The New Joys of Yiddish: Completely Updated

About this book

More than a quarter of a century ago Leo Rosten published the first comprehensive and hilariously entertaining lexicon of the colorful and deeply expressive language of Yiddish. Said to give body and soul to the Yiddish language The Joys of Yiddish went on to become an indispensable tool for writers journalists politicians and students as well as a perennial bestseller for three decades. Rosten described his book as a relaxed lexicon of Yiddish Hebrew and Yinglish words often encountered in English plus dozens that ought to be with serendipitous excursions into Jewish humor habits holidays history religion ceremonies folklore and cuisinethe whole generously garnished with stories anecdotes epigrams Talmudic quotations folk sayings and jokes. To this day it is considered the seminal work on Yiddish in Americaa true classic and a staple in the libraries of Jews and non-Jews alike. With the recent renaissance of interest in Yiddish and in keeping with a language that embodies the variety and vibrancy of life itself The New Joys of Yiddish brings Leo Rostens masterful work up to date. Revised for the first time by Lawrence Bush in close consultation with Rostens daughters it retains the spirit of the originalwith its wonderful jokes tidbits of cultural history Talmudic and Biblical references and tips on pronunciationand enhances it with hundreds of new entries thoughtful commentary on how Yiddish has evolved over the years and an invaluable new English-to-Yiddish index. In addition The New Joys of Yiddish includes wondrous and amusing illustrations by renowned artist R.O. Blechman.