The Yiddish poet Chaim Grade survived World War II by fleeing his city, Vilna, now Vilnius, and wandering through the Soviet Union and its Central Asian republics. His wife and mother stayed ...

With so many of the most popular comics written by New York Jews, and centered in the city, much of New York’s Yiddish-tinged, recognizably Jewish language made its way onto the pages.

It’s titled “California.” He reads first in Yiddish — a linguistic blend of German with Hebrew, Aramaic, Slavic, and other European influences — and then in English. “The waves will cradle me and ...