Catskills, History, Jewish Food, and Circumcision

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For those who missed it . . . Joseph Berger, "No Need to Kvetch, Yiddish Lives On in Catskills," NYT, November 25 2010.

KERHONKSON, N.Y. — In a chilled and snow-shrouded Catskills landscape, hundreds of people get together every December to try to breathe some warmth into a dying culture.

For almost a week at a hotel here, organizers immerse the group, which calls itself KlezKamp, in Yiddish and the folkways of the Eastern Europeans who spoke that language until Hitler extinguished their communities. Classes are offered in Yiddish conversation, humor and literature; in klezmer — the sometimes plaintive, sometimes mischievous folk music that has experienced an astonishing comeback — and in the snaking, coiling, hand-clapping dances animated by those melodies.>>>

See also:

Barney Zwartz, "Website a 'treasure chest' of Yiddish migrant history," The Age, November 22, 2010.

Linda Morel, "Schmaltzy history: A Nostalgic Look at Fats for Frying Latkes," Jewish Times of South Jersey, November 26, 2010.

"Battle of the Bris: A Move to Outlaw Circumcision in San Francisco," TIME, November 22, 2010.