A Yiddish Dayenu from the Folksbiene "Third Seder"

 

As we get ready for the first (and in Israel, the only) Passover seder next Monday evening, we're sharing a version of Dayenu from The Third Seder, a long standing Yiddish cultural tradition.

 

The event, convened in 2021 by Rabbi Avram Mlotek at the Marlene Myerson JCC of Manhattan, featured the leading stars of the Klezmer and Yiddish stage. 

 

The performers included Bob Abelson, Michael Alpert, Alan Bern, Nicole Borger. Joanne Borts, Josh Dolgin, Sarah Gordon, Adrianne Greenbaum, Elmore James, Craig Judelman, Daniel Kahn, Yeva Lapsker, Leon Lapsker Kahn, Yanky Lemmer, Marilyn Lerner, Shura Lipovsky, Frank London, Sasha Lurje, Avram Mlotek, Ravi Mlotek, Sarah Mlotek, Zalm, n Mlotek, Eleanor Reissa, Merlin Shepherd, Polina Shepherd, Ilya Shneyveys, Dinah Slepovitch, Zisl Slepovitch, Lorin Sklamberg, Steven Skybell, Eric Stein, Theresa Tova, Susan Lankin-Watts, Tatiana Wechsler, Steven Weintraub,  and Michael Winograd.

 

The event was sponsored by The National Yiddish Theatre-Folksbiene

in partnership with Base MNHTN, KlezKanada, The Forward, Forvertz, Kadimah – Jewish Cultural Centre , Yiddish Book Center, Sholem Aleichem College, Jewish Labour Bund Melbourne, Penina Zylberman Yiddish Cultural and Educational Foundation, Kleztival, Ashkenaz Festival, Yiddish Summer Weimar, Shalom Foundation and I. B. Singer Yiddish Festival in Warsaw, YUNG YiDiSH Tel Aviv, YIVO Institute for Jewish Research, Museum of Jewish History – Living Memorial to the Holocaust, The Workers Circle, Vaybertaytsh, Dora Wasserman Yiddish Theatre, and Jewish Music Institute – Instituto da Música Judaica -Brasil.

 

Enjoy!

A SPECIAL NOTE FOR NEW EMAIL SUBSCRIBERS:  THE VIDEO MAY NOT BE VIEWABLE DIRECTLY FROM THE EMAIL THAT YOU GET EACH DAY ON SOME COMPUTERS AND TABLETS.  YOU MUST CLICK ON THE TITLE AT THE TOP OF THE EMAIL TO REACH THE JEWISH HUMOR CENTRAL WEBSITE, FROM WHICH YOU CLICK ON THE PLAY BUTTON IN THE VIDEO IMAGE TO START THE VIDEO.

 

Happy Purim! Join Us in Celebrating with a Purim Song in Yiddish by Litvakus

Renowned Eastern European clarinetist, pianist, and composer Dmitri Zisl Slepovitch presents a uniquely thrilling klezmer experience with his new quintet Litvakus, which brings to soaring life the often overlooked Belarusian and Litvak (Belarusian-Lithuanian) Jewish musical heritage. 

Litvakus is reaching out to the modern audiences worldwide, making the old sound new and fresh, meaningful and hip.

Makhts Of - Open Up! is a traditional Yiddish song produced by the National Yiddish Theatre Folksbiene in collaboration with Museum of Jewish Heritage (New York City), In this video Litvakus introduces the main characters of the Purim story.

The performers are Zoë Aqua, violin; Taylor Bergren-Chrisman, bass; Joshua Camp, accordion; Zisl Slepovitch, clarinet, gragger, vocals;  Sam Weisenberg, poyk (drum)

Enjoy, and have a Happy Purim!

