2023 Daytime Programs

Zayt bagrist! - Yiddish New York (YNY) welcomes you to our 2023 program which will take place both in-person and online. YNY nurtures a diverse international and intergenerational community committed to the celebration and creation of art, scholarship and social activism informed by Yiddish culture. Drawing upon the cultural riches of New  York City, YNY’s December festival provides a gathering place for community members to join together and deepen their engagement with Yiddish culture. Our amazing faculty is made up of dozens of the Yiddish world’s leading artists, scholars, educators and activists (for detailed bios click here).

Contacts
For General Inquiries: yiddishnewyork@gmail.com
Technical Problems with Zoom, etc: ynytechteam@gmail.com

Registrants - be sure to check for emails from Eventbrite (check your spam filter too, and scroll all the way down on the Eventbrite email for instructions on getting your links to workshops/concerts).

Technical Information for ONLINE EVENTS
Workshops, classes, and lectures will be held via Zoom. Concerts and film viewing will be held on Vimeo. Links and passwords to Pass Pages are sent in the initial Order Confirmation email from Eventbrite. When you enter the Pass Page, you will see links to all events applicable to your type of pass.

Each Zoom session will have a technical assistant present (thank you, volunteers!) who will also act as the session co-host. If you are having technical issues, please consider problem solving strategies on your side of things before posting in the chat. Possible things to try are simply logging out and rejoining the meeting, turning off your camera, and checking that your volume is not too loud or soft.  It may also be helpful to close other programs running on your computer. If you have technical questions, please contact the meeting co-host via private message, rather than messaging the full group or the presenter.

To prepare for Yiddish New York, please be sure to bring your Zoom software up to date. The easiest way is to go to the Zoom Download center: https://zoom.us/download

Click the Download button for "Zoom Client for Meetings". This will bring your software to the current version. When it downloads, click on the downloaded file to run it.

Regular Daily Class Periods (Sunday-Wednesday, Eastern Standard Time)
AM1: 9:30AM – 10:45AM
AM2: 11:15AM – 12:30PM
LUNCHTIME CONCERT: 1:15PM – 2:15PM
PM1: 2:30PM – 3:45PM
PM2: 4:15PM – 5:30PM
ONLINE SHMOOZE: 5:30PM
PRE-CONCERT ZINGERAY: 6:40PM
EVENING PROGRAM/CONCERT (Saturday-Wednesday): 7:00PM
LATE NIGHT PROGRAM - ONLINE (Sunday, Wednesday): 10:00PM
LATE NIGHT PROGRAM - Bowery Electric/DROM (Monday, Tuesday): 9:00PM

Thursday, December 28th: Lectures will be held on Thursday morning, as will the YNY 2023 Symposium- Yiddish Song on the Move. Some performing arts classes may choose to meet that day-- please check with your instructor. 

Our 2023 programs are listed below...

Faculty: Michael Alpert, Zachary Sholem Berger, Joanne Borts, Clara Byom, Debra Caplan, Stephen Cohen, Christina Crowder, Sruli Dresdner, Walter Zev Feldman, David Forman, Carol Freeman, Tamara Gleason Freidberg, Ken Frieden, Isabel Frey, Sonia Gollance, Avery Gosfield, Itzik Gottesman (curator), Mariya Gyendina, Adah Hetko, Eve Jocnowitz, Rokhl Kafrissen, Daniel Kahn, Barbara Kirshenblatt-Gimblett, Zeke Levine, Jeremiah Lockwood, Sarah Lukinson, Avia Moore, Claire Padgett, Eddy Portnoy, Izzy Posen, Seth Rogovoy, David Roskies, Max Rothman, Anna Rozenfeld Stuart Schear, Sebastian Schulman, Amanda Miryem-Khaye Seigel, Eve Sicular, Mark Slobin, Ann Toback, Deborah Ugoretz, Josh Waletzky, Rachel Weston, Mikhl Yashinsky, Jennifer Young, Sheva Zucker

AM1 (Sun, Mon, Tue, Wed) Dancing With Stories (Gollance)
For over a decade, Sonia Gollance has been collecting descriptions of Yiddish dance in literature and memoirs. Taking place in Yiddish, German, and English and describing various dances and taboos, such moments are designed to be entertaining and are frequently surprising. What's more, these written accounts shed light on a cultural practice that has been difficult to document, and they also showcase the way writers used the dance floor to reveal emotional relationships between characters. In this week-long workshop, we'll read and discuss some remarkable scenes and use our discussions to reconstruct dances such as the mitsve tants, pas d'espagne, and khusidl with an eye to deepening our understanding of these dances in a way that goes beyond the choreography itself. Appropriate for dancers and literary enthusiasts of all levels. Sonia Gollance is a Lecturer in Yiddish at the University College, London and a accomplished Yiddish dance leader.

AM1 (Sun) Pepi Littman, Yiddish Drag King (Seigel)
Meet Pepi Littman, a historical Yiddish drag king popular for her charismatic and saucy performances, and recently (re)claimed as a queer icon. Learn about Pepi's life and work within the context of drag roles and gender on the Yiddish stage. Presented by Yiddish theater scholar/actor Miryem-Khaye Seigel of the NY Public Library's Dorot Jewish Division. 

AM1 (Sun) Palestinian Yiddish: The Story of Yiddish in the Land of Israel Under Ottoman and British Rule  (Portnoy)
Yiddish has been a feature of Jewish life in the Land of Israel for much longer than people think. From at least the 16th century under the Ottomans to 20th century British Rule, the Ashkenazi community in Palestine maintained their mother tongue amid a Babel of Jewish languages and under the dominance of Arabic, elements of which were eagerly absorbed by the region's Yiddish speakers. With the advent of increased immigration from Eastern Europe beginning in the 1880s the number of Palestine's Yiddish speaking community grew dramatically, but instead of the creation of a large-scale Yiddish press and theater, as had occurred in other locales of Jewish immigration, the Zionist movement opposed the existence of Yiddish in the public sphere and actively persecuted it. In spite of that a small group of dedicated Yiddishists continued to publish Yiddish literary and political material, which survives today as a witness to the way in which one group of Jews persecuted another for the sin of speaking Yiddish. Presented by renowned scholar/author Eddy Portnoy of the YIVO Institute. 

AM1 (Mon) Live Davenings: Jewish Sacred Music Underground (Lockwood)
It has been said the ability to talk to ghosts is directly proportional to the amount of historical material that has been electronically archived. The "live davening" archive, of bootleg recordings of cantorial prayer leading, has begun to go public via file sharing sites and streaming video, providing access to the long-form improvisatory style of prayer leading in the khazones tradition, light-years removed from the stylized excerpts heard on old gramophone records. In this class led by muscian/cantorial scholar Jeremiah Lockwood, we will listen to excerpts of live davening recordings, learn about the practices of underground ethnographers and collectors, and discuss the reverberations of this ethereal material in present day Jewish musical and spiritual communities.

AM1 (Mon) Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire - Walk & Talk (Borts)
Join labor activist/actor Joanne Borts for a discussion about the infamous 1911 Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire and then a short field trip to the location of the newly dedicated memorial, just down the block from YNY. We’ll discuss the history of the Fire, the creation of the Memorial Ribbon, and its continued impact on the Labor movement.

AM1 (Tues) Yankev Glatsteyn in 1938: “Good Night, World” (Frieden)
After the Nazis took over Vienna in 1938, poet Yankev Glatsteyn (Jacob Glatstein) wrote his best, angriest poem. How an aesthete gets angry. This talk will feature dramatic reading of the poem in Yiddish and English. Ken Frieden is the B.G. Rudolph Professor of Judaic Studies at Syracuse University. 

