In this revised and expanded collection, renowned translators Chana Bloch and Stephen Mitchell have selected Amichai's most beloved and enduring poems, including forty new poems from his recent work.from Tourists:Once I was sitting on the steps near the gate at David's Citadel and I put down my two heavy baskets beside me. A group of tourists stood there around their guide, and I became their point of reference. "You see that man over there with the baskets? A little to the right of his head there's an arch from the Roman period. A little to the right of his head." "But he's moving, he's moving!" I said to myself: Redemption will come only when they are told, "Do you see that arch over there from the Roman period? It doesn't matter, but near it, a little to the left and then down a bit, there's a man who has just bought fruit and vegetables for his family."

     They're all here and more, in Leo Rosten's glorious classic The Joys of Yiddish, which weds scholarship to humor and redefines dictionary to reflect the heart and soul of a people through their language, illuminating each entry with marvelous stories and epigrams from folklore and the Talmud, from Bible to borscht belt and beyond. With Rosten's help, anyone can pronounce and master the nuances of words that convey everything from compassion to skepticism. Savor the irresistible pleasure of Yiddish in this banquet of a book!

    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 Rosten’s masterful work up to date. Revised for the first time by Lawrence Bush, in close consultation with Rosten’s daughters, it retains the spirit of the original—with its wonderful jokes, tidbits of cultural history, Talmudic and biblical references—and is enhanced by hundreds of new entries and thoughtful commentary on how Yiddish has evolved over the years, as well as clever illustrations by R. O. Blechman. Did you know that cockamamy, bluffer, maven, and aha! are all Yiddish words? If you did, you’re a gaon, possessing a lot of seykhl.

    In Legends of Our Time, he shares with us some of their stories.   On a Tel Aviv bus, Wiesel encounters a notorious Auschwitz barracks chief who forces him to confront past demons that he thought had long since been laid to rest. While traveling through Spain, he is approached by a young Catholic man holding an ancient family document in an unfamiliar language; written in Hebrew in 1492 by the man’s Marrano ancestor, it proudly proclaims to future generations the family’s Jewish origins. Twenty years after being deported from Sighet, Wiesel returns to discover that the only thing missing are the towns 10,000 Jews and the collective memory of their ever having existed. In a Moscow synagogue in the fall on 1967, Wiesel finds a sanctuary filled with young Jews who have miraculously educated themselves in their history and ancient language, who sing Hebrew songs in the street as KGB agents take down names. And from a rabbi in Auschwitz who fasted on Yom Kippur, Wiesel leans that there is more than one way to confront a God who seems to have abandoned His people.

    It is given as a rite of passage to new brides. Young people starting out on their own won't leave home without it Family favorites include Beef & Green Peppers, Chinese Stew, Lemon Barbecued Chicken, Passover Meatballs, Gefilte Fish, Kreplach, Potato Kugel, Challah, Hamentashen, Norene's Famous Cheesecake. Revised edition includes a chapter of microwave recipes and tips for today's busy cook.

    Immediately following the creation of the State of Israel, the leader of an Arab town finds his people's traditional ideas challenged by the Jews building a kibbutz nearby and by his own children, particularly a rebellious twelve-year-old daughter.

    

    

    history

    Organized thematically, Out of the Whirlwind includes excerpts from Daniel Jonah Goldhagen's Hitler's Willing Executioners, Art Spiegelman's Maus, Primo Levi's The Drowned and the Saved, and many others.

    

    The author, a professor of anthropology and Jewish Studies, explores the relaitonship of the community to its legends and examines the legends for their cultural content.