A SPECIAL NOTE FOR NEW EMAIL SUBSCRIBERS:  THE VIDEO MAY NOT BE VIEWABLE DIRECTLY FROM THE EMAIL THAT YOU GET EACH DAY ON SOME COMPUTERS AND TABLETS.  YOU MUST CLICK ON THE TITLE AT THE TOP OF THE EMAIL TO REACH THE JEWISH HUMOR CENTRAL WEBSITE, FROM WHICH YOU CLICK ON THE PLAY BUTTON IN THE VIDEO IMAGE TO START THE VIDEO.

Miracle of Miracles! Yiddish "Fiddler on the Roof" Returns to Off-Broadway for 7 Week Run

Fiddler on the Roof in Yiddish is returning by popular demand for seven weeks only in an Off-Broadway limited engagement at New World Stages, directed by Academy Award and Tony Award winner Joel Grey and starring Steven Skybell as Tevye.

If you haven't seen the Yiddish version, produced by the National Yiddish Theatre Folksbiene, here's a chance to experience the richness of a production that will have English and Russian supertitles. It will be playing from November 13 to January 1 at the New World Stages at 340 West 50th Street in Manhattan. The video (below) of the cast rehearsing the opening song Traditsye (Tradition) will give you a taste of this show.

Don’t miss the beloved story of a community and its struggle to balance traditions and desires in a changing world. The little town of Anatevka will bustle with the sounds of mame-loshn in this Yiddish language adaptation.

The production has been hailed as “a richer, deeper interpretation” by The Wall Street Journal, “a mitzvah” by Time Out New York, and AM New York gives it four stars, calling Fiddler on the Roof in Yiddish “perfect.”

Enjoy!

A SPECIAL NOTE FOR NEW EMAIL SUBSCRIBERS:  THE VIDEO MAY NOT BE VIEWABLE DIRECTLY FROM THE EMAIL THAT YOU GET EACH DAY ON SOME COMPUTERS AND TABLETS.  YOU MUST CLICK ON THE TITLE AT THE TOP OF THE EMAIL TO REACH THE JEWISH HUMOR CENTRAL WEBSITE, FROM WHICH YOU CLICK ON THE PLAY BUTTON IN THE VIDEO IMAGE TO START THE VIDEO.

BREAKING NEWS! Yiddish Fiddler on the Roof Extended Again Through November 18

If you haven't yet seen the highly acclaimed new Yiddish production of Fiddler on the Roof at the Museum of Jewish Heritage in New York City, you can still get tickets because the show has been extended for a third time, through November 18.

Directed by Joel Grey and starring a very talented cast, most of whom learned Yiddish in a few weeks, Fiddler has gotten rave reviews in the media.

One of the accomplished cast members is Adam B. Shapiro, who plays the role of the town rabbi and is understudying the role of Tevye. He has made some YouTube videos called One Man Broadway, in which he plays all of the major characters. Today we're sharing a video that he made singing The Dream from the show, playing the roles of Tevye, Golde, Grandma Tzeitel, and the butcher's departed wife Fruma Sarah.

Enjoy!

A SPECIAL NOTE FOR NEW EMAIL SUBSCRIBERS:  THE VIDEO MAY NOT BE VIEWABLE DIRECTLY FROM THE EMAIL THAT YOU GET EACH DAY ON SOME COMPUTERS AND TABLETS.  YOU MUST CLICK ON THE TITLE AT THE TOP OF THE EMAIL TO REACH THE JEWISH HUMOR CENTRAL WEBSITE, FROM WHICH YOU CLICK ON THE PLAY BUTTON IN THE VIDEO IMAGE TO START THE VIDEO.

BREAKING NEWS! Yiddish Fiddler on the Roof Extended Through Oct. 25; May Move to Broadway

We've gotten a lot of positive reaction to our post about the new Yiddish production of Fiddler on the Roof at the Folksbiene theatre in lower Manhattan. We reported that the show was sold out for all performances through its planned end date of September 2. 

Now the great demand for tickets has resulted in an extension through October 25. A new batch of tickets have been added to the Folksbiene online box office. And on Sunday The Wall Street Journal reported that the producers are thinking about moving the show to another off-Broadway theatre or possibly on Broadway.