AM1 (Tues) From A Beautiful Root: Yiddish Songs as Progressive Liturgy (Weston)
This lecture-performance explores the uses of Yiddish song as a form of ritual in contemporary progressive Jewish prayer spaces. We will investigate how the convergence of Yiddish and liturgical material marks out new resonances and meanings in both forms of Jewish traditional texts. We will also learn about some historic Yiddish women’s ritual and their potential for contemporary usage in progressive synagogues. Hazzan Rachel Weston is Cantor of the Sinai Synagogue in Leeds, England. 

AM1 (Wed) Exodus-2022: The Voices of Jewish Ukrainian Refugees (Gyendina)
Currently there are more Jewish refugees in the world than there have been since 1940-s. Most of these refugees have been displaced by the Russian invasion of Ukraine. In Ukraine, the majority of the Jewish population lived in the East and South, which were most impacted by the war. Exodus-2022 has collected hundreds of testimonies, with about a third coming from Mariupol, Kharkiv, Bucha, Irpin, Chernihiv. The testimonies are heart wrenching in their raw descriptions of trauma, injuries, and survival. For a small group of refugees this is the second evacuation of their lifetime: they had to flee the Nazis during WWII and then had to flee the Russians 80 years later. This presentation will discuss the experience of Jewish refugees from Ukraine, as documented by the Exodus-2022 project. The presentation will highlight the shared experience through quotes and clips from testimonies so the attendees can hear the voices of the refugees. While most of the presentation will be focused on conveying the refugee experience, we will also touch on the translation process and next steps of the project. 

AM1 (Wed) Jewish Humor in Adversity: Tevye, the Marx Brothers, and Marc Maron (Frieden)
Don’t get mad, get even—by laughing at your enemies. With video clips. Frieden is the B.G. Rudolph Professor of Judaic Studies at Syracuse University.   

AM1 (Thurs)  Who owns Jewish memory in a small town in Poland? (Schear)
While researching a book on my family history this past summer, I visited my great-grandfather’s hometown, Nowy Zmigrod, located in southeast Poland. Unexpectedly, I became embroiled in a conflict among local Christians who are battling over who is best suited to memorialize the town’s Jews who were murdered during the Holocaust. In this talk, illustrated with slides, I will share what I learned there about my family’s history and the contemporary struggle over who owns the memory of the murdered Jews of Nowy Zmigrod. 

AM1 (Thurs) Yiddish on the Edge: Another Look at Bessarabia in Jewish Culture (Schulman) Lecture In Yiddish
In contemporary Yiddish culture, the region of Bessarabia (roughly present-day Moldova) plays an outsized role. It is the wellspring of much of our instrumental and song repertoire and the birthplace and home of many of today's favorite writers, teachers, composers, mentors, and more. And yet, for much of its history, the region was most often thought of as a backwater, a peripheral borderland at the edge of the Yiddish imaginary. In this talk, we'll reexamine the history of this area, exploring how Jewish culture has survived and transformed in the region and become a central source of inspiration in today's Yiddish culture community. Sebastian Shulman is a Yiddish scholar and the Director of Special Projects and Partnerships at the Yiddish Book Center and former Executive Director of KlezKanada. This lecture will be given in Yiddish.

AM1, AM2 (Thurs) YNY Symposium: The Yiddish Song on the Move (Slobin, Alpert, Kahn, Hetko, Frey, Waletzky)
The 2023 YNY Symposium brings together older and younger singers and songwriters who have been carrying the Yiddish Song into its currently flourishing moment. Along with short performances, they’ll present their thoughts and stimulate a wide-ranging discussion.

AM2 (Sun, Mon, Tue, Wed) Jewish Papercutting Class (Ugoretz)
Students will explore the rich historical traditions of Jewish cut paper - a folk art that has been practiced for hundreds of years. Emphasis will be placed on the history, symbols, inscriptions, motivation and uses of paper cuts among the Jewish communities of Eastern Europe. This is a hands-on course with instructions given on how to design, transfer it to paper, how to cut and how to create a finished piece. Templates will be available to use, so no need to know how to draw. Advanced students are also welcome. Deborah Ugoretz is an acclaimed visual artist and the co-curator of YNY's Visual Arts Exhibition. This course will be on-site only.

AM2 (Sun, Mon, Tues) Everyday Magic in Eastern European Jewish Life (Kafrissen)
In this class, we will turn our attention to what sociologists have called the “Little Tradition” – the parts of Jewish life which tended to be locally rooted, vernacular, orally transmitted, and open to the participation and leadership of women. We will discuss day to day Little Tradition phenomena such as the Evil Eye and (op)shprekher(in)s, practitioners who specialized in the diagnosis and removal of the Evil Eye (as well as demons and other kinds of metaphysical illnesses.) Other topics include the many kinds of verbal/spoken magic, and the Jewish cemetery as a powerful source of magic and site of women’s ritual leadership.

AM2 (Sun) Researching Traditional Yiddish Song in New York (Freeman)
Vocalist and Researcher Carol Freeman will speak about and share recordings of some of the extraordinary non-professional immigrant singers of traditional Yiddish song whom she met and recorded in New York City in the 1970's through the 1990's. These artists, singing with magnificent Old World Yiddish vocal styling, regarded their songs as their personal treasures, and carried their repertoires with great pride. Ms. Freeman will also discuss how and where she met these folk artists, and will talk about how their songs and the art of singing itself played an important role in helping them shape redefined identities and connect the old world to the new.

AM2 (Sun) Gulyás, Gulasz, Goulash (and Shlishkes) (Jochnowitz) Workshop in Yiddish
In 1900 Der mentsh un zayn arbet described Goulash as a dish eaten with one’s bare hands. The sweatshop poet Morris Rosenfeld held that a sound society was based on “the philosophy of Goulash” Hinde Amkhanitzki made Goulash kosher and Fania Lewando made it vegetarian. This workshop, conducted in Yiddish, will explore the many mysteries of this dish, which captured the imagination of the whole Yiddish-speaking world, accommodating special diets while adhering to impeccable authenticity.

AM2 (Mon) Let's Get Messy: Documenting Cultural Heritage (Crowder, Rothman, Byom)
Let's get messy! Humans and the cultural traditions surrounding community and art are deeply complex and wonderfully messy! The Jewish community has a long tradition of preserving cultural memory through text, image, recordings and material culture, and an implacable drive to archive and assemble. Cutting-edge technology is making it possible to dig even deeper into the “DNA” of culture, both through large-scale studies, and via intimate dives into the intricacy of language and pattern. By embracing messiness—unknown dates, multiple names, conflicting data, multiplicity— the Klezmer Archive team is blazing new ground by developing ways to document oral transmission through teachers, mentors, and families, and creating  frameworks to record the complexity of klezmer genre and social functions without collapsing into rigid categories. You don't have to be a tech wizard or a musician to enjoy this talk—anyone interested in documenting folklore, cultural tradition, rituals, language, music, and more are welcome! Christina Crowder, Max Rothman and Clara Byom are musicians and driving forces behind the Klezmer Institute.

