Yiddish Word of the Day: Purim

As people continue to spend their days and evenings at home, due to coronavirus social distancing restrictions, the Forverts has launched a series of short informal video clips called Yiddish Word of the Day.

The series, written and narrated by Forverts editor Rukhl Schaechter, aims to give non-Yiddish speakers an introduction to familiar Yiddish words and phrases and how they might be used in everyday situations. 

Schaechter, who was appointed the new editor of the Forverts in 2016, is the first woman to helm the paper in its 119-year history, its first editor to have been born in the United States, and likely its first editor who is shomeret Shabbat.

We posted the first of this series last May. Now that the Forverts is continuing the series, we'll be sharing some of the words and phrases as a regular feature of Jewish Humor Central.

Purim is actually a Hebrew word, but it found its way with many other Hebrew words into the Yiddish language, albeit with altered pronunciations. Many Yiddish speakers pronounce the word as "Peerim".

Because today is actually Purim day, let's listen to Rukhl give us some Yiddish terms for baked goods we eat on Purim and some proverbs based on the holiday.

Enjoy! Happy Purim and Shabbat Shalom!

A SPECIAL NOTE FOR NEW EMAIL SUBSCRIBERS:  THE VIDEO MAY NOT BE VIEWABLE DIRECTLY FROM THE EMAIL THAT YOU GET EACH DAY ON SOME COMPUTERS AND TABLETS.  YOU MUST CLICK ON THE TITLE AT THE TOP OF THE EMAIL TO REACH THE JEWISH HUMOR CENTRAL WEBSITE, FROM WHICH YOU CLICK ON THE PLAY BUTTON IN THE VIDEO IMAGE TO START THE VIDEO.