Hester Street, Carol Kane & Yiddish

Factual Questions
1

I just saw Hester Street (for about the 14th time), and got to wondering whether or not Carol Kane actually speaks Yiddish, or just learned her Yiddish lines for the film.

I checked out a couple of bios of her-- she’s from Ohio, but none says what her family or language background is. I know she’s Jewish, but I don’t know whether she’s from a Yiddishkeit family.

Her Yiddish is pretty convincing in the film, and mine isn’t good enough to hear a slight accent, if she has one-- she’s an actress, sfter all.

Anyone know whether she really speaks Yiddish?

–Rowan
Shopping is still cheaper than therapy. --my Aunt Franny

2

Dunno specifically, but actors can certainly learn parts in a language they do not speak (opera singers do it all the time.)

There is a Yiddish theatre in Warsaw, that puts on Yiddish productions; none of the actors speak the language, and none of the audience understand it.

3

I’ve read about that theatre-- apparently the plays are so well known that you don’t need to understand the words-- kinda like classic opera.

I just wondered about Carol Kane since she actually is Jewish. Although, I hear that Mandy Patinkin just recently begin studying Yiddish when he decided to include some Yiddish songs on his playlist.

It’s a shame really. There’s a little tension in my family right now, since my cousin, the one who lives in Israel, announced that he’s not going to speak Yiddish (his mother’s first language) to his soon-to-be-born baby. His brother and sister, who live in the US, speak Yiddish to their kids.

My aunt is trying very hard to take this in her stride, but I can tell she’s upset.