Honey on the Page

Wonder how best to pass down and preserve their Jewish identity in an increasingly secularized culture.

Miriam Udel, a rabbi, mother, professor of Yiddish language and Literature at Emory University, and the winner of the 2017 National Jewish Book Award, introduces modern-day families to translated versions of the cherished fairy tales, fables, folklore, and poems originally written in Yiddish over a century ago.

In HONEY ON THE PAGE: A Treasury of Yiddish Children’s Literature (NYU Press), Miriam Udel presents an unprecedented collection of nearly 50 traditional Yiddish stories and rhymes for youngsters translated into English. As Udel shares, she became interested in reclaiming this largely lost body of literature through the convergence of two pathways: her work as a Yiddish language teacher and her vocation as a mother. Combing through hundreds of anthologies and free-standing storybooks, as well as several years’ worth of periodicals, she sought authentic pieces of Yiddish prose and verse that would at once represent their times and places of origin and engage and resonate with today’s young readers.

Miriam visits with Mark Alyn on this special edition of Late Night Health