“Shabes, shabes” (Sabbath, Sabbath)

“Shabes, shabes” (Sabbath, Sabbath) is a Yiddish folk song about celebrating Shabbos (the Jewish Sabbath) by relaxing and drinking whiskey. This recording was sung by Rebecca Letz Soyer in New York in 1949. Rebecca, born in the 1890s, was a schoolteacher and the wife of artist Raphael Soyer. She was recorded by ethnomusicologist Ruth Rubin who collected over 1,900 folk songs and field recordings between 1949 and the 1970s.