On Monday, May 4, 2026, the Zahava and Moshael J. Straus Center for Torah and Western Thought hosted in conversation with Straus Center Senior Scholar Dr. Tevi Troy. Sapoznik, a native Yiddish speaker and a five-time Grammy-nominated producer/performer, spoke about his book The Tourist鈥檚 Guide to Lost Yiddish New York City, which traces New York's Yiddish popular culture from 1880 to the present.
Sapoznik referred to Yiddish theater as 鈥渟ecular shul,鈥 arguing that it was the place where 鈥淛ews would publicly reaffirm and reassess their Jewish cultural identity.鈥 As Zionism and nationalism rose in prominence in the late-19th century, American Jews were looking for an outlet to express themselves. Yiddish theater provided that opportunity.
The late 19th century was also a highly prejudiced time in America, with blackface and yellowface common occurrences on the theater stage. Jews were no exception to the racial and ethnic stereotypes that plagued American culture, often being caricatured with strange accents and large noses. Yiddish theater, Sapoznik noted, provided a 鈥渃ounterbalance鈥 to these depictions and allowed Jews to portray themselves on their own terms.
Sapoznik also touched upon Black-Jewish relations. As a minority who understood the pitfalls of discrimination, Jews were some of the only merchants and landlords who were willing to do business with their African American neighbors. This humanist outreach to the community, while noble, also left the Jews vulnerable to stereotypes related to money, helping spur the trope of the 鈥淛ewish landlord.鈥
One surprising factoid that Sapoznik provided was the prevalence of Yiddish outside New York City, especially on the radio. (This is the topic of his forthcoming book, The Stations That Spoke Your Language: A Century of Yiddish American Radio.) At one point, there were over 200 radio stations across the country with Yiddish programming, including 30 in New York and three in Salt Lake City. 鈥淛ews would go through all this trouble to create an outlet, a proactive outlet. That was for a lot of people really critical,鈥 Sapoznik noted.
While many of the physical buildings and infrastructure of late-19th century and early 20th century New York Jewish life have disappeared or been repurposed, Sapoznik said that their legacies live on. 鈥淣ew York is notorious for consuming itself. But in mourning all of these places that existed, we create our identity. A lot of these places are no longer lost because we are now invoking them.鈥
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