AM2 (Tues) Klezmer Music Between East and West: The Ottoman Turkish and Greek Components within the Core Klezmer Repertoire (Feldman)
After the middle of the 17th century, Moldo-Wallachia (most of which later emerged as the country Romania) became a social interface of East and West,  including Romanian-speakers, Muslim Turks and Tatars, Christian Greeks, Sephardi and Ashkenazi Jews. This social process intensified after 1711, when the Ottomans appointed Greek governors from Istanbul to Moldo-Wallachia, who then facilitated the emigration of both Sephardi and Ashkenazic Jewish merchants and craftsmen. The Ashkenazic klezmorim were highly active in combining several musical elements into a unique repertoire that affected Jewish communities far to the North, in Ukraine and Poland.  Many factors linked Jewish klezmer,  Roma lautari, Greek and Turkish musicians, Jewish wine-traders, Jewish and Muslim mystics, and many others, in creating a dynamic musical culture whose effects were felt over centuries from Iaşi to Prague and later to New York. The Ottoman-related klezmer musical materials that either survive today or were documented through earlier notation reflect two broad social strata; a higher stratum coming from the official and military music of the Ottoman mehterhane, and a lower stratum coming from the popular urban çalgı music and the dancing of the butchers’ guild (kasap) of Istanbul. Due to the antiquity of these musical contacts, the surviving klezmer repertoire shows these Turkish and Greek elements only thoroughly integrated within the core klezmer repertoire, such as in the dances khosidl or sher. Walter Zev Feldman is a pioneering ethnomusicologist and musician who has helped instigate the revitalization of klezmer since the 1970s. 

AM2 (Wed) The Moldavian “Transitional” Klezmer Repertoire (Feldman)
As the Ottoman Empire gradually withdrew from the Danubian Principalities (Wallachia and Moldova) during the mid-19th century, a new “national” dance music was created by Gypsy/Roma, Jewish, Austrian, Greek and other musicians in the Moldavian cities. This process resulted in a mixed Ashkenazic klezmer and Roma/Gypsy instrumental repertoire with two distinct branches—Judaized Moldavian dance genres for the Jews, and Moldavianzed Jewish genres for the Moldavian Christians. By the last third of the century this new repertoire also took hold among Jewish communities in Ukraine and Galicia. Only the Romanian language contributed so many genre names for Jewish dances, such as bulgar ( bulgareasca), hora, sirba, honga (hangu) and zhok ( joc). Part of the popularity of this new repertoire lay in its partial continuity with an earlier Greco-Turkish element within klezmer music. This entire group of dance genres were barely acknowledged and never analyzed by the initial Russian and Soviet researchers, such as Engel, Kiselgoff, Beregovski and Magid. Hence in 1994 I had coined the term “transitional” klezmer repertoire to describe it.  The “transitional” and some of the “core” klezmer repertoires were transported massively with the contemporaneous Jewish emigration to America. While the leading immigrant klezmorim—such as Dave Tarras (1897-1989)—were well aware of these distinctions of repertoire, they were quickly forgotten by the native-born generations of musicians. At the same time the retention of earlier Greco-Turkish elements allowed for new interactions with immigrant Greek musicians in America, which have barely been researched. Walter Zev Feldman is a pioneering ethnomusicologist and musician who has helped instigate the revitalization of klezmer since the 1970s. 

AM2 (Wed) The Dybbuk Century: 100 Years of the Jewish Play that Possessed the World (Caplan)
A little over 100 years ago, the first production of An-sky’s The Dybbuk, a play about the possession of a young woman by a dislocated spirit, opened in Warsaw. In the century that followed, The Dybbuk became a theatrical conduit for a wide range of discourses about Jews, belonging, and modernity. This timeless Yiddish play about spiritual possession beyond the grave would go on to exert a remarkable and unforgettable impact on modern theater, film, literature, music, and culture. This talk, based on Caplan’s recently published co-edited volume The Dybbuk Century, will consider this remarkable history and the enduring influence of The Dybbuk today. Debra Caplan is an Associate Professor of Theater at Baruch College. 

AM2 (Thurs) How do you do Yiddish?: Learning to love Postvernacularity (Moore)
What does it mean when we refer to "postvernacular" in the context of Yiddish culture? Coined by Jeffrey Shandler, the term postvernacular gets thrown around often in the Yiddish cultural scene - some love the idea and some loath it. Is postvernacularity friend or foe? How might we apply it beyond language use to think with care about the ways we participate in the Yiddish scene today? In this participatory discussion, we will take time to understand the term together and consider the postvernacular in relationship to the ways we create art, organize festivals, and think about culture. Avia Moore is an acclaimed Yiddish dancer, scholar of Performance Studies and the Artistic Director of KlezKanada. 

AM2 (Thurs) Parents and Children in Yiddish Literature (Zucker)
Join acclaimed author & Yiddish scholar Sheva Zucker in a class on this fascinating topic using the voices and texts of her unique book and recording The Golden Peacock: The Voice of the Yiddish Writer BILINGUAL as a basis for discussion. Yiddish literature is rich in works dealing with parents and children, whether it be the close bond between them, intergenerational conflict, or the changing relationship between them as the traditional way of life gives way to modernity. In this program we will hear Yiddish writers read from their own works on this theme, among them: Yankev Glatshteyn: “Fun kinder-tsimer” (From the Nursery), Itzik Manger: “Avrom Ovinu fort mit Yitskhokn tsu der akeyde” (Abraham Takes Itzik to the Sacrifice), Celia Dropkin: “Viglid” (Lullaby), Kadye Molodowsky: “Olke mit der bloyer parasolke” (Olke) and Yekhiel Shraibman: “Mayn tate” (My Father). The presentation will be in Yiddish with texts presented in Yiddish and English. 

AM2 (Thurs) Memories of the Yiddish Kitchen (Kirshenblatt-Gimblett)
"Memories of the Yiddish Kitchen” invites you to join our workshop at YNY and contribute to the 4th edition of our collaborative YNY cookbook. The celebrated folklorist Barbara Kirshenblatt-Gimblett (NYU, POLIN Museum-Warsaw) will get the conversation going with food memories of her own, among them her grandfather’s favorite dish (beef testicles grilled on a hot shovel), her grandmother’s favorite dish (sautéed lung, spleen, and beef cheeks), her mother’s favorite (ptsha: calf’s foot jelly), a family favorite (pickled tongue), her aunt’s speciality (stuffed spleen), her mother’s beloved blote (sour cream and chopped radish, cucumber, scallions, and dill) and shtshav (cold sour sorrel soup), her maternal grandfather’s Passover raisin wine, and our family’s beloved for soup nuts (mandln), eyerlekh, helzl, and potato-nik. These are among the largely forgotten foods of the Yiddish kitchen, to say nothing of the ganef-kneydl (thief’s dumpling) in tsholnt. Other foods continue to be debated with greater or lesser fervor: gefilte fish, latkes, matzoh balls, kugel, bagels, and more. Still others, beloved and remembered, either still grace the table or we wish they did, but have forgotten how to make them from scratch or at all: farfl, kreplekh, rosl, and flodn.

Bring your memories, bring your recipes, and bring your requests!
Please send whatever you can in advance to ynyncoordinator@gmail.com by December 15.
- Use letter size paper, vertical
- Send scans, saved as jpgs, of photos and drawings, recipes (handwritten or typed, your own and any that were handed down to you)
- Send typed texts in Word, not PDFs
Barbara will share her mother’s (vegan) split pea barley soup, tips for making the best old-school potato latkes, the secret to perfect kasha, and more.

This presentation will originate remotely and individuals at HUC are asked to attend on personal devices.

