51�Թ�

Seymour’s three-hour annual show celebrating Yiddishkeit — called “Philosophers, Fiddlers and Fools” — launched in 1978 with a combination of music, stories and Yiddish.

The Bund’s political philosophy, though still socialist and unaffiliated with Zionism, has shifted over time toward a focus on “Yiddishkeit,” a catchall term for Jewish culture that extends to the promotion of Yiddish language, and “Doikayt” — supporting Jewish communities wherever they are.

Although "Fiddler" deviated from Aleichem's true spirit — Harnick and Stein's story is Americanized and largely devoid of Yiddishkeit — the runaway success of their musical ultimately fulfilled Aleichem's goal.

She responded to my questions about the meaning of the designer deli by emailing me “Yiddishkeit,” a mournful 1938 poem, whose author, Jacob Glatstein, asked, “Shall Jewishness become only a folk song, that catches at the heart and coats the entrails with the warm honey of memory?”

Protecting the ultra-Orthodox way of life — or Yiddishkeit — is the community’s ultimate aim.