Yiddish Drinking Songs, featuring Rokhl Kafrissen [The Jewish Drinking Show, episode #181]

Introduction
As Yiddish was spoken by many Ashkenazi Jews for centuries, it should serve as no surprise to listeners of The Jewish Drinking Show that many Yiddish songs either revolved around or at least involved drinking. To introduce us to Yiddish drinking songs for the 181st episode of The Jewish Drinking Show on this topic is Rokhl Kafrissen.

Biography of Guest
Rokhl Kafrissen is a journalist, teacher, and playwright and winner of the prestigious 2022 Adrienne Cooper Dreaming in Yiddish prize. Between 2017 and 2024, her “Rokhl’s Golden City” column appeared monthly in Tablet magazine, covering the length and breadth of Yiddish culture, including an essay on drinking. In 2021, her song “Kum tsu mir” (a Yiddish translation-adaptation of Jimmy Buffett’s “Why Don’t We Get Drunk …”) was recorded by an all-star klezmer trio and in 2024, the Israeli funk-jazz band Malox released an album featuring another of her Yiddish song translations, “Makhn a vayivrekh (Breakthrough).” She taught two new classes on Ashkenazi women’s folk magic and religion for the Yiddish Book Center during the fall of 2023 and 2024, and her classes and lectures on “Everyday Ashkenazi Magic” are a favorite with students around the world. You can find out more at her Explore Ashkenazi Culture website.

Episode
In addition to being available below in video format, the episode is also available in podcast format on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever else you prefer listening to podcasts:

List of Songs
Here is a list of the songs featured on this episode:

• Lomir alemen bagrisn
• Lomir ale in eynem
• Eyn mol
• Ven ikh nem a bisl yash
• Shoyn avek der nekhtn/s’iz nishto keyn nekht/yesterday is buried/nye zhuritsi khloptsi [known by various titles; published in 1917]
• Di Mashke (written by Mikhl Gordon, 1868)
• Tayere Malke [Dear Malke] written by Mark Varshavsky (1840-1907), performed by SoCalled
• Lekhayim, Lekhayim Kol Zayn