Vos macht a Yid?

I went to a small Farmer’s Market in Riverdale yesterday and there was a stand that caught my attention. Three young people from a Yiddish farm upstate New York. They didn’t have much to sell but they had a good story.

Here’s a look by Sam Frizell writing for Gothamist:

“It’s different to be Jewish in English than it is to be Jewish in Yiddish,” says Tsipore Angelson, 29, who grew up in a secular family and spent several years in China. Earlier this summer she learned Yiddish for a week on the farm and comes back to help out sometimes. She still speaks Yiddish at home with friends she made on the farm.

“The whole culture lies in the language,” she continues. “This is a vital culture that didn’t die. This is a language that young people want to be a part of.”