yiddish is the language of their grandmothers and great-grandmothers, grandfathers and great-grandfathers.