The New Joys of Yiddish

More than a quarter of a century ago, Leo Rosten presented the first comprehensive and hilarioius lexicon of this colourful and deeply expressive language. Said “to give body and soul to the Yiddish language”, The Joys of Yiddish went on to become an indispensable tool for writers, journalists, politicians and students, as well as a perennial bestseller. Now this classic has been revised and updated by editor Lawrence Bush in collaboration with Rosten’s daughters. It retains the spirit of the original – with its wonderful jokes, titbits of cultural history, Talmudic and Biblical references, and tips on pronunciation – and enhances it with hundreds of new entries, thougtful commentary on how Yiddish has evolved over the years, and an invaluable new English-to-Yiddish index.