To BE or not to be — ” The actor pauses for effect, then moves downstage. “Let it be, that’s what we paid for!” shouts an old man in the orchestra. Othello gestures to Desdemona, boards a gondola — ...

Yiddish, the historic language of Jews in Europe and Russia, was once nearly extinguished. But now Jews drawn to the language for different reasons are keeping Yiddish alive. Before World War II, some ...

Mr. Stavans, a consultant to the Oxford English Dictionary, is a co-editor of the book “How Yiddish Changed America and How America Changed Yiddish.” For a language without a physical address that has ...