Moyshe Nayman

The team arrives at Nayman's home and sets up with several people talking, partly in Russian. Kerler greets Nayman and explains that they are recording how Yiddish was once spoken. Nayman briefly mentions that he lived in Israel for some years and then says he studied in a yeshiva until the age of eighteen.

Shows the setup and greetings before the interview starts.

Nayman says he studied in a yeshiva with the Mukacheve rebbe Shapira, with over three hundred students. Kerler takes the date and place: Klishanov, where Nayman was born in 1921 and still lives, and he gives his age as 84. Nayman says he came back from Israel because his wife wanted to die among the children, and he speaks about his sick wife. A woman nearby weeps.

Also gives the date, his age and his return from Israel because of his wife.

Nayman recalls attending cheder until age thirteen and mentions his brothers Berish and Hershl, one of whom lived in Haifa and died in the early 1990s. He says about eighty Jewish families lived in the village among many non-Jews. His parents farmed, kept six cows and made butter and cheese that he carried to Mukacheve and sold. He recites bits of psalms, prayers and songs, much of it garbled.

Also mentions his brothers Berish and Hershl and a village of mostly non-Jews.

Nayman recalls studying Gemara, with tractates such as Sanhedrin, Bava Metsia and Sukkah, and going to the yeshiva in Mukacheve at age thirteen. He remembers praying at the large synagogue, once serving as cantor on Yom Kippur, and the yeshiva of about two hundred students. He recites the names of the Torah portions and other prayers from memory, much of it garbled. Kerler clarifies that he was a student, not a teacher.

Adds Torah-portion recitation and memories of praying as cantor.

Nayman answers questions about his early life: cheder moved around, with a different rebbe each year, and he had brothers and sisters. His family made wine, some of it sold, and they had a vineyard. He recalls an uncle in Brooklyn and sleeping with his siblings. He recalls Passover songs and then recites prayers from the holidays, part of it garbled.

Adds siblings, an uncle in Brooklyn and Passover songs.

The informant answers dialectological questionnaire items prompted in Russian and Ukrainian-like phrases. They include knowing, being sick or beautiful, liking and disliking, believing in God, a Jew converting to Christianity, the word for non-Jews, hitting, and agreement of the pronoun for "you are right". Katz and Kerler ask for repetitions.

The catalogue says Nayman answers; the transcript shows Katz and Kerler also questioning and a second voice, S3, supplying the prompts.