Gurevich family in Kasciukowichi (Belorussian SSR, 1950). Boris (my grand-uncle), bobbe Liliya, zeyde Isaak, Mikhl (grand-uncle), the kid is my uncle Grisha, and lastly Ida, Ideleh, my bobbe’s sister and my great-aunt.

Me, Yiddish and my family

Why I’ve started this blog and how it all began

I was curious about Yiddish since I was a kid, back in 1991, when my late grand-dad Isaak had replayed for me The Barry Sisters records at his old cassette player in Zhodzina, Belarus. I immediately loved their voices, that beautiful music and strange language they spoke. It reminded me German.

I asked grand-dad if it was a Deutch?

My grand-dad Isaak Gurevich, about 1941–1942

“No”, — he smiled. “This is Yiddish. My parents talked mostly in this language”

“Then why you never talked it to grandma?”

“She doesn’t have a clue…” (my bobbe Lilya was all Jewish, but her mother was a type of a new Soviet Jewish woman and spoke with the daughter only in Russian).

Bobbe Liliya, 1946, in Kasciukovichi

I got it: Yiddish was something discreet, secret, hidden thing, something we should have not spoken about. Don’ forget: it was still in Soviet Union times, and we were afraid to say openly about our Jewry!

Since then I always was curious about this language. I have learnt the Barry Sisters’ repertory by heart (by the way, this is one of my most favorite songs of them):

“Gayt a Yidn shenkl arayn, shenkl arayn, shenkl arayn…” — “A Jew is going to the pub”… Isn’t it fabulous?! Gantz freylakhs!

Well, much time has gone since that day. My grand-parents passed away, but Yiddish was living in my heart. And here finally I decided to do my personal duty to my ancestors: mayn zayde Isaak, bobbe Liliya…

My grand-dad parents, Rachel-Reyzl and Arye-Girsh with their son Mikhel, my grand-dad’s brother, who survived the 2nd World War

…and also my grand-dad’s parents, Arye-Girsh and Rachel-Reyzl Gurevich, who were killed in the shteytle of Miloslavichi (Belarus) in December 1941, as well as to their and my ancestors who spoke this almost forgotten language for centuries.

Who am I?

I am a Russian-speaking journalist, with Belarusian-Jewish origins, currently based in Boston, MA — I’m a “greene”, moved to the States just last year — and hopefully for good. This blog is just my effort to preserve memories of my Ashkenazi ancestors from Eastern Europe, to share my knowledges about that forever lost world of Yiddishland with people who are interested in Yiddish and Yiddishkayt.

You can get to know more about me at my Facebook profile — I post there both in Russian and English (and sometimes in Portuguese, Spanish, and, hopefully, soon I’ll be able to post in Yiddish as well!)

Sincerely yours,

Artem Gurevich