Yiddish and Vietnamese are languages with a common history of defiance: a defiance of the colonizing, statist languages of French and Hebrew, and now, of English. Our families spoke Vietnamese and Yiddish, languages that distantly pulse in our memories, but presently in our bodies, in the face of Zionism and globalization. What happens when we relearn and reinscribe our linguistic pasts? What meanings can we dredge up?

Our family has lived everywhere.

אונדזע ר משפחה האט אומעטום געװאוינט.

המשפחה שלנו גרה בכל מקום.

to protect, to move, to create, to whiten, to obscure

צו באַשיצן, צו האַלטן, צו מאַך, צו שאַפֿן, צו ווייַסן, צו פאַרשטאַרקן

לְהָגֵן, לָנוּעַ , לִיצֹר, לְהִתְבּוֹלֵל, לְטַשְׁטֵשׁ

Conversation Topics:

You are traveling abroad and decide to call a long-lost relative who has never heard of you. Explain to him/her who you are, how you are related, and what you are doing in town.

Grandfather lived until he was sixty.

דער זיידע האָט געלעבט ביז ער איז געווען זעכציק.

סבא חי עד גיל שישים.

The text for the Yiddish is mainly drawn from Sheva Zucker’s Yiddish: An Introduction to the Language, Literature, and Culture. Thanks to Ren Finkel and Dade Lemanski for Hebrew and Yiddish translation support.

Ice cream

Crème

Kem que cốm

Silken tofu in ginger syrup

Đậu hủ nước đường

Lantern

Đèn lồng