The original 1968 version of Leo Rosten's The Joys of Yiddish - a comprehensive and entertaining lexicon of the Yiddish language - sold more than 500,000 copies!

With the recent renaissance of interest in Yiddish, and in keeping with a language that embodies the variety and vibrancy of life itself, this new edition brings Rosten's masterful work up to date. Revised by editor Lawrence Bush, in close consultation with Rosten's daughters, it retains the spirit of the original - with its wonderful jokes, tidbits of cultural history, Talmudic and Biblical references, and tips on pronunciation - and enhances it with hundreds of new entries, thoughtful commentary on how Yiddish has evolved over the years, and an invaluable new English-to-Yiddish index.

In addition, The New Joys of Yiddish includes wondrous and amusing illustrations by renowned artist R.O. Blechman.

Reviews:

"The revision incorporates additional material on modern Yiddish literature and culture and updates on changes in American Jewish life and faith. Also included as an appendix is an English-Yiddish dictionary. ...highly recommended for language collections." - Marilyn Rosenthal, Nassau Community College Library (Garden City, NY), in Library Journal

"What this new edition does is add fascinating bits of commentary to the late Leo Rosten's 1968 lexicon about how Yiddish has become part of colloquial English. More than ever, Yinglish is part of how we speak, not only in everyday words like shtick, shlep, mishmash, etc., but also in the wry shtetl idiom: melancholy, ironic, furious, schmaltzy, smart. Rosten says that language is culture, and in some ways editor Bush's new footnotes give a quick overview of Jewish American life in the last 30 years, including the changes in the role of women, the rise of Reform and other denominations, the comeback of Jewish mysticism, and the rising rate of intermarriage. Bush also adds some notes about the history of Yiddish and its current revival in academia, as theater, on the Internet, and in Israel. Most readers, though, will still grab this for the jokes and the stories, to read aloud and remember and to laugh about for years." - Hazel Rochman, in Booklist

"It has changed, writes Lawrence Bush, who did the updating, to accommodate the new reality in Judaism, American Jewry and Jewish world politics -- especially in Israel. Nonetheless, it retains the wonderful flavor of the original masterpiece." - Aaron Leibel, in Washington Jewish Week

"Over the years, this has been one of my favourite books for gift-giving and browsing. It has now been completely updated by Lawrence Bush, with hundreds of new entries and a valuable English to Yiddish index.... Compiled with seichel and eidelkeit by a maven, this book is an oitser." - Bernard Baskin, in The Canadian Jewish News

"This revised version of Leo Rosten's classic makes Yiddish wit and sensibility accessible to Jews and non-Jews in America.... Bush and illustrator R.O. Blechman have succeeded in preserving and extending Rosten's compendium of wit and wisdom." - Marek Breiger, in Jewish Bulletin of Northern California

"The good news is that The New Joys of Yiddish contains almost all the old joys.... Bush has neither added nor deleted any words in the main listing, though he elaborates on some definitions and in one footnote he does mention an extra word.... The major change in the word listing is the regularization of spelling. Many of the words have as many as five or six spellings, and Bush has improved the clarity, the consistency of the alphabetization, and the presentation of alternative spellings... Some jokes have been revised, and others discarded, in deference to women and minorities.... Bush has eliminated the appendix, integrating much of its content back into the definitions and discarding the small remainder. It's in the excursions away from Yiddish and into Jewish religion and culture that Bush most clearly distinguishes himself from Rosten...." - Mark L. Levinson, in The Jerusalem Post

"A stand-by on many reference shelves since 1968, the late Leo Rosten's The Joys of Yiddish is regarded as the authority on Yiddish expressions, some of which have blush-worthy meanings. Crown recently published a new edition of Rosten's book.... Illustrations by R.O. Blechman appear throughout the text, which has much appeal beyond its reference value. Rosten had a keen sense of humor, and he sprinkled jokes and anecdotes throughout his translation of Yiddish expressions and traditions." - Ann Lloyd Merriman, in Richmond Times-Dispatch

"This indispensable Yiddish dictionary (actually a volume of Jewish sociology) has been lightened by the revision... The original still shines through, though, and the flavor is lip-smacking good... From the truly useful mishpokhe, (your spouse and his/her family members, near, far, remote, and numerous) to the brilliantly shaded oy! (capable of conveying a volume of emotion, depending upon context, emphasis, and whether the syllable is chirped or moaned) the reading is a pleasure." - Larry Bleiberg, in Dallas Morning News

Books of related interest:
Meshuggenary: Celebrating the World of Yiddish
The Complete Idiot's Guide to Learning Yiddish
Modern English-Yiddish, Yiddish-English Dictionary
A Dictionary of Ashkenazic Given Names