Yiddish Making A Comeback In Los Angeles

Here are the morning’s top stories on Friday, March 21, 2025…

• The historic language of Jews in Europe – Yiddish – was once spoken by tens of thousands of Jewish immigrants in Los Angeles. That language was almost destroyed by assimilation and the Holocaust. But now, Yiddish is making a comeback. 
• Dozens of postal workers gathered in protest outside a Bakersfield courthouse on Thursday. They were fighting against the potential privatization of one of the nation’s oldest institutions.

Angelenos Learn To Schmooze, Kvetch And Kvell In Yiddish

Inside Der Nister Downtown Jewish Center, a hybrid bookstore and synagogue on the 14th floor of an old bank building in Downtown Los Angeles, a small crowd focuses on the space’s co-founder, Zach Golden, 33. He stands at a podium between ceiling-high shelves of Jewish books, and begins to read a poem penned nearly a century ago, by a Jewish immigrant from modern-day Ukraine. It’s titled “California.”

He reads first in Yiddish — a linguistic blend of German with Hebrew, Aramaic, Slavic, and other European influences — and then in English. “The waves will cradle me and whisper ‘peace, shalom,’” he translates. “I drift into sleep, becoming a desert dream.”

Soon, audience members, mostly Jews in their 20s and 30s, begin to share observations and ask questions about the Yiddish translation. Some are fluent in Yiddish or learning the language. Others are just curious to hear it spoken aloud. What’s happening in this room is actually quite radical.

Yiddish, the historic language of Jews in Europe and Russia, was once nearly extinguished. But now, a disparate coalition of strictly religious Jews, progressive, secular, and young Jews — drawn to the language for different reasons — are keeping Yiddish alive. In fact, some scholars say it’s experiencing a revival.

Postal Workers Protest Over Efforts To Privatize USPS

Postal workers from across the country, including in California, are protesting a potential takeover of the U.S. Postal Service by the Trump administration.

In Bakersfield on Thursday, postal workers protested plans for what they say is an “illegal hostile takeover” of the Postal Service. President Trump is considering transferring control of the independent agency to the federal Department of Commerce. And a potential sale to private investors.

Brendan Buettner is president of the American Postal Workers Union Local 482 in Kern County. He argues that would significantly impact mail deliveries in the San Joaquin Valley, and across rural America. “If privatization does happen, the service standard is going to go way down. People won’t be able to get their mail. They might have to drive hundreds of miles to get their medication,” he said.

Any changes to how the Postal Service is run would require approval by Congress.