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Yiddish with Rukhl is a limited series podcast for people who love spoken Yiddish, brought to you by the Forward/Forverts. In a 15-20 minute podcast, Forverts editor Rukhl Schaechter shares engaging articles written in conversational Yiddish. She explains how listeners can benefit from the experience of hearing Yiddish, even if their knowledge of the language is at the intermediate level.

As the main spoken language of the Jews for more than a thousand years, Yiddish has had plenty to lament, plenty to conceal. Its phrases and expressions paint a comprehensive picture of the mind-set that enabled the Jews of Europe to survive persecution: they never stopped kvetching about God...

Centuries ago in middle Europe, a coded language appeared, scrawled in graffiti and spoken only by people in the know. This hybrid language, dubbed Rotwelsch, facilitated survival for people in flight - whether escaping persecution or just down on their luck. It was a language of the road associated with vagabonds, travelers, Jews, and thieves that blended words from Yiddish, Hebrew, German, Romani, Czech, and other European languages and was rich in expressions for police, jail, or experiencing trouble, such as being in a pickle. This renegade language unsettled those in power.