PM1 (Sun) A 21st Century Trip through Lithuania and Poland to Connect with 1000 Years of Yiddishkayt (Toback)
Travel with Workers Circle CEO Ann Toback through 1,000 years of Jewish life, culture, and history as she shares pictures and stories from the Workers Circle’s recent Jewish Journey to Poland and Lithuania. This meaningful and thought-provoking Workers Circle trip included stops in Vilnius, Warsaw, and Krakow.

PM1 (Sun) Yiddish Anti-fascism in Mexico (Gleason, Friedburg)
During the 1930's and the 1940's Mexico City became an important center of antifascist activity as the country received thousands of Spanish refugees and many other antifascists. Although Mexico's immigration policies discriminated against Jews, some Yiddish-speaking antifascists made their way to Mexico where they collaborated with Mexican and other immigrant antifascists. Well-known is the story of Trotsky's exile in Mexico but less known is the story of how Yiddish activists living in Mexico advocated for him or how a high profile "German" antifascist figure as Leo Katz was also active in the Yiddish street in Mexico.  In this talk, we will explore antifascist activity in Mexico by looking at the Yiddish Press and political events. We will mainly focus on the literary production of four Yiddish-speaking famous antifascists (Jack Eibrams, Leo Katz, Yankev Glantz and Malka Rabel). These Yiddish antifascist authors came from different political denominations and wrote profusely in Yiddish. 

PM1 (Mon) The Hudson at Night: N.B. Minkoff’s Life and Works (Allardice)
This talk will present a cross-section of under-appreciated Inzikhist N. B. Minkoff’s poetry and an overview of his career. All poems will be accompanied with shpogl-naye English translation by the speaker.

PM1 (Mon, Tues) A Working-Class Woman’s Guide to Revolution: Communist Jewish Women’s Activism in the Great Depression (Young)
In the late 1920s, the US experienced a surge in women’s activism, organized and undertaken by housewives. As the Great Depression deepened, working-class women fought against rising prices, evictions, and unemployment by organizing hunger marches, unemployment councils, and tenant organizations. In working-class immigrant neighborhoods like Brownsville, Williamsburg, and the Lower East Side, Jewish women founded the United Council of Working Class Women, which spearheaded a nationwide meat boycott, championed birth control and women’s rights, and fought fiercely to keep families housed through a series of militant actions and mutual aid networks. In a series of two lectures, Jennifer will explore the ways working class Jewish housewives like the United Council’s Clara Lemlich Shavelson and Rose Nelson upended the notion that a woman’s place was in the home, and instead, argued for a model of women-centered coalition building that would endure far beyond the 1930s.

PM1 (Tues) The Gospel According to Chaim—According to Mikhl (Yashinsky)
This December and January at the Theatre for the New City, a brand-new Yiddish drama will be performed, when the New Yiddish Rep presents Yashinsky's Di psure loyt khaim (The Gospel According to Chaim), set during Christmas and Chanukah. The play tells the true story of an author who, some decades ago, walked into a Yiddish printing shop in Baltimore with a manuscript that threatened to turn the world upside down. The playwright, who is also performing the title role in the drama, will share interesting details of this singular 20th-century writer and take us behind the scenes of this singular event, the 21st-century world-première production of an entirely original Yiddish play. Tickets for the performance run of Di psure loyt khaim (The Gospel According to Chaim), in Yiddish with English supertitles, can be purchased at www.newyiddishrep.org.

PM1 (Wed) We Sing!: The Words and Music of “Radical Humorist” Sam Liptzin (Levine)
Self-proclaimed “Radical Humorist” Sam Liptzin, over the course of his decades long career, produced over thirty volumes of short stories, poetry, and songs. Throughout this prolific oeuvre, Liptzin maintained an unwavering commitment to writing for and about Yiddish speaking workers in the United States, maintaining a close alignment with left-wing cultural life in America. In this presentation, musicologist and translator Zeke Levine introduces audiences to key features of Liptzin’s work, while positioning him within Yiddish and English language cultural movements in the United States. In particular, Levine investigates Liptzin’s characterization as a “folk writer,” describing the significance of this description within Yiddish-American literature and music.

PM1 (Wed) Anti-racist Themes in American Leftist Yiddish Children’s Literature(Krakovsky)
Racism and white supremacy were frequent themes of the socialist- and communist-affiliated American Yiddish authors of the early 20th century — no less so in the didactic works they produced for students in the secular Yiddish shule system. Drawing from examples by authors such as Chaver Paver and Yankev Krepliak, this talk explores the emphasis placed by these texts on locating racism within the Ashkenazi Jewish community, and considers the urgent lessons these nearly century-old stories have for us today.

PM2 (Sun-Wed) Film Q&A (Waletzky, etc.)
Join YNY Film Festival Curator Josh Waletzky and guest discussants for Q&A sessions about this year's featured films!

(Sun) A BAS-VILNE: DOS LIDERBUKH FUN MASHE ROSKES - Daughter of Vilna: The Life in Song of Masha Roskies (1999) with David Roskies, Producer & Co-star; Barbara Kirshenblatt-Gimblett*, folklorist; Josh Waletzky, Editor, Restoration Director

(Mon) FISHKE DER KRUMER - The Light Ahead (1939) with Eve Sicular, film historian; Josh Waletzky, filmmaker

(Tue) ITZHAK PERLMAN - IN THE FIDDLER'S HOUSE (1995) with Sara Lukinson, Co-Producer & Writer; Michael Alpert, Musical Director; Josh Waletzky, Editor

(Wed) MAYNE KHSIDISHE BRIDER… / My Hassidic Brethren… (2023) with Sruli Dresdner*, Co-translator; Izzy Posen*, Director&Co-translator; Josh Waletzky
NOTE: the * indicates a speaker who'll be zooming in

PM2 (Sun) Literarishe shafungen un dos lebn funem fargesnem yidishn shrayber Shloyme Gilbert (1885–1942) (Rozenfeld) Lecture In Yiddish
Mayn lektsye iz gevidmet dem yidishn shrayber, poet un dramaturg : Itshok Shloyme Gilbert (1885–1942) un zayne literarishe shafungen. Er iz geboyrn gevorn in Radzimin, a shtetl lebn Varshe, er hot dort gelernt in kheyder un in dem radziminer reboyns beys midresh. Di yorn vos Gilbert hot farbrakht in Radzimin hobn ibergelozn tife shpurn in zayn neshome un baaynflust zayne literarishe shafungen. Er hot laydnshaftlekh lib gehat poshete mentshn. A shtarke hashpoe oyf im hot gehat oykh di yidishe mistik un kabole. In yor 1907 hot er debyutirt in der yidisher literatur mit kurtse dertseylungen un zint dan farefentlekht in farsheydene varshever tsaytungen un shpeter oykh in nay-yorker Tsukunft un Forverts. Mir veln zikh bakenen mit zayne ershte literarishe skitsn vos zaynen geshribn in a lirish-poetishn ton, vi lider in proze, zeyer plastish, ful mit sureale, oftmol dershrekndike bilder.  // My lecture will focus on Yiddish writer, poet and playwright Itshok Shloyme Gilbert (1885-1942) and his literary works. Born and raised in Radzymin near Warsaw and educated in a traditional Jewish environment, his early life had a profound impact on his work. Gilbert's writings celebrate the lives of ordinary people and are steeped in Jewish mysticism and Kabbalah. He made his debut in Yiddish literature in 1907 and has since published short stories in various Warsaw newspapers and later in New York's Tsukunft and Forverts. We will get a taste of his first literary sketches, characterized by their lyrical and poetic prose, which paint vivid, often surreal and haunting pictures.

