A freylekhn Purim (Happy Purim)!

This most joyous Jewish holiday begins "early" on the solar calendar this year, Thursday evening, February 25, and ends at sundown Friday, February 26. Get your gragers (noisemakers), costumes, and copies of Di Megileh (The Book of Esther) ready for the yuntif. Here are some songs to get you in the mood:

• Haynt iz Purim, Brider (Today is Purim, brothers and sisters!), sung by Samuel Peckman.

• Haynt iz Purim, Brider (a different song with the same title) sung by Dovid Mordachai (with costumes, whiskey, and one verse in English).

• Hop Mayne Homentashn (Hop, my Homentashn!), sung by Sue Ehrlich (with subtitles). L'chaim!
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Klezmer Workshop Series Presented by KlezCalifornia
The Jewish Sound, with Cookie Segelstein
Sunday, February 21, 11am Pacific Time (2pm Eastern, 7pm UK, 8pm most of Europe)

How do you get the Jewish sound into your instrument? What are the actual techniques to bring this elusive element into your playing? It’s not enough just to play Jewish tunes, you must make it sound evocative and familiar to your listeners. Although this workshop is best suited for string players, all are welcome, as we will explore general techniques of producing this sound.
The Purim Masked Comedy, with Bruce Bierman
Sunday, February 28, 11am Pacific Time (2pm Eastern, 7pm UK, 8pm most Europe)

Welcome to a Yiddish theater/movement/music experience creating the hilarious stock characters from Megiles Ester (The Book of Esther) with the whole body and voice! The roots of both Purim Shpil and Jewish theater reach back to the Medieval European mystery plays and the influence of the wildly popular buffoonery of the Commedia Dell’Arte. We will explore precise character shtick handed down for centuries; how to bring a mask alive; and how to act out all our earthly ridiculous human foibles through the characters of Haman, Esther, King Ahashveyres and Mordechai. Radically inclusive. All are welcome. Wear comfortable clothes to be ridiculous in, and if you have any kind of mask, please bring it along!

Click for updates on Yiddish Theatre Ensemble
Klezmer & Yiddish Music Links
Yiddish Song about Romania's Murasul River, written by Herts Rivkin, with lyrics by an anti-Semitic nationalist Romanian politician, performed by Anna Esther Steinbaum.

The Promiscuous World of Jewish Music: Free weekly lecture series hosted by Joshua Horowitz covering Jewish music, klezmer theory, Yiddish dance, and much more. Check KlezCalifornia's Event Directory every Thursday or Josh's Facebook page.
Yiddish Language Links
A Shtetl Baym Yam (A Shtetl by the Sea), video in Yiddish about Miami.


Registration is open for YiddishSchool Online, the Yiddish Book Center’s Yiddish language and culture program for adult learners, April 11–16. College students and recent graduates may register by February 7 for YBC's Steiner Summer Yiddish Program, May 30 - July 16.

Registration is open for the Tel Aviv Summer Yiddish Program, July 1 - 29. All levels will be offered both in person and online.
Other Yiddish Culture Links
Augie's Montreal Deli has moved to the old Brennan's location in Berkeley.
Check out thirty-four places to get Ashkenazi food (some kosher) in the San Francisco Bay Area. Don't forget to eat homentashn on Purim! You can get them at most of the listed venues as well as some non-Jewish bakeries.

The Humboldt Jewish Music & Culture Festival, featuring musicians Sasha Lurje and Craig Judelman, lecturer Ellie Shapiro, and others, and including Yiddish and Sephardic culture, is February 4 - 11, online.

The Life and Death of a Yiddish Puppet Theater, by Eddy Portnoy, from Folklife Magazine.
Nu, What Else?
Honor Wall
Vina Cera:
I‘d like to honor the memory of my mother, Bella (Bluma) Lifchus, nee Shatkin. She came from a small shtetl outside of Odessa, settled in Winnipeg, Canada, and in our home, we spoke mostly Yiddish, some English, and a smattering of Ukrainian. California became home after marriage, but Baba visited yearly, and our children grew up in anticipation of the regular ‘parcels’ she sent, filled with all kinds of ‘geshmake’ goodies: "kmish bread," poppyseed cookies, homentashn, beygelekh… She’s been gone many years now, but I still so long for those moments, when a Yiddish expression would capture that magic moment of perfect communication and understanding.
Martin & Rena Bobrowsky:
With thanks to KlezCalifornia for organizing the Flisik Salon for Yiddish conversation which we have enjoyed for many years.
Robin Braverman:
In memory of Pauline and Andrew (Bundy) Lang, my maternal grandparents.
Joseph Sacks:
In honor of the tremendous presence and work of Cantor Sharon Bernstein.
Meryl Rappaport:
In honor of Talia Shaham. Honoring the warmth and humanity of my dear friend, Talia. Her time and energy supporting KlezCalifornia and klezmer music over the years makes her a friend to us all. L'Chaim!
Joan Rudd:
In memory of Peysakh Fiszman z’’l. He was an extraordinary teacher of Yiddish, as well as a fine person. An Argentinian transplanted to NYC, I studied with him in programs in NY, in Oxford, and in Seattle. He bestowed my Yiddish name on me and assured me that “You murder the language, but you make yourself understood!”
View KlezCalifornia's Honor Wall. Become a donor to post your tribute.
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A sheynem dank! Thank you very much!
A bisl mer (a little bit more)
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