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Rating: 
Summary: This little book is a big mitzvah.
Review: If Leo Rosten's The Joys of Yiddish is the Bible to Yiddish, then Leon Gildin's swift, funny book is the Cliff's Notes. It is a quick, easy read. Not studious. But you get the flavor of Yiddish without suffocating. If you run out of air, it'll only be from laughter.The title is misleading. This is hardly a businessmen's guide. It is a guide for everyone (with the exception o the chapter on curse words. This is R-rated). You don't have to be Jewish to read and enjoy this book. It has an index to Yiddish words, and could use a similar index for English words and phrases. Small gripes for a book that provides a fun jaunt to your bubbe's world, or neighbor's bubbe.
Rating:
Summary: a great little gift
Review: It's a fast read, providing a giggle on almost every page. Although he focuses on the colorful Yiddish language, Leon Gilden guides the reader through the history of the Jewish experience from the shtetel to comtemoprary America. The title is deceptive. I expected definitions of Yiddishkeit in the workplace (who knew that "glitch" came from Yiddish) but the book,in about 125 pages, covers life,love, food and a broad range of the Jewish experience. I would have liked a pronuouncation key, next to each word. Without it, one has to guess whether the acccent is on the first or second syllable. But who's complaining? It's fun to read and a good resource. I plan to give it as gifts instead of "ruggalah".
Rating:
Summary: a great little gift
Review: It's a fast read, providing a giggle on almost every page. Although he focuses on the colorful Yiddish language, Leon Gilden guides the reader through the history of the Jewish experience from the shtetel to comtemoprary America. The title is deceptive. I expected definitions of Yiddishkeit in the workplace (who knew that "glitch" came from Yiddish) but the book,in about 125 pages, covers life,love, food and a broad range of the Jewish experience. I would have liked a pronuouncation key, next to each word. Without it, one has to guess whether the acccent is on the first or second syllable. But who's complaining? It's fun to read and a good resource. I plan to give it as gifts instead of "ruggalah".
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