PM2 (Sun) “Bovo” and Beyond - Yiddish’s Surprising Italian Roots (Gosfield)
Five hundred years before Jews and Italians rubbed shoulders on the Lower East Side, Northern Italy was home to a flourishing German-Jewish minority, which saw many authors, including Elye Bokher, among its members. Thanks to them, Venice and its surroundings became an important center of Hebrew and Yiddish manuscript production and publishing, producing a unique brand of “Yiddishkeit” where German-Jewish and Italian culture mixed freely – which played a crucial, if underappreciated, role in the genesis of Yiddish literature. In this lecture, we’ll look at this unique, hybrid sub-culture, and the literature, music and visual art it produced. Avery Gosfield is a musician and musicologist specializing in Jewish music of the Renaissance. 

PM2 (Mon) “In a litvish derfl” / “A yidish kind”:  Holocaust Poetry and Yiddish Songs by Khane Kheytin-Weinstein  (Rozenfeld)
This presentation will focus on discussing a poem that became a song with music by the famous Polish-Jewish composer Henekh Kon, and was written in 1943 in the Shavl ghetto by Yiddish poet Khane Kheytin-Weinstein (1925-2004). The tragic aspect of motherhood, the border situations in which mothers had to make very difficult, even extreme decisions to save the lives of their children is the subject of this piece. The poem/song In a litvish derfl (In a Lithuanian Village), also known as A Yidish Kind (Jewish child) or Dos farvoglte kind (The Homeless Child) was sung in many ghettos and camps and spread further in oral tradition – hence its various versions. I will present archival recordings, and also discuss on the presence and functioning of the song in the post-war years up to the present day.

PM2 (Mon) Yiddish Poetry Today (Berger) Lecture In Yiddish
Yiddish Poetry in 2023: Yiddish poetry exists on the margins, and at the intersections, of multiple worlds: Chasidic, religious, and secular; nationalist and anarchist; queer and disabled. Given this diversity, can anything be said about Yiddish poetry as a whole today, or is it a mirror shattered on a stone whose fragments we are trying to grasp? As the Jewish world continues to fracture and refract in bewildering complexity and violent dispute, Zackary Sholem Berger considers how Yiddish poetry makes itself felt in music, text and translation, insinuating itself into the life of the reader, creator and listener. Lecture presented in Yiddish.

PM2 (Tues) Moi Ver - A Yiddish/Jewish Photographer (Chiritescu)
Moi Ver (born Moyshe Vorobeytshik) was a 20th century Jewish photographer hailing from the Vilna environs who spent parts of his life in Paris and then Israel/Palestine. His artistic work spans ethnographic photography of Jewish Eastern Europe, modernist city photography, political posters, and painting, among others. This lecture will give an overview over his work and discuss the category of “Yiddish/Jewish photography”. 

PM2 (Tues) Can Jews Do That? (Jocnowitz) Leynkrayz In Yiddish
There was more to the Yiddish world than kheyder and shnayderay. This leynkrayz, conducted entirely in Yiddish, will read excerpts from the literature and memoirs of a Jewish paratrooper, a Jewish cowgirl and others.  Texts and vocabulary provided by the instructor.

PM2 (Wed) Words without Melody: Translating the Mlotek Song Corpus (Forman)
In the treasure trove of Yiddish songs collected by Yosl and Chana Mlotek, recently shared on the web at "yiddishsongs.org", many are accompanied by new English translations. Our goals were somewhat unusual. We did not want poetic, singable English versions of the Yiddish songs. Rather, the website aims to enable people to sing in Yiddish, with a clear understanding of what the words mean. We therefore wanted literal, line-by-line renderings, insofar as that is ever possible in translation. On the other hand, verse in general and song lyrics in particular tend to privilege the tone and emotional effects of words over their literal meanings, and syntax often does not follow line breaks. All this made for some interesting challenges. Pedagogy took pride of place, but in the end, poetry was also given a voice. The translator will discuss several examples, with no prior knowledge of Yiddish presupposed.

PM2 (Wed) Profanity in Contemporary Hasidic Yiddish (Padgett) Lecture In Yiddish
A tentative overview of the state of Hasidic Yiddish profanity today, with examples to take home.

PM2 (Wed) The Times They Were a-Changin’: Jewish Protest Singers of the 1960s (Rogovoy)
While they may have left the Yiddish language behind, Jewish singers and songwriters perpetuated the longstanding Jewish tradition of songs of social justice in the countercultural ferment of the 1960s. Musicians ranging from Bob Dylan to Phil Ochs to Janis Ian to Country Joe and the Fish wrote and sang songs that became anthems of the civil rights, antiwar, and women’s movements, among other expressions of political protest. In this multimedia talk, Seth Rogovoy—the author of “Bob Dylan: Prophet Mystic Poet” and a contributing editor at The Forward—will explore how these Jewish artists addressed many of the same issues their Yiddish forebears tackled just a few decades earlier and how Jewish values seem to have informed their work. Note: This talk will not be available via recording after YNY.

Faculty: Nikolay "Kolya" Borodulin, David Braun, Miriam Isaacs, Asya Vaisman Schulman, Binyumen Schaechter

YNY’s Yiddish Language Programs are supported by the Worker’s Circle/Arbeter Ring.

AM1 (Sun, Mon, Tue, Wed) Beginning Yiddish (Vaisman Schulman)
Throughout this Yiddish crash course for beginners, you will leave class every day able to have a new short conversation with your classmates entirely in Yiddish. Learn how to introduce yourself, talk about what you do each day of the week, count various items, and sing some simple Yiddish songs with Asya Vaisman Schulman of the Yiddish Book Center. Asya will be teaching a brand new curriculum from her newly-published textbook In eynem. This engaging and dynamic four-class workshop aims to make Yiddish accessible for students of all ages. No prior Yiddish knowledge necessary-- even complete beginners will be able to follow! The class will also introduce students to reading and writing in the alef-beys. Yiddish language classes will be hybrid with participants on-site and online. Online attendees should anticipate a slightly less participatory experience in full class situations and to participate fully in breakout rooms. YNY tech volunteers will help to navigate these shared spaces and facilitate breakout rooms. We appreciate your patience as we learn together!

AM1 (Thurs) Yiddish on the Edge: Another Look at Bessarabia in Jewish Culture (Schulman) Lecture In Yiddish
In contemporary Yiddish culture, the region of Bessarabia (roughly present-day Moldova) plays an outsized role. It is the wellspring of much of our instrumental and song repertoire and the birthplace and home of many of today's favorite writers, teachers, composers, mentors, and more. And yet, for much of its history, the region was most often thought of as a backwater, a peripheral borderland at the edge of the Yiddish imaginary. In this talk, we'll reexamine the history of this area, exploring how Jewish culture has survived and transformed in the region and become a central source of inspiration in today's Yiddish culture community. This lecture will be given in Yiddish.

AM2 (Sun, Mon, Tue, Wed) Intermediate Yiddish (Borodulin)
AM2 (Sun, Mon, Tue, Wed) Intermediate Yiddish (Borodulin)
Intermediate Yiddish is taught by renowned Yiddish teacher Kolya Borodulin, of the Worker’s Circle, recipient of the 2019 Adrienne Cooper Dreaming in Yiddish Award. Zingendik! Learn about legendary Yiddish song composers, their contribution to Yiddish song, and meet contemporary Yiddish singers/composers: Daniel Kahn, Eleanor Reissa, Zalmen Mlotek & Theresa Tova. Unique multimedia materials will be shared during this course, which will be conducted almost entirely in Yiddish, but you’ll understand all!

