Informant Description/ Context of performance: My friend’s grandma told her this superstition growing up.

Original Script:

Interviewee: My grandma told me if I want to remember something by morning I should write it on a piece of paper and put it under my pillow, and it’ll soak into my brain while I’m sleeping.

Me: Did she just make that up or did someone tell her that?

Interviewee: Honestly, not sure… I know she used to do it though, and my brother and I still do it all the time. We’re like so old-fashioned hahaha- we don’t even use our phones for reminders. It’s like on a paper under our pillow!

Conclusion: In a world that’s becoming increasingly dependent on technology, I found this superstition to be refreshingly old school. I could not tell if this was specific to Yiddish culture, but nobody else I interviewed carry this same idea. I think it’s something that was made up as a joke in Yiddish culture and got passed down between generations.