Dear Friends of Yiddishkayt,
We wish you a freylekhn Thanksgiving!
This YidBits relays the news of the passing
of a dear friend to Yiddish, the birth of a new one,
and some worthwhile upcoming events.
NEWS
- Eulogy for Blume Katz
- A Student Report from Yiddish Class
UPCOMING EVENTS
- 11/19 - Last Minute Reminder: 99th
Anniversary Workmen's Circle Gala
- 12/1 - "Romania, Romania: Yesterday and
Today"
- 12/16 to 12/21 - CIYCL presents "The Art
of Yiddish"
- 12/21 - "Happy Joyous Khanuke" with the
Klezmatics
EULOGY FOR BLUME KATZ
by Hannah Pollin, Director of Education,
Yiddishkayt LA
As a young Yiddish teacher, I strive to communicate
to my high school students that Yiddish has the
power to change their lives. I show them how the
language can grant them access to places, ideas and
moments in history that would otherwise remain
distant to them. To illustrate my point, I keep a
photograph of me and Blume Katz z’’l on my notebook,
which they can see at the front of the classroom
every day. Abstract arguments about the value of
Yiddish may elude high-schoolers. However, this
photograph communicates to them one very concrete
reward that I gained through the study of
Yiddish—the adventure of befriending Blume Katz, a
women who wrestled with a century of human
experience, and bravely shared her memory with me.
My relationship with Blume was the greatest gift the
Yiddish language could have given me.
I was privileged to visit Blume in Svintsy�n nearly
every Friday of my ten-month Fellowship in Vilna
from August 2004 to May 2005. At first, I sought
information from Blume: What was the Jewish
community like in Vilne and in Svintsy�n? What were
the goals of Weinreich’s Teachers Seminar? Why did
she leave for the Soviet Union in 1935? How did she
stay sane while living in a gulag in Kamchatka? What
was it like to return to her Lithuanian hometown
after the war? How did it feel to still live in her
much-changed hometown today? Soon, Blume became my
close friend and I visited her not so much to gather
information, but to savor her company. I set aside
my research agenda and allowed Blume to guide our
dialogue.
Blume was sophisticated, warm, feisty and authentic.
She was my teacher and my confidante. In the same
moment, she could roll off a detailed account of a
day in 1939, heap butter and cheese onto a
black-bread sandwich for me, and weep while
rereading our favorite Dovid Hofshteyn poem, "in
vinter farnakhtn." Just as she narrated the story of
her life to me, so too did I eventually share my
story with her. When I left Vilna in May 2004, we
planned to coauthor an essay in which we would
parallel our life experiences.
In the following academic year, 2004-2005, Blume and
I did not manage to write this joint essay, as
intended. However, I shared Blume’s address with one
of my most enthusiastic students in Los Angeles.
Using what little Yiddish he knew after three months
of study, he wrote her a letter. In it, he said, “My
name is Zachary and I am creative and strong.”
Unforgettably, Blume responded, speaking to him as
her equal, “Zachary, you write that you are creative
and strong. These are great, if not the best,
qualities a person can have.” As with me, Blume was
able to transcend boundaries of age, culture and, in
this case, geography to make a genuine connection
with my student.
I visited Vilna again this past summer. While there,
I saw Blumke twice, once in the apartment where she
was staying, and once at the opening ceremony of the
VYI Summer Program. Weakened by illness, she had
trouble recalling exactly who I was, but treated me
warmly, kissing me and asking me if the speech she
delivered at the ceremony had been good.
My memories of Blume, and all the big conversations
we had in her tiny kitchen, will nourish me for the
rest of my life. I hope to honor this wise, knowing,
courageous woman by further exploring and sharing
her history and by teaching others in the spirit she
revealed to me Friday after Friday.
(Picture shows Blume Katz and Hannah Pollin at the
2005 Vilnius Yiddish Institute Yiddish Educators
Seminar.)
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A STUDENT REPORT FROM YIDDISH CLASS
by Rebecca Stanley, student at New Jew Community
Hgh School
I will never forget the first day of Yiddish class.
We had just finished learning our first two words in
Yiddish – yo and nein, meaning yes and
no – and had done some exercises using those words.
