Di platshkis (Professional Mourners). Professional mourners accompany a funeral bier to the cemetery. Mayer Kirshenblatt. Acrylic on canvas, ca. 1996. Memory painting by a native of Opatów, Poland. (Courtesy Barbara Kirshenblatt-Gimblett)

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To treat the many types of talk characteristic of Jews of Eastern Europe, this entry begins with a general overview, which discusses speech in relation to the multilinguism of East European Jewish culture, followed by four more specific articles: Storytelling; Professional Talkers; Blessings, Curses, and Other Expressions; and Argots. For further general discussion, see Language; for sermonizing, see Preachers and Preaching; for jesters, see Badkhonim. See also Humor, article on Oral Tradition; Proverbs; and Riddles.