AM2 (Thurs) Parents and Children in Yiddish Literature (Zucker)
Join Sheva Zucker in a class on this fascinating topic using the voices and texts of her unique book and recording The Golden Peacock: The Voice of the Yiddish Writer BILINGUAL as a basis for discussion. Yiddish literature is rich in works dealing with parents and children, whether it be the close bond between them, intergenerational conflict, or the changing relationship between them as the traditional way of life gives way to modernity. In this program we will hear Yiddish writers read from their own works on this theme, among them: Yankev Glatshteyn: “Fun kinder-tsimer” (From the Nursery), Itzik Manger: “Avrom Ovinu fort mit Yitskhokn tsu der akeyde” (Abraham Takes Itzik to the Sacrifice), Celia Dropkin: “Viglid” (Lullaby), Kadye Molodowsky: “Olke mit der bloyer parasolke” (Olke) and Yekhiel Shraibman: “Mayn tate” (My Father).
The presentation will be in Yiddish with texts presented in Yiddish and English. 

PM1 (Sun, Mon, Tue, Wed) Advanced Yiddish (Isaacs)
Enrich your Yiddish skills through the rich juicy language of the Yiddish troubadour, Itzik Manger. (1901–1969).  Manger's verse is rich, his life and times vivid, from his native Romania to New York and Israel. His work makes the Yiddish world come alive. His poetry has been set to music, poems have been turned into theater, he even brought the world of the Jewish bible to life in shtetl form.  Medresh Itizik, Tales of Paradise, and his Megille meld religious sources with modernity, bridging and blending the Jewish world across centuries and continents. Conducted entirely in Yiddish - reading & conversation.

PM2 (Sun) Literarishe shafungen un dos lebn funem fargesnem yidishn shrayber Shloyme Gilbert (1885–1942) (Rozenfeld) Lecture In Yiddish
Mayn lektsye iz gevidmet dem yidishn shrayber, poet un dramaturg : Itshok Shloyme Gilbert (1885–1942) un zayne literarishe shafungen. Er iz geboyrn gevorn in Radzimin, a shtetl lebn Varshe, er hot dort gelernt in kheyder un in dem radziminer reboyns beys midresh. Di yorn vos Gilbert hot farbrakht in Radzimin hobn ibergelozn tife shpurn in zayn neshome un baaynflust zayne literarishe shafungen. Er hot laydnshaftlekh lib gehat poshete mentshn. A shtarke hashpoe oyf im hot gehat oykh di yidishe mistik un kabole. In yor 1907 hot er debyutirt in der yidisher literatur mit kurtse dertseylungen un zint dan farefentlekht in farsheydene varshever tsaytungen un shpeter oykh in nay-yorker Tsukunft un Forverts. Mir veln zikh bakenen mit zayne ershte literarishe skitsn vos zaynen geshribn in a lirish-poetishn ton, vi lider in proze, zeyer plastish, ful mit sureale, oftmol dershrekndike bilder.  // My lecture will focus on Yiddish writer, poet and playwright Itshok Shloyme Gilbert (1885-1942) and his literary works. Born and raised in Radzymin near Warsaw and educated in a traditional Jewish environment, his early life had a profound impact on his work. Gilbert's writings celebrate the lives of ordinary people and are steeped in Jewish mysticism and Kabbalah. He made his debut in Yiddish literature in 1907 and has since published short stories in various Warsaw newspapers and later in New York's Tsukunft and Forverts. We will get a taste of his first literary sketches, characterized by their lyrical and poetic prose, which paint vivid, often surreal and haunting pictures.

PM2 (Mon) Yiddish Poetry Today (Berger) Lecture In Yiddish
Yiddish Poetry in 2023: Yiddish poetry exists on the margins, and at the intersections, of multiple worlds: Chasidic, religious, and secular; nationalist and anarchist; queer and disabled. Given this diversity, can anything be said about Yiddish poetry as a whole today, or is it a mirror shattered on a stone whose fragments we are trying to grasp? As the Jewish world continues to fracture and refract in bewildering complexity and violent dispute, Zackary Sholem Berger considers how Yiddish poetry makes itself felt in music, text and translation, insinuating itself into the life of the reader, creator and listener. Lecture presented in Yiddish.

PM2 (Tues) Can Jews Do That? (Jocnowitz) Leynkrayz In Yiddish
There was more to the Yiddish world than kheyder and shnayderay. This leynkrayz, conducted entirely in Yiddish, will read excerpts from the literature and memoirs of a Jewish paratrooper, a Jewish cowgirl and others.  Texts and vocabulary provided by the instructor.

Faculty: Aaron Alexander, Zoe Aqua, Kaia Berman-Peters, Dan Blacksberg, Lauren Brody, Christina Crowder, Adrianne Greenbaum, Lisa Gutkin, Jordan Hirsch, Craig Judelman, Daniel Kahn, Marilyn Lerner, Margot Leverett, David Licht, Frank London, Pete Rushefsky, Ilya Shneyveys (co-curator), Jake Shulman-Ment, Deborah Strauss (co-curator), Jeff Warschauer, Michael Winograd

The following classes are being offered ON-SITE ONLY at Hebrew Union College. Please select the next drop down option to see the online instrumental program offerings.

All Day (Every Day) Jam with Pete (Rushefsky)
There's nothing Pete loves more than making music with you all! Meet Pete by the registration table at any point throughout the day for a jam session. He'll probably take a break for lunch...and the concerts...but, come right back afterwards for more tunes!

AM1 (Sun, Mon, Tue, Wed) Shpilt Tsuzamen! Play Together! Plenary Session (Strauss, Shneyveys, Brody, Aqua, Blacksberg)
Starting the day off right—all together for one big klezmer session! We'll learn together, play together, move together, and more! All instrumentalists are welcome.

AM2 (Sun, Mon, Tue) Heart of the Band - Rhythm Section (Shneyveys, Alexander)
Sure, you might not play the fidl or the clarinet, but you're the heart of a klezmer band! Rhythm section players unite in this three day workshop with teachers extraordinaire—Ilya Shneyveys and Aaron Alexander.

AM2 (Sun, Mon, Tue) Fidlmeisters (Shulman-Ment)
Get into the weeds of klezmer fiddling with renowned fiddler, Jake Shulman-Ment!

AM2 (Sun, Mon, Tue) Blowing in the Breeze - Wind Players (Greenbaum, Leverett, Winograd)

(Sun w/ Leverett) Wherever you are in your klezmer journey, this class is a chance to move to the next level. We will look at ornamentation, doina, klezmer rhythms, and breathing techniques to bring out the best in your playing.
(Mon w/ Winograd) 
(Tue w/ Greenbaum) Adrianne will bring the Windy Class full circle from learning a tune, to a usable variation of the Deconstruct, and then finally a creative Reconstruct - all in 75 minutes! Music will be provided.

AM2 (Sun, Mon, Tue) All That Brass (London)
Learn to play klezmer brass in various contexts from award-winning trumpeter Frank London (joined by special guest Dan Blacksberg).  Style, melodic ornamentation, rhythm & groove will all be addressed.  Our model will be the Tikva Allstars’ 1962 recording of Hasidic dances.

