The Holocaust, emigration and assimilation have greatly reduced the number of Yiddish speakers. And for many years, Israel viewed Yiddish as a reminder of historical Jewish vulnerability and discouraged use of the language in favor of Hebrew. Perhaps a half- million people now speak Yiddish fluently, a 95 percent decrease from before World War II. But [Goldberg] is not discouraged and labels as "nonsense" the idea that Yiddish is dying.

A small two-room suite - enough space for Goldberg and a part- time secretary - the magazine's office is filled with books, papers and mementos. There are bound copies of the magazine stretching back to its inception; a black and white photo from 1916 that shows a few dozen earnest dark-haired Jews - the Chicago Yiddish Socialist Choir; a stone bust of his late friend Martin Birnbaum, a well- known Yiddish poet; and a poster from the '40s advertising an after- school Yiddish program.

In his 20s, Goldberg began teaching Yiddish at afternoon schools and camps. In the 1930s, he helped oversee a nationwide collection of 140 Yiddish schools, and for decades, he helped run Kinderland, a summer camp that emphasized Yiddish, leftism and secular Judaism, the idea that the religion should emphasize Jewish culture rather than theology.