The Meta Shtetl

Eitan Binstock

5.0 (3)
Language Learning

דאָס מעטאַ שטעטל Interviewing today's Yiddishists at the frontier of using technology to proliferate the Yiddish language and culture worldwide. Follow along with the English translation at www.themetashtetl.com Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/themetashtetl?igsh=Y2Uzb3cxbG9lNGRr&utm_source=qr

08/21/2025

Yiddish Interview Featuring Caraid O'Brien

Caraid O'Brien - Actress, Writer, Translator, and Director. You can visit her website at https://www.caraidobrien.com/index.html This episode is mostly in English, but to see the Translation, visit my website at www.themetashtetl.com

32 min
06/19/2025

Interview With Naftali Ejdelman

Yiddish interview with Naftali Ejdelman - co-founder of the Yiddish Farm. Follow along with the English translation at www.themetashtetl.com

22 min
06/19/2025

Interview Featuring Professor Ber Kotlerman

Professor Ber Kotlerman - Professor of Yiddish Studies at Bar Ilan University Visit www.themetashtetl.com to follow along with the English translation.

8 min
05/14/2025 · Bonus

The Meta Shtetl Overview

When the Warsaw Ghetto started being liquidated into death camps, an inhabitant named Emanuel Ringleblum led an effort to hide as much Yiddish literature and documentation as possible, to so it would not be destroyed by the Nazis. He did this by burying as much as he could underground in milk cans and other receptacles, with the hopes of survivors someday returning to transmit the collective message of Warsaw Jews to future generations. After the Holocaust, some but not all of the milk cans were recovered and preserved. They contain a treasure trove of written voices. They are the voices of my ancestors calling out to me, eighty years later here in New York. So I created a Yiddish podcast because it is my way of responding to those voices: I hear you. Your words - in their original authenticity - matter to me. Your story is now my story to tell, and your words are now my words to pass along to into the future. I chose to use the opportunity of this contest to talk about my existing podcast about Yiddish language and culture. The podcast, called The MetaShtetl, is not about the Holocaust, though it does come up, as might be expected in conversations about the importance of Yiddish. I try to explore how Yiddish, which was flourishing until its sudden all-but eradication during the Holocaust, can use technology to redevelop some of its luster and international reach almost a century later. Each episode of the podcast features a detailed interview with a special guest expert in Yiddish, analyzing their work in contributing to the propagation of Yiddish in today’s world. In order to create a concise submission on the matter for the contest, I focus on a common thread of the interviews, which is the question of WHY. Why bother with Yiddish; why bother trying to revive a dying language? Yiddish speakers vary greatly on every issue, including their purpose for Yiddish. I used quotes from three interviews which I translated into English because The MetaShtetl full episodes are in Yiddish. I close with a quote I have always found moving and which I feel makes my point best.

4 min
02/15/2025

Interview Featuring Dr. Tsirl Kuznits

Dr. Tsirl Kuznits is a Professor at Bard College in: environmental studies, Gender and sexuality studies, historical studies, Jewish studies, and Russian and Eurasian studies. To follow along with the English translation visit www.themetashtetl.com Follow me on Instagram @themetashtetl or www.instagram.com and search the meta shtetl

13 min
04/28/2024

Interview Featuring Dr. Mordechai Yushovsky

Dr. Mordechai Yishovsky, General Secretary of the World Congress for Jewish Culture, Inspector of Yiddish Studies at the Israel Ministry of Education, Yiddish Professor and Author. To follow along with the English translation visit www.themetashtetl.com Follow me on Instagram @themetashtetl

35 min
02/20/2024

Yiddish Interview Featuring Yisroel Bass

Yisroel Bass is the Director of the Yiddish Farm in Goshen NY. Check it out at www.yiddishfarm.org To follow along with the English translation visit www.themetashtetl.com Follow me on Instagram @themetashtetl or www.instagram.com and search the meta shtetl

16 min
09/05/2023

Yiddish Interview Featuring Binyumin Schaechter

Binyumin Schaechter - Directer of The Yiddish Philharmonic Chorus in New York. https://www.yiddishchorus.org

38 min
09/02/2023

Yiddish Interview Featuring Arun Viswanath

Arun Viswanath - Author of Harry Potter in Yiddish Follow with the translation at https://www.themetashtetl.com/episodes/arun-viswanath

43 min
09/02/2023

Yiddish Interview Featuring Jana Mazurkiewicz Meisarosh

Founder and President of Yiddish Land https://yiddishlandcalifornia.org

11 min

10 Episodes

5

out of 5

3 Ratings

דאָס מעטאַ שטעטל Interviewing today's Yiddishists at the frontier of using technology to proliferate the Yiddish language and culture worldwide. Follow along with the English translation at www.themetashtetl.com Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/themetashtetl?igsh=Y2Uzb3cxbG9lNGRr&utm_source=qr

Creator

Eitan Binstock
Years Active

2023 - 2025
Episodes

10
Rating

Clean
Copyright

© Eitan Binstock 2023
Show Website

The Meta Shtetl