Jews in poetry and popular song (Ashkenazi folklore)

Ashkenazi folklore from Eastern Europe encompasses a vast repertoire of songs, laments, lullabies, wedding songs, proverbs, and tales in the Yiddish language. The badkhonim, masters of ceremony at weddings, and the klezmorim, traditional musicians, were essential figures in this tradition. In the early twentieth century, scholars such as S. An-sky undertook ethnographic expeditions to collect and preserve this folk heritage, which was threatened by modernization and emigration. This corpus reveals a rich communal inner life, filled with humor, piety, social criticism, and emotional expression, distinct from the high rabbinical culture. Gathered and studied in institutions such as the YIVO, it was partly preserved despite the destruction of the shtetl world during the Shoah.

Sources & resources

• The YIVO Encyclopedia of Jews in Eastern Europe ↗
• Encyclopaedia Judaica — 2e éd., Keter/Macmillan