Uriel Weinreich Summer Program Testimonial: Micah Wilson, ‘26

Inhabiting the World of Yiddish

by Micah Wilson, Summer Program ‘26

When my mitndik tzvey (intermediate two) shmues class introduced ourselves during the first week of the zumer-program, we responded to a simple question: Vos iz deyn baytsiung tsu yidish? A classmate replied with a sentiment that resonated with many of us: “Ikh redt vegn yidish, ober ikh vil redn af yidish” – I (already) speak about Yiddish, but I want to speak in Yiddish.

Like others in my class, I’ve dedicated the last decade to studying the history, literature, and folklore of the Yiddish-speaking world, but it was only after six weeks at the zumer-program that I actually inhabited that world – or at least something approximating it.

Our mornings began with grammar, traipsing down etymological rabbit holes that textured and refined what little I already knew of Yiddish linguistics. The structure of language, I quickly realized, revealed otherwise obscured secrets about regional dialects, poetic forms, and contested histories of cultural transmission.

Next was literature – a deep dive into the stories of Y. L. Peretz, in gantzn af yidish. Motivated by the desire to comprehend and communicate complex ideas about these tales, this was where my Yiddish truly bloomed. I slowly went from stumbling through sentences with a dictionary to reading and speaking with confidence – and I’ve taken home the key to unlock a world of Yiddish texts.

Perhaps the most meaningful aspect of the zumer-program, however, was the Yiddish community I built over my six weeks at YIVO. Together, we shmuesed over morning coffee; we sang Yiddish folksongs; we shared about our research projects. By the end of the summer, the Yiddish came home with us: we were talking, texting, even dreaming in Yiddish. Mayn yidishe velt hot oysgevaksn, I told my shmues class on our last day. My Yiddish world has expanded.