is the Associate Editor of the Yiddish Forward newspaper, "Forverts", founded in 1897. He writes weekly on folklore and Jewish music. He has a Ph.D in Jewish Folklore from the University of Pennsylvania, and is the author of the book Defining the Yiddish Nation: The Jewish Folklorists of Poland. He has conducted Yiddish folklore research, particularly on folksongs, in New York, Mexico City and Israel. He also directs the Ansky Jewish Folklore Research Project, and its weekly blog "Yiddish Song of the Week" – http://yiddishsong.wordpress.com/ an initiative of the Center for Traditional Music and Dance. He has taught Yiddish and Yiddish Culture at the University of Pennsylvania and the University of Texas at Austin.