AM2 (Sun, Mon, Tue, Wed) Family Band (Strauss)
Let's make music together! All ages and experience are welcome to join this intergenerational klezmer experience!

AM2 (Wed) Trampled Manuscripts: The Non-Dance Repertoire (Crowder)
A chance encounter in Tokyo a few years ago led to the sharing of a unique corpus of musical manuscripts from the Vernadsky National Library of Ukraine previously unavailable to klezmer musicians and scholars through an international, community-driven digital humanities project called the Kiselgof-Makonovetsky Digital Manuscript Project. Over 1000 tunes have been made accessible to today’s klezmer community and in this workshop we focus on the non-dance repertoire in the collection—the dobriden, tsum tish, nigunim, and more. 

AM2 (Wed) Intro to Balkan Dance Music (Brody)
You may know her from the pioneer revival band Kapelye, but Lauren Brody is also a master of Balkan dance music! This class is an introduction to the genre for instrumentalists of all levels.

AM2 (Wed) Use Your Middle Voice! (Blacksberg)
Trombone players, cellists, bassoonists, bass clarinetists, violists, accordion players, and more are invited to this session, which will take you from feeling stuck in the middle to maneuvering brilliant lines, countermelodies, and fresh accompaniment patterns.

AM2 (Wed) “Old Time” Klezmer: Jewish Party Music From The Old Country (Judelman)
What did the fiddlers play in smaller towns in Ukraine, Poland and Belarus? This session will present a few gritty and gorgeous gems from the plethora of tunes that might feel intuitive to an old time fiddler and are great additions to any repertoire—from jam sessions to dance sets. For people looking to run more inclusive sessions or concert their banjo player friend to freygish, building a repertoire of fun and approachable tunes with less technical challenges, these tunes might be just what you didn’t know you were looking for! All instruments are welcome, the class will be of special interest to those with a background in old time and other folk music.

PM1 (Sun, Mon, Tue, Wed) Accompanying Singers (Lerner, Shneyveys, Kahn, Fox-Rosen, Warschauer, Strauss)
Let's talk about how instrumentalist bandmates can support their singers! There are just short of a million different accompaniment styles—from more traditional sounding to wildly experimental—and in this session a variety of teachers throughout the week will dig into how they make their choices when working with different vocalists!

PM1 (Sun, Mon, Tue, Wed) Fidl Kapelye (Shulman-Ment, Aqua)
Calling all bowed strings (plucked/struck strings are welcome too)! Join fiddlers Zoë Aqua and Jake Shulman-Ment for a deep dive into klezmer fiddle repertoire!

PM1 (Sun, Mon, Tue, Wed) Composing New Klezmer Repertoire (Aqua, Winograd, Blacksberg, Gutkin)
Join experienced klezmer composers and performers for a workshop on composing your own klezmer repertoire. They'll demonstrate their process in creating new tunes that are deeply rooted in tradition and you may have an opportunity to get some feedback on your own pieces!

PM1 (Sun, Mon, Tue, Wed) Big Ensemble (London)
Let’s create a kick-tukhes band in just 4 days.  As always, it’s all about tradition and innovation, as in most recordings by teacher and award-winning trumpeter Frank London. Note: This ensemble will be primarily taught by ear.

PM1 (Sun, Mon, Tue, Wed) Kleztronica Labs (Slate, Berman-Peters)
A dedicated room that contains ready-to-go recording, producing, and DJing equipment to experiment with. Bring whatever instrument (or just yourself) and whatever level of experience! We will have a person available to help you set up, get started, and support your learning. Some highlights include: a microphone connected to a computer with software running various effects chains, a DJ controller with pre-loaded techno and Jewish tracks to mix, and a collection of electronic equipment such as effects pedals, drum machines, and more!

YNY Yiddish Music Classes are supported by the Covenant Foundation.

Faculty: Alan Bern, Abigale Reisman, Jordan Hirsch, Mamaliga

THE FOLLOWING CLASSES ARE ONLY BEING OFFERED ONLINE OVER ZOOM!

AM1 (Sun, Mon, Tue, Wed) Jam with Mamaliga (Mamaliga)
Join one of the East Coast's newest, hottest bands for a jam session! All are welcome!

AM2 (Sun, Mon, Tue, Wed) What To Do With Your Three Time (Bern)
A rose is a rose is a rose, but three is not three is not three. Yiddish music has gorgeous waltzes, mazurkas, dobridens, dobranotshes, waltz nigunim, gas nigunim, zhoks; how do their melodies and phrase structures suggest different kinds of triple meter? The answer is key to letting these tunes truly breathe and sing. Join me in this hands-on workshop for a close study of some very beautiful repertoire. We'll work both by ear and with written music.

PM1 (Sun, Mon, Tue, Wed) Nigunology (Hirsch)
Khasidic nigunim span as wide a variety as any other part of the Yiddish song tradition. In this class we will learn songs for singing, playing, and maybe even marching. We will draw from the music of the Rebbe’s courts, Liturgical and Paraliturgical songs, and of course, a few Freylakhs.

Note: Zilien Biret's class has unfortunately been canceled.

PM2 (Sun, Mon, Tue, Wed) The Art of the Doina (Reisman)
Learn to improvise a traditional doina! In this class we will learn the very exacting rules that a beautiful doina is born from. We will learn music theory about the melody creation and listen and analyze early recordings of doinas. Everyone will get a chance to improvise and/or write a doina. The doina is a wonderful place to express oneself through klezmer music and in this class we will aim to do just that!

YNY Yiddish Music Classes are supported by the Covenant Foundation.

Faculty: Michael Alpert, Jill Gellerman, Sonia Gollance, Avia Moore, Sarah Myerson, Vaisman Schulman

The following classes are ON-SITE ONLY at Hebrew Union College, with the exception of Dancing with Stories in AM1. For more online dancing, please join Steve Weintraub for a dance party Saturday evening! 

AM1 (Sun, Mon, Tue, Wed) Dancing with Stories (Gollance)
For over a decade, Sonia Gollance has been collecting descriptions of Yiddish dance in literature and memoirs. Taking place in Yiddish, German, and English and describing various dances and taboos, such moments are designed to be entertaining and are frequently surprising. What's more, these written accounts shed light on a cultural practice that has been difficult to document, and they also showcase the way writers used the dance floor to reveal emotional relationships between characters. In this week-long workshop, we'll read and discuss some remarkable scenes and use our discussions to reconstruct dances such as the mitsve tants, pas d'espagne, and khusidl with an eye to deepening our understanding of these dances in a way that goes beyond the choreography itself. Appropriate for dancers and literary enthusiasts of all levels.

AM2 (Sun, Mon, Tue, Wed) Advanced Style (Alpert, Moore, Myerson)
Dancing with style and grace is one thing, but dancing with Yiddishkeit is another! Learn from two generations of dance leaders about the details of dancing with a particularly Jewish style in a variety of dance genres.

PM1 (Sun, Mon, Tue, Wed) Dance Repertoire (Alpert, Moore, Gellerman, Vaisman Schulman)
Calling all dancers! With a rotating faculty, you’ll dive into dance genres of all sorts. Whether you’re an advanced dancer or brand new, this class is not to be missed!

PM2 (Sun, Mon, Tue, Wed) Newly Choreographed Yiddish Dances (Moore, Myerson)
Yiddish dance is thriving! Join dance leaders Avia Moore and Sarah Myerson to learn the newest Yiddish dances on the scene! By the end of the week, you may have co-written a dance with your classmates!

