A Lecture by Yudel Mark on Mendele (1968)

A live recording of Yudel Mark’s lecture, "Some Basic Aspects of the Language of Mendele Moykher Sforim" from the 42nd Annual YIVO Conference on May 12, 1968. Mark compares Mendele with his predecessor Mendel Satanover. The latter aimed at making written Yiddish identical with spoken language. According to Mark, Mendele saw the problem as written Yiddish vs. colloquial Yiddish. Mendele labored a lifetime at improving and refining his Yiddish by means of translation and careful study of other languages. 

From 1963-1976, YIVO had its own program on WEVD, the radio station established by the Socialist Party of America in 1927 (its call letters stand for the initials of American socialist leader Eugene V. Debs), which was purchased by the Jewish Daily Forward in 1932 and became a major venue from Yiddish programming. 

YIVO used its spot on WEVD for Yiddish-language interviews and discussions with leading New York Yiddish cultural figures, as well as for reporting on its own scholarly and cultural work.

A new podcast of this program in the order in which it was originally broadcast will be posted here every two weeks.

Series curated by Matt Temkin, YIVO Sound Archives.

Listen to the program

[This program is in Yiddish.]