The challenges of cultural continuity with speaker Dr. Miriam Isaacs is the program for the next meeting of the Jewish Genealogy Society of Greater Washington, on Sunday, January 23.
The meeting begins at 1.30pm, at Congregation Beth El, in Bethesda, Maryland. Admission: JGSGW members and first-timers, free; others, $5.
A well-known expert on Yiddish culture, Isaacs will address how cultures can be transmitted and the factors leading to cultural disruption.
She will draw on the traditional notion of the Golden Chain, di goldene keit(Yiddish), the chain that links generations.
Isaacs will provide examples of stories, beliefs and ideas kept across generations and how they are adapted and re-adapted to different locations and situations. The examples will be drawn from folklore, literature and contemporary culture and also include how traditional themes are found in Holocaust studies.
Although many of our ancestors spoke Yiddish, few of us today understand how that language has impacted our culture over the generations.
Isaacs teaches at the University of Maryland.
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