Itzik Manger (1901-1969) stands out as the last great bearer of Yiddish song and humor, equal if not exceeding others in his power of feeling, invention, imagination and popular expression. His style of writing remained essentially the Yiddish of ordinary people, as spoken in shops and markets. To him, poetry was the supreme form of literature – a direct and sublime means of communication between the poet and reader. Manger was divinely endowed with “antennas” able to pick up delicate meaning often deliberately ambiguous, or intentionally obscure, dreamlike visions – and transmit them to the reader. Manger’s approach to the heroes of the Bible, whom he “brought down” from the heavens and transformed into ordinary Jews of Poland and other Yiddish speaking communities, remains in the minds of Yiddish speaking populations of Europe and the Americas. The lyrics and other texts in this volume, the seventh in the series of the Anthology of Yiddish Folksongs, are translated into Hebrew and English to ensure their survival for future generations. Most of the translations are “singable” - a rare and ingenious feat, requiring not only perfect knowledge of both languages, but also a deep feeling for music, rhythm, cadence, accents and so on. The main purpose of this book is not to deal with Manger’s singular poetic style or unique sense of humor, all of which are no less the product of Manger’s genius, but to publish some 50 of his poems, set to music, in the hope that other composers will be attracted to their exotic beauty and will enrich the world of spiritual culture.

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.

Mark Warshavsky was born in Odessa in 1848 and was a poet-composer of many famous Yiddish folksongs. It was Sholom Aleichem who first "discovered" Warshavsky with whom he often appeared in cultural evenings in Kiev. Like some of the early songs of Gebirtig - Warshavsky's songs too became folksongs, the lyrics and melodies spread like wildfire among the Jewish masses. The appearance of Warshavsky's Der Alef Beys, or as it quicky became known from its first words Oyfn Pripetchek, caused a real revolution in the minds of orthodox as well as progressive Jews in Eastern Europe."

The correspondence between writers may be considered a separate literary genre, especially that of Aaron Zeitlin. Zeitlin's letters deal with literary matters and an array of cultural issues. This book is an attempt to bring together two disciplines in order to better understand the one author: the study of the cultural history of Yiddish and its literature and the methodology involved in the editing of literary correspondence. These two disciplines are brought together while dealing in detail with Aaron's public activities (one as one of the presidents of the Yiddish PEN club in Warsaw, as a journalist, a literary editor and a public figure) and examining his ideas and beliefs as expressed in his letters to fellow authors and critics close to him in thought and action: Yosef Opatoshu, H.Leyvik, Avraham Liesin, Shmuel Niger and others.

Mordechai Gebirtig was one of the most influential and popular writers of Yiddish songs and poems. Born in 1877, he became a prolific poet and song writer, using everything he saw, heard and knew about people.

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 Cantor's Son, Sholem Aleikhem's masterpiece, is here offered to the reader in a new, complete and revised edition of the original text, presented in Modern Standardized Yiddish Ortorgraphy. The text is accompanied by an "Afterword" by Prof. Chone Shmeruk treating the evolution of the narrative, and by a detailed textual apparatus. In the Yiddish-Yiddish glossary are listed words and expressions that are not to be found in current dictionaries.