6  October 3rd, 1946


  1. written “Amerikaner boi”: אמעריקאנער באי↩︎

  2. “homey” or “like home,” implying a comfort/ease↩︎

  3. he keeps a sense of humor about everything↩︎

  4. Sam’s Lekskion entry suggests he sold matches for about a year. So, we can place the time in mid-1886↩︎

  5. “countryman,” specifically implying someone from the same region in the old country↩︎

  6. שירט–מעיקער↩︎

  7. from Hebrew, “bracha” meaning blessing↩︎

  8. An operetta by Abraham Goldfaden, the father of Yiddish theater.↩︎

  9. Another Abraham Goldfaden operetta↩︎

  10. khazn”-ish; cantorial, religiously-inspired↩︎

  11. little bits of khazn music↩︎

  12. unclear idiom here, but presumably a good thing - filling the air maybe?↩︎

  13. Below I’ve directly written the Hebrew (not Yiddish) as Sam wrote it out. This is a liturgical tune?↩︎

  14. has a positive connotation here↩︎

  15. pray↩︎

  16. In general, and certainly in Philadelphia, Jews attended a shul founded by their landsmen. The “Russian Shul is what is now B’nei Abraham, a Chabad shul on Lombard between 5th-6th.↩︎

  17. This is the city’s Hebrew name; it means “white fields”↩︎

  18. This is the city’s Yiddish name: “black church” (where this word for “church” has an implication of sin/ritual impurity), which is a play on words since its Ukrainian name “Bila Tserkva” means “white church”↩︎

  19. ruckus; again, here it is a positive connotation↩︎

  20. prayers, but can also refer to full services↩︎

  21. This would have taken place no later than 1887↩︎

  22. a manager, other staff - not one of the actors↩︎

  23. This is Sam’s first performance - as an extra in Shulamith↩︎

  24. commoner or lowly person; these are roles in the show↩︎

  25. Avisholem’s African servant. This role almost certainly would have been played in blackface.↩︎

  26. See her Leksikon entry here↩︎

  27. See his Leksikon entry here↩︎

  28. This is a play on words. This Hebrew phrase means “the great eagle.” In German, “Adler” means eagle.↩︎