Leonard Nimoy: “Zayn oder nit zayn? Ot vos s’iz di frage.”

Actor Leonard Nimoy (1931 — 2015) recites Hamlet’s soliloquy in Yiddish, his family’s first language, during a 2013 interview with Christa Whitney. From the Yiddish Book Center’s Wexler Oral History Project.

Mazel Tov, Arvind Mahankali!

Last Thursday the Scripps National Spelling Bee was won by 13-year-old Arvind Mahankali when he successfully spelled “knaidel,” a word for “matzoh ball.” Surprised a young man with an Indian name can spell a Yiddish-derived word? Kid’s from Queens, fahcryinoutloud! As Lenny Bruce said, “If you live in New York … you are Jewish.”

But you think any aspect of Jewish-American culture is without controversy, especially in New York City? Fuggetaboutit.