The 'Yiddish Voice' Podcast

The 'Yiddish Voice' Podcast

by The Yiddish Voice

Society & Culture

Zvi Gitelman

Zvi Gitelman is Professor of Political Science and Professor of Judaic Studies at the University of Michigan, where he studies ethnicity and politics, especially in former Communist countries, as well as Israeli politics, East European politics, and Jewish political thought and behavior. His most recent edited book is The New Jewish Diaspora: Russian-speaking Immigrants in the United States, Israel and Germany (Rutgers University Press, 2016). The interview was conducted by Sholem Beinfeld, a regular contributor to the Yiddish Voice, co-Editor in Chief of the Comprehensive Yiddish-English Dictionary and Professor of History, Emeritus, Washington University, St. Louis. Intro instrumental music: DEM HELFANDS TANTS, an instrumental track from the CD Jeff Warschauer: The Singing Waltz Songs to conclude: Cantor Bela Herskowitz: Szal a Kakas Miar (Der Hun Kriet Shoyn) Norbert Horowitz: Farvos Iz Der Himl Geven Nekhtn Loyter? Air Date: Feb 7, 2018

Amram Deutsch & Esti (Jahr) Shnek (repeats) for International Holocaust Day

On 27 January 1945, Auschwitz-Birkenau, the largest Nazi concentration and death camp, was liberated by the Soviet Army. This Jan 27, 2018, is Holocaust Remembrance Day. We are observing the day by re-airing portions of interviews with two survivors of the death camp Auschwitz-Birkenau. Amram Deutsch is a survivor of Auschwitz from Sighet, now living in Los Angeles. Originally recorded and aired in 2015. Esti Shnek (maiden name Jahr) is a survivor of Auschwitz from Jasina, Czechoslovakia (which is now Yasinya, Ukraine), now living in Haifa. Originally recorded and aired in 2017. Intro instrumental music: DEM HELFANDS TANTS, an instrumental track from the CD Jeff Warschauer: The Singing Waltz Holocaust songs to conclude: Adrienne Cooper: Shtiler, Shtiler Chava Alberstein: Zog Nit Keynmol Norbert Horowitz: Farvos Iz Der Himl Geven Nekhtn Loyter? Norbert Horowitz: Shtil, Di Nakht Iz Oysgeshternt Air Date: Jan 24, 2018

Shane Baker (New); Anita Norich (Repeat)

Shane Baker on Shloyme Mikhoels: we discuss the upcoming program by Kultur Kongres (http://congressforjewishculture.org) to honor the memory of the great Soviet Yiddish actor and director Shloyme Mikhoels on the 70th anniversary of his murder. On Thursday, January 18th, 2018 at 7 PM there will be a short lecture about the life of his theater, the GOSET, video presentations of materials with Mikhoels, readings from works about him, and presentations of musical and theatrical materials related to his life and work with the stars of stage and screen Yelena Shmulenson and Allen Lewis Rickman. The event will take place at the JCC on the Upper West Side of Manhattan and is free. (NOTE: pre-registration is required, and seating is highly limited.) Email kongres at earthlink dot net to register or get more info. Replay of our May 2015 interview with Anita Norich, Professor of English and Jewish Studies at University of Michigan at Ann Arbor, about her book, Writing in Tongues: Translating Yiddish in the Twentieth Century. Prof. Norich will give a lecture in Yiddish on the topic "Di kunst fun iberzetsn" ("The Art of Translating") this Sunday, Jan 21, 2018, at 1:30 PM at Sholem Aleichem Cultural Center, 3301 Bainbridge Avenue, Bronx, NY. Event info on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/1843334362624673/ Intro instrumental music: DEM HELFANDS TANTS, an instrumental track from the CD Jeff Warschauer: The Singing Waltz Outro instrumental music: AFN VEG SHTEYT A BOYM performed by Itzhak Perlman, Dov Seltzer, and the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra Air Date: Jan 17, 2018

Hasia Segal: First Yahrtzeit Memorial

This is a special Yahrtzeit ("Yortsayt", or first-year memorial) program for Hasia Segal z"l, co-founder and co-host of the Yiddish Voice, whose who died one year ago, the night of January 16, 2017, which is 19 Teyves on the Jewish calendar. Therefore, her first yahrtzeit falls this week Saturday, January 6, 2018. Our program features new remarks by cohosts Meyer, Sholem, and Dovid on the occasion of Hasia's first yahrtzeit. The rest of the show is comprised of material presented in our special Shloyshim (30-day memorial) program presented last year on Feb. 15, 2017. Participants include Rivke Basman Ben-Haim, Hankus Netsky, Ruth Shulman, Esther Ritchie, Iosif Lakhman (z"l), Dovid Braun, Sholem Beinfeld, and Mark David. Rivke Basman Ben-Haim, a world-renowned Yiddish poet and a good friend of Hasia's, presents a new, original poem that she composed specially for this occasion. Hankus Netsky is the founder of the Klezmer Conservatory Band and a leader in preserving and reviving Yiddish music, language, and culture. Shulman and Ritchie are Hasia's daughters. Lakhman was a regular participant on the Yiddish Voice for over a decade. Sadly, he himself passed away in June 2017. Braun, Beinfeld, and David are regular participants on the Yiddish Voice. Original air date: Jan. 3, 2017 Photo: Dovid Braun and Hasia Segal z"l, 1990's, West Roxbury, MA Photo: Sholem Beinfeld and Hasia Segal z"l, 2003, Brookline, MA

