Preservation of Yiddish Culture

Preservation of Yiddish Culture and Heritage

Сохранение культуры идиша

אָפּהיטן אונדזער ייִדישע קולטור־ירושה

לשמור על תרבות היידיש

Boris Sandler and Daniel Galay Receive Rubinlicht Prize

Boris Sandler and Daniel Galay Receive Rubinlicht Prize

Boris Sandler and Daniel Galay Receive Rubinlicht Prize

Boris Sandler and Daniel Galay, two prominent Yiddish authors, editors and cultural activists, have been awarded the annual Rubinlicht Prize for outstanding contributions to Yiddish literature. The celebration, broadcast online, took place at the Tel Aviv Yiddish center Leyvik House on December 26, 2024.

In addition to their own literary works, both laureates have been involved for many years in editing and publishing Yiddish books, as well as in Yiddish-related educational projects. Galay, the chairman of the Leyvik House, born in 1945 in Argentina, is also an internationally renowned composer. Sandler, born in 1950 in the USSR, formerly an editor-in-chief of New York’s Yiddish Forward, runs the online Yiddish monthly Yiddish Branzhe.

25th Issue of Yidishland

25th Issue of Yidishland

25th Issue of Yidishland

The new 25th issue of the quarterly magazine Yidishland, published in parallel print runs in Israel and Sweden, is dedicated to one of its editors, Mikhoel Felsenbaum, who recently received a lifetime achievement award from the Israeli National Authority for Yiddish Culture.

The magazine contains several essays by well known Yiddish literature experts who analyze various aspects of Felsenbaum’s prose, poetry and plays. It also contains his new works. Among other literary, philological and historical materials, the issue also features poems by the Italian-born Yiddish poet Yael Merlini.

Yiddish New York 2024

Yiddish New York 2024

Yiddish New York 2024

From December 21 to 26, 2024, the 10th annual festival Yiddish New York will be held at the city’s Hebrew Union College. This year’s program will include dozens of events, including concerts featuring the world’s leading Yiddish music artists, lectures by leading scholars of Yiddish history, literature and culture, music lessons, singing and folk dance workshops, Yiddish film screenings, etc. The programs will be presented online as well.

According to its organizers, Yiddish New York is the largest festival of Yiddish music, culture and language in the US. Detailed information and tickets are available online.

Yiddish Arts Community: Emes Truth

Yiddish Arts Community: Emes Truth

Yiddish Arts Community: Emes Truth

The new exhibition Emes Truth by the Yiddish Arts Community, curated by the artists Yevgeniy Fiks and Deborah Ugoretz, will open on December 17, 2024, at the Backman Gallery of the Dr. Bernard Heller Museum (Hebrew Union College). The opening event, which will take place from 5 to 7 PM, will feature a performance by the musicians Sarah Myerson and Ilya Shneyveys. Participation is free, but requires online registration.

Participating artists are Danielle Alhassid, Yuliya Lanina, Debbie Schore, Miriam Stern, and Silvia Wagensberg. In historial orthography of the Yiddish language, there are several ways to spell the word “truth” (“emes”). The exhibition, related to the upcoming festival Yiddish New York 2024, will offer a variety of “orthographies” that spell out various human concepts and lived experiences.

Yosef Ostrovsky Exhibition

Yosef Ostrovsky Exhibition

Yosef Ostrovsky Exhibition in Ma’ale Adumim

A major exhibition of artworks by Yosef Ostrovsky (1935–1993) titled Jewish Sound and Soul: From Odessa to Ma’ale Adumim, dedicated to the 90 year anniversary of the artist’s birth, opened earlier in December 2024 at the Moshe Castel Museum of Art in Ma’ale Adumim, Israel.

Yosef Ostrovsky was born in the small Ukrainian town of Shepetovka, but lived most of his life in Odessa. Critics compare his works to the finest production of the École de Paris. In 1984, the office of the Soviet Yiddish magazine Sovetish Heymland held an exhibition of his works, which was accompanied by a publication in the magazine itself. In 1989 the artist immigrated from the USSR to Israel, where he spent most of his time in Ma’ale Adumim.

Beruriah Wiegand’s Poetry Evening

Beruriah Wiegand’s Poetry Evening

Beruriah Wiegand’s Poetry Evening

On December 1, 2024, the London-based Yiddish poet Beruriah Wiegand will read and discuss her poetry at the special online event hosted by the Leyvik House in Tel Aviv at 6 PM Israel time. The event, moderated by the Amsterdam-based Yiddish poet David Omar Cohen, will be entirely in Yiddish. Follow this link to register.

Dr. Beruriah Wiegand teaches Yiddish and Yiddish literature at the University of Oxford. She is also a Yiddish poet, the author of two bilingual poem collections, as well as a poetry and prose translator from English into Yiddish and vice versa.