Whatever happened to Yiddish? (Or did it just schlep away?)

About 10 years ago, as a volunteer program director for the Jewish Pavilion, I put together a program about Yiddish — its words, humor, and heart — and took it “on the road” to a dozen assisted-living and nursing facilities across West Orange County. The residents loved it. We laughed our way through bupkes, kvetch, schlep, mensch, and dozens of other favorites. Many in the audience still remembered those words from their parents or childhood neighbors.

The program was a great schtick, and now it has brought back memories of my childhood in Cleveland: the schvitz my father would schlep me and...