Bella Bryks-Klein, Boris Sandler

Bella Bryks-Klein spoke about Vos-Ven-Vu, her monthly guide to Yiddish happenings in Israel, as well as several of her many other activities related to Yiddish language and culture, in Israel, New York, and even Poland. Boris Sandler talks about his new Yiddish web journal Yiddish Branzhe (https://yiddishbranzhe.com), which recently launched. Sandler says particularly wants to provide a showcase for younger writers and for Soviet-Yiddish writers who might otherwise be forgotten. From our archive: Hasia Segal interviews Motl Geyzer, editor of a Moscow Jewish newspaper, from October 1996 The show began with Adam Gruzman's "Israel Report", courtesy of the Forverts Sho on the web at yiddish.forward.com. Intro instrumental music: DEM HELFANDS TANTS, an instrumental track from the CD Jeff Warschauer: The Singing Waltz Air Date: December 27, 2017

Luzer Twersky (Repeat)

Basically a repeat of our Dec 8, 2017 show featuring an interview with Luzer Twersky, but with a new Israel Report by Adam Gruzman, courtesy of the Forverts Sho on the web at yiddish.forward.com.

Saul Noam Zaritt

Saul Noam Zaritt is an assistant professor of Yiddish literature at Harvard University. He received his doctorate in Jewish literature from the Jewish Theological Seminary, and he is the founding editor of In geveb: A Journal of Yiddish Studies (ingeveb.org). We reached him by phone at his office in Cambridge, MA. The interview was conducted by Sholem Beinfeld, a regular contributor to the Yiddish Voice, co-Editor in Chief of the Comprehensive Yiddish-English Dictionary and Professor of History, Emeritus, Washington University, St. Louis. Intro instrumental music: DEM HELFANDS TANTS, an instrumental track from the CD Jeff Warschauer: The Singing Waltz Hanukkah greetings were presented by our lovely friends Motl Murstein, Sholem Beinfeld, and Dovid Braun. Hanukkah Music: Bruchas (Hanukkah blessing #1) by Ben Gailing, from Oy Chanukah (by The Klezmer Conservatory Band) Blessing of the Candles (Brochot) (Hanukkah blessing #2) by Moishe Oysher, from "The Moishe Oysher Chanukah Party" Shehechiyonu by David Kusevitsky, from "50 min with David Kusevitsky" Mo-oz Tsur by Eli Lipsker's Children's Choir and Orchestra, solo by Avremel Friedman, from "Sing Original Chassidic Melodies" Haneiros Hallolu (We Kindle These Candles) by Seymour Silbermintz & The Boys, from "Sing With Seymour" Borukh Ate Zingt der Tate by Judith Clurman (conductor) with Essential Voices USA, from "Cherished Moments: Songs of the Jewish Spirit" Ikh Bin a Kleyner Dreydl by Lori Cahan-Simon, words and music by Mikhl Gelbart, from "Chanukah is Freylekh! A Yiddish Chanukah Celebration. Songs My Bubbe Should Have Taught Me: Volume Two" Kh'bin a Dreydl by Pripetshik Singers with Binyumin Schaechter as music director, words and music by Beyle Schaechter Gottesman, from "Fli, Mayn Flishlang" Chanuke O Chanuke by Martha Schlamme, words and music by Mordkhe Rivesman, from "Sings Jewish Folk Songs" Akht Likhtlekh by Pripetshik Singers, with with Binyumin Schaechter as music director, words and music by Beyle Schaechter Gottesman, from "Fli, Mayn Flishlang" "O, Ir Kleine Lichtelech" by Sidor Belarsky with Vladimir Heifetz as music director, words by Morris Rosenfeld, from "Chanukah Festival of Songs" Air Date: December 13, 2017