Faculty: Joanne Borts, Judy Bressler, Derek David, Benjy Fox-Rosen, Adah Hetko, Daniel Kahn, Marilyn Lerner, Cantor Sarah Myerson, Ethel Raim, Ilya Shneyveys, Deborah Strauss, Paula Teitelbaum, Josh Waletzky (curator), Jeff Warschauer

AM1 (Sun, Mon, Tue, Wed) Lider-shmideray / Songsmiths Workshop (Waletzky, Kahn, Hetko*)
The hands-on workshop for Yiddish song-writing welcomes songsmiths, newcomers and old hands, to take an inside look together at how new Yiddish songs are being created today. Bring your song-in-progress or your interest in songwriting to YNY’s Lider-shmideray/Songsmiths Workshop, led by veteran Yiddish songwriters Josh Waletzky and Daniel Kahn, joined by Adah Hetko. Get inspired by songwriting-in-action. We will all share our expertise and experience in exploring the how-to’s and the for-whom's of song-writing in the 2020s. We'll examine sources and resources for texts and music and discuss various modes of collaboration. If you are bringing a song-in-progress, please send us a recording and/or lead sheet by December 15 at this Google Drive folder. Please include your name and the title of the song as part of the file name). You can also reach us at lidershmideray@gmail.com). Participate in the room and on Zoom!

AM1 (Sun, Mon, Tues, Wed) Singing Secrets Of A Gentle Diva (Bressler)
Open to all singers, this workshop teaches the basic fundamentals of singing. Judy Bressler, a founding member and vocalist with the Klezmer Conservatory Band, will lead the group first in gentle bodywork meant to promote and support relaxed open singing; an easy head to toe warm-up. Then easy breath work and singing techniques to build up the diaphragm and connect singing to the breath. We’ll explore mechanics of neck, head, jaw and throat versus lips and tongue in singing, in connecting with the breath to sing out. The last piece of each class will be singing a simple Yiddish song and applying our singing secrets together. 

In person-Covid protocols this year: all participants wear masks except for the leader, to minimize potential exposure. Folks participating remotely on zoom, can watch and listen and send questions via the chat for real-time response.

AM2 (Sun, Mon, Tue, Wed) Singing Yiddish: Owning the “nnn,” and the “rrr” (Teitelbaum, Waletzky)
If your Yiddish isn't fluent and you find the sounds of Yiddish sometimes maddeningly different from those of your native language but you want to sing in Yiddish, or lead sing-alongs, or teach Yiddish songs — this is the workshop for you! Paula Teitelbaum and Josh Waletzky have a wealth of knowledge and experience, as singers and teachers, to help you gain confidence in singing Yiddish. We'll focus on sounds not found, or used differently, in English, Italian, German, French, Russian... We'll explore how sounds are modified in the flow of a text. We'll work as a group on drills and work individually on songs, including songs participants bring to the workshop. (If you want to come with a song — maybe one whose lyrics are giving you trouble — please send a recording or lead sheet, no later than Dec. 1, to this Google Drive folder and include your name in the file name.) Workshop will be conducted in the room and in the Zoom—participate either way!

PM1 (Sun, Mon, Tues, Wed) The Nuances of Unaccompanied Yiddish Singing (Raim, Myerson)
One of the most beautiful streams of traditional Yiddish song is the repertoire of unaccompanied love songs. Often embellished by vocal scoops and slides, minute glottals, and cadences that trail off, the form is largely characterized by nuanced expressivity and a compelling intimacy rarely heard in other folk traditions. This class is taught by singer and cultural activist Ethel Raim, leader of the legendary Pennywhistlers ensemble, and for many years Artistic Director of the Balkan Arts Center and Center for Traditional Music and Dance and Yiddish singer Cantor Sarah Myerson of Kane Street Synagogue in Brooklyn. Raim and Myerson will teach songs from the repertoires of several noted traditional singers, including Lifshe Schaecter-Widman, Harry Ary, and Ita Taub (for examples, see the wonderful Yiddish Song of the Week blog edited by Itzik Gottesman). For this class, familiarity with Yiddish is encouraged, but not required. 

PM1 (Sun, Mon, Tues, Wed) Zingt fun tifn hartsn! - Sing from the bottom of your heart! (David)
Join Derek David (Leybl), conductor of A Besere Velt (the Yiddish chorus of the Boston Workers Circle), for a fun, lively, and neshomedik choral experience! Participants will engage with new arrangements of Yiddish folksongs, culminating in a performance at the end of the festival. The chorus is open to all who wish to sing and express their Yiddishkayt regardless of their vocal ability or experience. All are welcome. The chorus will be gender inclusive and welcome all to sing in their most comfortable range in the vocal spectrum. Note: all sessions will be held on site and masked to practice community care (a practice of A Besere Velt's, which has worked very well) to ensure the health and safety of all involved. Lomir zingen tsuzamen!

PM1 (Sun, Mon, Tue, Wed) Accompanying Singers (Lerner, Shneyveys, Kahn, Fox-Rosen, Warschauer, Strauss)
Let's talk about how instrumentalist bandmates can support their singers! There are just short of a million different accompaniment styles—from more traditional sounding to wildly experimental—and in this session a variety of teachers throughout the week will dig into how they make their choices when working with different vocalists!

PM2 (Sun, Mon, Tue) Workers Yiddish Songbook (Borts, Kahn)

(Sun) Learn new and historical Yiddish songs from social movements. Led by the 2023 Adrienne Cooper's Dream in Yiddish Awardee Daniel Kahn.
(Mon, Tue) Joanne Borts will teach Yiddish repertoire that features songs that inspired her own journey into a life as a Union leader and Labor Activist. Through these songs, we’ll explore a deeper understanding of why Yiddish is so deeply connected to the the Labor Movement in NYC, the US and the World.

PM2 (Wed) The Times They Were a-Changin’: Jewish Protest Singers of the 1960s (Rogovoy)
While they may have left the Yiddish language behind, Jewish singers and songwriters perpetuated the longstanding Jewish tradition of songs of social justice in the countercultural ferment of the 1960s. Musicians ranging from Bob Dylan to Phil Ochs to Janis Ian to Country Joe and the Fish wrote and sang songs that became anthems of the civil rights, antiwar, and women’s movements, among other expressions of political protest. In this multimedia talk, Seth Rogovoy—the author of “Bob Dylan: Prophet Mystic Poet” and a contributing editor at The Forward—will explore how these Jewish artists addressed many of the same issues their Yiddish forebears tackled just a few decades earlier and how Jewish values seem to have informed their work. Note: This talk will not be available via recording after YNY.

PM2 (Sun, Mon, Tue, Wed) Composing and Adapting Your Own Synagogue Melodies: A Creative Approach to the Shabbes Liturgy (Warschauer)
A workshop for singers and instrumentalists (intermediate & advanced), and for anyone interested in learning more about how Ashkenazic music works. Taught by Cantor Jeff Warschauer, this class is designed to help you create your own liturgical settings. We will learn the accepted nusach (musical modality) for various sections of the Shabbes services, and study prayer texts in detail, devoting close attention to meaning, correct accentuation and phrasing. We will also explore the emotional and spiritual character of each section, and look at existing settings. Working individually or in small groups, we will compose our own settings, or adapt new settings from existing tunes. Bring your creativity and an open mind, and be willing to devote time outside of class to your projects. No previous knowledge needed, and no previous, current or future religious affiliation necessary or expected.

YNY Yiddish Music Classes are supported by the Covenant Foundation.