This is a must-see show and we highly recommend it. Enjoy!

A SPECIAL NOTE FOR NEW EMAIL SUBSCRIBERS:  THE VIDEO MAY NOT BE VIEWABLE DIRECTLY FROM THE EMAIL THAT YOU GET EACH DAY ON SOME COMPUTERS AND TABLETS.  YOU MUST CLICK ON THE TITLE AT THE TOP OF THE EMAIL TO REACH THE JEWISH HUMOR CENTRAL WEBSITE, FROM WHICH YOU CLICK ON THE PLAY BUTTON IN THE VIDEO IMAGE TO START THE VIDEO.

Yiddish Version of "Fiddler on the Roof" Delights in New Folksbiene Production

Fiddler on the Roof is once again delighting audiences, this time with an outstanding cast performing the full 3 hour long musical sung and spoken completely in Yiddish. For non-Yiddish speakers, there are two large screens on the sides of the stage showing all the dialogue in English and Russian.

The production, which we attended on Monday night, is directed by Tony winner Joel Grey with musical direction by Zalmen Mlotek. It features Steven Skybell as Tevye and stand-up comedian Jackie Hoffman as Yente the matchmaker. 

You'll find it at the Museum of Jewish History in lower Manhattan in Battery Park. The show has received rave reviews every since it opened on July 4. It runs through September 2. As of today, all performances are sold out, but the National Yiddish Theatre Folksbiene has posted a wait list where you can sign up to be notified of cancellations and available seats. 

Here's a TV news interview with Yente (Jackie Hoffman) in which she tells the backstory of how the non-Yiddish speaking cast took a crash course in the language and memorized their lines, and a video of highlights from the production.

Enjoy! 

A SPECIAL NOTE FOR NEW EMAIL SUBSCRIBERS:  THE VIDEO MAY NOT BE VIEWABLE DIRECTLY FROM THE EMAIL THAT YOU GET EACH DAY ON SOME COMPUTERS AND TABLETS.  YOU MUST CLICK ON THE TITLE AT THE TOP OF THE EMAIL TO REACH THE JEWISH HUMOR CENTRAL WEBSITE, FROM WHICH YOU CLICK ON THE PLAY BUTTON IN THE VIDEO IMAGE TO START THE VIDEO. 

Jewish Traces in Unexpected Places: Yiddish Thrives at the University of Texas

Yiddish 101 is an introduction to an ancient language that's attracting new interest at the University of Texas. Richard Schlesinger has a video report on the Austin classroom where conversations sound like they could be taking place at a Hasidic Jewish bakery in Williamsburg, Brooklyn.

This video was shown on the CBS Sunday Morning TV show last week. It focuses on the resurgence of spoken Yiddish in Texas classrooms. The report includes comments by a University of Texas Vietnamese student who is adding Yiddish to her language repertory, a visit to the National Yiddish Book Center in Amherst, Massachusetts and its founder Aaron Lansky, and to the streets of Williamsburg where Yiddish is the main spoken language of its Hasidic residents.

We  also get a glimpse of activities of the National Center for Yiddish Film, the National Yiddish Theatre-Folksbiene, and the Klezmatics, one of the oldest bands playing the Klezmer music that was the dominant musical form in Eastern Europe.

Enjoy!

(A SPECIAL NOTE FOR NEW EMAIL SUBSCRIBERS:  THE VIDEO MAY NOT BE VIEWABLE DIRECTLY FROM THE EMAIL THAT YOU GET EACH DAY ON SOME COMPUTERS AND TABLETS.  YOU MUST CLICK ON THE TITLE AT THE TOP OF THE EMAIL TO REACH THE JEWISH HUMOR CENTRAL WEBSITE, FROM WHICH YOU CLICK ON THE PLAY BUTTON IN THE VIDEO IMAGE TO START THE VIDEO.)