Luzer Twersky

Luzer Twersky grew up speaking Yiddish in a Chassidic home in Boro Park but left that life behind as a young adult, cutting practically all ties with his family and community. He now works as an actor in film, television, and theater, performing both in Yiddish- and English-speaking roles. Twersky appears as one of the three subjects of the documentary One of Us, recently released on Netflix, which chronicles his and two others' break from Chassidic life. Currently, he is performing on the Yiddish stage in New York in the role of Sam Feinschreiber in "Awake and Sing!" (Yiddish title: "Vakh Oyf Un Zing"), written by Clifford Odets and translated into Yiddish by Chaver Paver. The play is being presented by the New Yiddish Rep theater company at New York's 14th Street Y in Union Square, with performances Wednesday through Sunday until Dec 24. Related: About Luzer Twersky: Website: http://www.luzertwersky.net/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/twersky Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ltwersky/ IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm3872496/ About the film "One of Us": IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt7214842/ One of Us web site: https://lokifilms.com/one-of-us/ One of Us trailer, published by Netflix, on Youtube: https://youtu.be/uBPn5oQNutI About the play "Awake and Sing"/"Vakh Oyf Un Zing" by New Yiddish Rep: Article "Returning 'Awake and Sing!' to Its Yiddish Roots": https://www.tdf.org/articles/1790/Returning-Awake-and-Sing-to-Its-Yiddish-Roots Article "New Yiddish Rep to Stage Clifford Odett's 'Awake and Sing'" (in Yiddish) in the Forverts: http://yiddish.forward.com/articles/206777/new-yiddish-rep-to-stage-clifford-odetts-awake-and/ New Yiddish Rep website: http://www.newyiddishrep.org/ 14th St Y Tickets and Info: https://14streety.secure.force.com/ticket#details_a0S36000004qPjZEAU The show began with Adam Gruzman's "Israel Report", courtesy of the Forverts Sho on the web at yiddish.forward.com. Intro instrumental music: DEM HELFANDS TANTS, an instrumental track from the CD Jeff Warschauer: The Singing Waltz Outro music: Drei Dreidele and Happy Chanukah, sung by Cantor Moishe Oysher with chorus and orchestra, from the album The Moishe Oysher Chanukah Party with Abraham Ellstein as musical director Air Date: De...

Noah Barrera

Noah Barrera has become a serious activist on the Yiddish scene in New York City, where he has been a writer for Yiddish publications, worked in three Yiddish theaters, taught Yiddish language classes, and given talks in Yiddish. Our interview took place last August at the Yidish-Vokh, the week-long Yiddish retreat held each summer and sponsored by Yugntruf - Youth for Yiddish (https://yugntruf.org). Barrera was able to attend the Yidish-Vokh thanks to his successful "gofundme" campaign (see: https://www.gofundme.com/Noyekh-YidishVokh), and there he taught a workshop on Yiddish sex vocabulary based on his research in the archives of the YIVO Institute. From our archives: Miriam Libenson Z"L: a talk in honor of Hanukkah, first aired on the Yiddish Hour in 1993. The show began with Adam Gruzman's "Israel Report", courtesy of the Forverts Sho on the web at yiddish.forward.com. Intro instrumental music: DEM HELFANDS TANTS, an instrumental track from the CD Jeff Warschauer: The Singing Waltz Outro music: CHANUKO OY CHANUKO, sung by Cantor Jacob Barkin with chorus directed by Sholom Secunda Air Date: Novermber 29, 2017

Daniel Galai (Repeat); Hy Wolfe (Repeat)

Daniel Galai wrote about the sorry recent demise of the daily Yiddish-language broadcast in Israel in his recent article in the Yiddish Forward (Forverts), titled (in translation) "Troubling Fate For Israeli Yiddish Radio". The article is here: http://yiddish.forward.com/articles/204522/troubling-fate-for-israeli-yiddish-radio/ We reached Daniel Galay by phone in Israel. Daniel Galay is Chairman of Leyvik House (http://www.leyvik.org.il/), the Association of Yiddish Writers and Journalists in Israel, as well as a composer and pianist. (This interview originally aired Jun 18, 2017.) Hy Wolfe -- actor, singer, co-president of the Hebrew Actors' Foundation -- talks about recent developments with the organization and his vision for its future. (This interview originally aired on Aug 23, 2017.) The show began with Adam Gruzman's "Israel Report", courtesy of the Forverts Sho on the web at yiddish.forward.com. For Thanksgiving we played the historic "Interview with the Turkey", written and performed by the late great radio host, actor, and cantor Ben Gailing. In honor of the 9 yortsayt of our friend, Mrs. Gertrude Brand, we played music by her late husband, the late great concert violinist Percy Brand, as heard on the Ben Gailing show some time in the late 1990's Intro instrumental music: DEM HELFANDS TANTS, an instrumental track from the CD Jeff Warschauer: The Singing Waltz Outro instrumental music: AFN VEG SHTEYT A BOYM performed by Itzhak Perlman, Dov Seltzer, and the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra Air Date: Novermber 22, 2017

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