‘Cookie Sings Yiddish’

Cookie Blattman is doing her part to keep the Yiddish language and culture alive and well!

I heard Cookie sing for the first time at a Child Survivors/Hidden Children of the Holocaust meeting in Boca Raton. Cookie, along with her sister Judith Levy provided the entertainment that afternoon. After hearing her beautiful voice and listening to her “Cookie Sings Yiddish” CD, I knew I wanted to hear her story and share it with our readers.

“I think I was born singing Yiddish. I never remember not singing. I would stand on the avenue corner in Boro Park (Brooklyn) and people would throw pennies at me!” Cookie recalled.

“Yiddish was my first language and I learned English in the streets. When I would come home from school my mother would say ‘red English’ (speak English) and I would say in Yiddish, ‘No, I do not want to speak English because then I’ll forget Yiddish,'” Cookie continued. “When I was alone with my mother, which wasn’t too often, as I was one of 10 children, my mother would talk her heart out to me and her Yiddish was beautiful. She always prefaced her speech with ‘mayn kint’ ( my child) and always escorted us to the door when we were leaving the house and say ‘May good angels go with you.'”

“My mother didn’t give me an English name so FEMALE is on my birth certificate. I got the name Ruchel and was called Ruchele, but my brother who was 18 months older than I, was just learning to speak and couldn’t say Ruchele and instead said Cookele, and thereafter I became Cookie.”

Cookie drew inspiration from her father as well.

“He had a lovely voice and I would sing Sabbath prayers with him. I still sing the songs he taught me when I perform and that makes me feel close to him. My father was not only a cantor, but a marriage performer and a Shochet (ritual slaughterer). I felt different from other children as we were Orthodox Jews. My mother told us we have to behave in a certain manner because we had a special station in the Orthodox hierarchy.”

I asked Cookie, “What is the most enduring memory from that time in her life?”

“I sang at Carnegie Hall with my Hebrew Choral Group and danced at a very young age at the World’s Fair in 1939. I was on the front page of a well known daily newspaper having an autograph signed for me by Grover Whalen. He was a prominent politician and businessman in New York City during the 1930s and 1940s, who served as the President of the World’s Fair. The neighbors came running in and said, “Mrs. Privin, your daughter is in the newspaper!”

“My singing career began in New York performing at some weddings and bar mitzvahs,” Cookie continued. “When I came to Florida over 25 years ago, I resumed performing in Yiddish more actively. I found the Circle of Yiddish Clubs and later became a board member and started ‘Yiddish Hours’ at various centers and nursing homes. I became a volunteer at the Daniel Cantor Senior Center and I’m still there. I also entertained at the International Association of Yiddish Clubs (IAYC) which is worldwide. I went to their conventions and Yiddish weekends throughout the USA. I have also entertained in Canada and Israel.”

Cookie’s CD “Cookie Sings Yiddish” features some of her favorite tunes. She explained why that recording is so special to her.

“My CD received the honor of being placed in the Judaica Yiddish Archives. It was such an honor to be amongst the greats of Yiddish music. It was as though I got the Academy Award! My recordings were bought by the IAYC and distributed to all their clubs worldwide. I hope that long after I’m gone my Yiddish songs continue to bring joy, as the ones long gone have brought to me and taught me so much.”

“My favorite songs were both written by Mordechai Gebirtig, a folk song writer; ‘Yankele’ and ‘Moyshele Mayn Fraynd.’ One tells of the beginning of life, and the other the end of life. Gebirtig was murdered by the Nazis. I hope to keep his memory alive by singing his songs.”

“Some of my favorite Yiddish singers include the Barry Sisters, Seymour Rechzeit and Miriam Kressyn.”

I asked Cookie to share how she got involved in Yiddish clubs in South Florida.

“Almost every condo development had a Yiddish club. The leaders of the clubs met once a month at the Circle of Yiddish Clubs to discuss what entertainment they had and would have. I went to the meetings and said that I sang Yiddish. They asked me to sing. I started telling stories of my childhood and ended up becoming a comedian too! I started singing at many of the clubs and spoke Yiddish too.”

“I have volunteered and run a ‘Yiddish Hour’ at the Daniel Cantor Center in Sunrise for over 25 years. They are like family to me. When I sing and speak Yiddish, I see the joy in their faces. It brings back so many childhood memories for them. To some, It is overwhelming and they even cry. The blessings they bestow upon me means so much. They are always so happy to see me and that brings me much joy. I thank G-d for the talent he gave me to make people happy. I am there the last Wednesday of each month from 12:15-1 p.m.”

Cookie has volunteered for Jewish Adoption and Family Care Options (JAFCO). I asked her to explain why that organization is so important to her.

“When I heard there were Jewish abused children I could not believe it! Most people reacted as I did. My sister in law, Esther, was a volunteer in the organization and she asked if I could put together a show in Yiddish. I hired the Epstein Brothers, a well known Yiddish band, but the leader, Max, took ill and though I intended to share the stage with him, I ended up doing the show as a solo. Thereafter, I continued to do solo shows for 11 years. All the money went to JAFCO. I have received standing ovations from the audience and awards from JAFCO. Gary Lawrence was my arranger and accompanist. It culminated in my becoming an all around Yiddish entertainer and every year the JAFCO show would sell 500-1000 tickets for my show.”

“JAFCO and the Daniel Cantor Center are always on going and they keep me quite busy, but I have also volunteered for the Circle of Yiddish Clubs, The Women’s Organization for Brandeis University and the International Association of Yiddish Clubs.”

Cookie is married to her husband Lenny, has two children, Lori and David, and five grandchildren.