home visits that Sapoznik and Lanset
conducted, which not only tapped into
a wealth of anecdotal history from peo-
ple who listened to and even worked in
Yiddish radio, but led them to personal
collections of recordings.
The search met with its share of dis-
appointments, however — the bitter,
old Yiddish actor who refused to part
with his collection of recordings; the
radio personality who told Sapoznik
he'd thrown "that crap" out years before.
And the simple truth was that few peo-
ple who remembered Yiddish radio were
still alive.
But there were divine moments of
serendipity, like the phone call that
tipped Sapoznik off to a cache of discs
in a dumpster behind a retirement
home for rabbis.
After years of persistence, the story of
Yiddish radio began to emerge.

A Brief History

Between 1925 and 1955, 30 stations in
New York City featured Yiddish pro-
gramming. Recognizing the market
potential of immigrant communities,
local entrepreneurs brokered air time
between radio stations and those willing
to pay to be entertained in their own
language. (For more on Yiddish radio in
Detroit, see the accompanying story.)
In 1926, WHN debuted the first
Yiddish radio show, The Libby Hotel
Program, a revue of cantorial perform-
ances, dramatic and comedic acts, and

klezmer music broadcast from the
eponymous hotel on the Lower East
Side. A flood of Jewish programs fol-
lowed, and in 1930, CBS's Der Tog
Program, a variety show from the
Yiddish daily Der Tog, became the only
nationally aired Yiddish program in
American broadcasting history.
Two years later, The Forward newspa-
per answered with its beloved Forverts
Hour, perhaps the most popular Yiddish
radio program ever.
With daily news reports, quiz shows,
radio dramas and variety programs —
many broadcast in English — Yiddish
radio sounded much like its mainstream
counterpart. Yet the programming was
distinctly Jewish, displaying the richness
of Yiddish culture and reflecting both
the exuberance and desperation of
immigrant life.
While mainstream radio of the period
offered listeners an escape from daily
reality, Yiddish radio engaged it with
programs like Rabbi Rubins Court of
Peace and Justice, a sort of heimish
People's Court, and Bei Tate-Mames Tish
("Around the Family Table"), a weekly
drama series written by the prolific
Nahum Stutchkoff, which brought lis-
teners into the homes of fictional Jewish
families struggling to adapt to life in
America.
Yiddish programs flourished into the
'30s and '40s, but soon the actors and
musicians and distinct voices behind

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the THEATRE

1914 1967, Max Blatt made the earli-
estattempt at Yiddish radio in Detroit
in 1930. His program was on the air
only six months.
Radio station WJLB was home to
(Hyman) Altman's Jewish Radio Hour,
which lasted about 33 years, leaving
the airwaves in 1964. Its management
was then in the hands of Nathan
Siegel.
None of these programs brought in
the listeners — or the revenue — of
the Weinbergs, according to Schein.
"We had everybody," she said.
"When [Yiddish theater stars] Molly
Picon or Paul Muni were performing
at Littman's Peoples' Theatre on 12th
Street, they would come on the radio
and talk: [Actor] Menashe Skolnick
was my father's boyhood friend from
Warsaw."
Every week, Detroit lawyer Isaac
Finkelstein would present the world

-

news in Yiddish. Local humorist
Moishe Dombey joined Harry
Weinberg in an ongoing routine called
"Mr. Chisek," which "was comedic but
had serious undertones," Schein said.
The Weinbergs were among the
founders of the Sholem Aleichem
Institute, a Yiddishist cultural group.
Schein served as its president for 17
years. In the Yiddishist spirit of
activism, performers from the
Weinberg program not only led the
station in selling U.S. war bonds but
also made live appearances to raise
money for the Histadrut, Israel's
national labor federation.
"It was a very exciting time in my
life," Schein said about her years in
Yiddish radio. "It gave me a love for
drama and music that I still have.
And the love of Yiddish has stayed
with me all my life." ❑

ssters Rose/6 .

Openin

. 71
" ; -

March 8

playing in rotating repertory
until May 9

by Pulitzer-Prize
Winning Playwright

Wendy Wasserstein

Truth, Love & Family

tt

For Tickets Call the Theatre Box Office at
(313) 577 - 2972

WAYNE STATE
UNIVERSITY

tt

3115

2002

77