Preservation of Yiddish Culture

Preservation of Yiddish Culture and Heritage

Сохранение культуры идиша

אָפּהיטן אונדזער ייִדישע קולטור־ירושה

לשמור על תרבות היידיש

22nd Issue of Yidishland

22nd Issue of Yidishland

22nd Issue of Yidishland

The new 22nd issue of the quarterly magazine Yidishland, dedicate to literature and literary criticism, was published in March 2024. Poetry in this issue is presented with new works by Boris Karloff, Hillel Kazovsky, Moishe Lemster and Michael Layvand; the prose part includes a chapter from Mikhoel Felzenbaum’s new novel Tick-Tock and Velvl Chernin’s story The Khazarian. The unique historical materials includes the memoirs of the artist and art critic Leo Koenig (1889-1970). Yidishland is published entirely in Yiddish and is printed parallelly in Israel and Sweden.

Sabbatai Zevi’s Impact on Literature

Sabbatai Zevi’s Impact on Literature

Sabbatai Zevi’s Impact on Literature

On March 18, the Jewish Community Center of St. Petersburg hosted a lecture by the Yiddish poet and writer Yoel Matveyev on the influence of the false messiah’s Sabbatai Zevi’s mystical movement on world culture and literature. In connection to Saint Patrick’s Day, a special emphasis was placed on early 20th century Irish poetry. Yiddish literature was discussed as well.

Registration for Yiddish Sof-Vokh

Registration for Yiddish Sof-Vokh

Registration for Yiddish Sof-Vokh

Registration has begun for the third annual Yiddish Sof-Vokh (Yiddish Weekend) program in Birmingham. The participants will be able to improve their knowledge of Yiddish through a full three-day immersion in the language. All events, from workshops to dances and nature walks, will be conducted exclusively in Yiddish. The program will be held from June 21 to June 23 at the historical Hillscourt Hotel.

Yiddish Women’s Poems in Berlin

Yiddish Women’s Poems in Berlin

Yiddish Women’s Poems in Berlin

The activist group Yiddish.Berlin celebrated March 8, 2024, the International Women’s Day, by an event highlighting women’s creativity in Yiddish. The participants recited poetry written in this language by women, starting with a poem by the 11-year-old girl Gela, dating back to the beginning of the 18th century. The poets Katerina Kuznetsova (one of the event’s organizers) and Yael Merlini read their own works. The program included a performance of songs written by the famous Yiddish poetess Beyle Schaechter-Gottesman (1920-2013). Iryna Zrobok read Celia Dropkin’s poems translated into Ukrainian. All the recited texts are available on the website of Yiddish.Berlin.

Photo by Jake Schneider

Jewish Avant-Garde in Moscow

Jewish Avant-Garde in Moscow

Jewish Avant-Garde in Moscow

The Jewish Museum and Tolerance Center in Moscow opened a new exhibition titled Jewish Avant-Garde. Chagall, Altman, Shterenberg, and Others. After the 1917 revolution, talented Jewish artists and writers from the former Pale of Settlement flocked to Moscow and Petrograd, where they played an extremely important role in the development of both the Soviet avant-garde and Yiddish culture in its various manifestations, including theater. The exhibition features more than 100 paintings and graphic works by such great artists as Marc Chagall, El Lissitzky, Alexander Tyshler, Issachar Ber Ryback, etc.

In Honor of Moishe Dovid Gisser

In Honor of Moishe Dovid Gisser

In Honor of Moishe Dovid Gisser

On February 18, 2024, the Leyvik House, a Yiddish cultural center in Tel Aviv, held an online poetry evening event dedicated to the works of the Jewish poet, journalist and writer Moishe Dovid Gisser. Hosted by the Leyvik House’s director, Daniel Galay, the program featured three contemporary Yiddish poets: David Omar-Cohen (Amsterdam), Katerina Kuznetzova and Jake Schneider (Berlin).

Moishe Dovid Gisser (1893-1952) was born in the Polish town of Radom and published his first poems in Yiddish in 1919. Starting from 1921 he lived in Buenos Aires, where his first collection of children’s poems Flemelekh un fayerlekh (“Little flames and lights”) was published. Later on, he settled in Santiago (Chile). A recording of the event was published by the Leyvik House on YouTube.