In the early
1930s, Picon continued to reach new audiences at home and
abroad. She and Kalich traveled extensively, performing
throughout Europe (to “touch base
with [their] Yiddish roots”),
South America, and South Africa. In 1932, the
couple visited the renowned author and poet, Chaim Nachman
Bialik, in Palestine. Publicly challenging the community’s
"Hebrew only" policies, Picon performed exclusively in Yiddish.
“At that time, Palestinians were adamant about speaking only
Hebrew. Yiddish was outlawed, and very often-bloody fights
occurred between those who spoke only Hebrew and those who
spoke only Yiddish.” Between her international
travels, Picon continued to delight audiences at home. In 1934,
she began broadcasting her first radio show. Taped both in Yiddish
and English, the show, first sponsored by Jell-O and then later by
Maxwell House, exposed her to an ever wider American audience.
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