Tayereh Fraynt (Dear Friends),

During these uncertain times, KlezCalifornia's great lineup of April events (workshop for Yiddish singers, workshop for klezmer instrumentalists, and Yiddish conversation salon) is currently on hold. We will be in touch again with more information about cancellations or transfer to online locations.

אַ מענטש טראַכט און גאָט לאַכט
A mentsh trakht un got lakht . A person makes plans and God laughs.

See links below to sources of Yiddish-inspired comfort, distraction, and amusement.

We wish everyone a sweet — if unusual — Peysekh! For now, enjoy the Jewish People's Philharmonic Chorus singing three Yiddish songs in four-part harmony, all with English supertitles:
Mu Adabru? (Yiddish counterpart to Ekhad Mi Yodea?)
Afn Nil (on the Nile)
Klezmer & Yiddish Music
Klezmer clarinetist Michael Winograd creates and performs a new "quarantine song" every day on his Facebook page.

Fascinating article on performing Yiddish song today to audiences that don't understand the language, by Benjy Fox-Rosen.

Concerts, comedy and interviews from National Jewish Theatre Folksbiene .
Yiddish Language
Netflix releases its first Yiddish language show, Unorthodox, about a young woman leaving Hasidism for a new life in Germany.

Peysekh cooking series , with Eve Jochnowitz
(Yiddish with English subtitles).

Harry Potter in Yiddish! Translator Arun Viswanath describes (in English) language choices he had to make to represent people, places, and concepts.

Poet Troim Katz Handler has just published Volume 2 of a bilingual collection of Yiddish erotic poetry, Simkhe (Celebration) . Link is to article in English (item thanks to Lea Delson).


Read about the searchable "Comprehensive English-Yiddish Dictionary," compiled by Gitl Schaechter-Viswanath and Dr. Hershl Glasser, now on-line after three years of work. The "Comprehensive Yiddish-English Dictionary" edited by Dr. Solon Beinfeld and Dr. Harry Bochner, can be accessed here (item thanks to Rut h Lowy).
Yiddish Culture
Plague Weddings , by Rokhl Kafrissen. Long before the new coronavirus, other epidemics led Jews to create some strange rituals to ward off disease.

Cr isco and Jews , by Rachel B. Gross. This article gives you a tam (taste) of Professor Gross' talk, which has been rescheduled as an on-line Jewish Community Library event 4/19, 2pm.

Nu, What Else?
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A sheynem dank! Thank you very much!
A bisl mer (a little bit more)
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