Then, our
teacher Ms. Pollin (or as she told us to call her,
Lererin Khane), told us to say either yo or
nein.
She started talking to us (in what we guessed was
Yiddish because we couldn’t understand a word of it)
and then she waited for our response. After much
confusion and shouting half of us decided on
nein,
which she agreed with. With that solution, Lererin
Khane continued to talk in Yiddish, and we got more
confused than ever. Finally, fifteen minutes before
class ended, she started talking to us in English,
which I have to say was a great relief for all of
us. She explained that she had asked us if we wanted
her to explain the class structure in English. By
responding nein, we meant that she should not
speak
English to us.
Our Yiddish class was just like a regular language
class. We usually had a story or something of that
kind at the beginning of each chapter. After hearing
the story, we dissected it, using the words we knew,
and learning the new words. We used the new words
over and over again in class, until we knew the
meaning of them (or for me, until I knew the English
meaning in my head). Also, almost every night, we
got about twenty minutes of homework, and about
thirty minutes before tests.
We continued to make fools of ourselves. For
Hanukkah, we sang “Hanukeh, Oy Hanukeh” in
front of
the whole school, which besides the Yiddish class
and Lererin Khane, only about two people
knew the
song, out of a school of about 300. For Purim,
Lererin Khane said that she was the Yiddish
police,
and since no one spoke Yiddish anymore, she was
going to arrest everyone. Then we (as a Yiddish
class) came up to her to say that Yiddish was still
being used, and sang “Heint Iz Purim Brider.” In
between the verses, we explained the meaning of
three Yiddish words to the whole school.
I am extremely glad to be a part of the first high
school Yiddish class in the country last year, and
am happy to be continuing my Yiddish education this
fall.
UPCOMING EVENTS:
99th ANNIVERSARY WORKMEN'S CIRCLE/ARBETER RING
AWARDS CELEBRATION & CONCERT
Sunday, November 19, 2:00 pm
Temple Beth Hillel of the San Fernando Valley
12326 Riverside Drive, Valley Village, CA
91607
Concert and reception with internationally renowned
Yiddish Diva Adrienne Cooper, accompanied by gifted
pianist Marilyn Lerner. Meet Adrienne, Marilyn and
the three community members, Julie Korenstein,
Marvin Zuckerman and Erling (Eli) Dugan, whose
contributions are recognized this year at a gala
reception following the concert.
Tickets to this memorable event and celebration
of Yiddishkayt are $125 a
pair, $65 each for the public, $99/pair, $50 each
for Workmen’s Circle
members
Please contact the office at (310) 552-2007 or
[email protected] to make
a reservation.
----------
"ROMANIA, ROMANIA: YESTERDAY AND TODAY"
Friday, December 1, 2006, 8:00 pm
Valley Beth Shalom
15739 Ventura Boulevard, Encino
(818) 788-6000
Reservations not needed.
An evening of Traditional and New
Klezmer/Yiddish Melodies with Yale Strom (violin,
vocals), Elizabeth Schwartz (vocals, hand
percussion), and Peter Stan (accordion).
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THE ART OF YIDDISH 2006
"STAGE PRESENTS: THE GIFT OF YIDDISH THEATER"
December 16 to 21
Presented by the California Institute for
Yiddish Culture & Language (CIYCL) in
association with Skirball Cultural Center
Reminder: Early Bird discount ends November
22!
Starting with a not-to-be-missed Opening Concert
with Mike Burstyn on the evening of Saturday,
December 16, The Art of Yiddish focuses on one of
the most beloved aspects of Jewish culture --
Yiddish theater.
Morning language classes offer a brilliant crash
course in Yiddish taught by an eminent international
faculty, designed for students of all levels, from
complete novice to the maven (expert). A
conversation-only class will be available too, with
no or a bisl speaking skills required.
Come for a day, a lecture or concert, or the entire
special week!
All events at the Skirball Cultural Center, Los
Angeles.
For details: www.yiddishinstitute.org
or call (310) 745-1190.
----------
THE KLEZMATICS: "HAPPY JOYOUS HANUKKAH"
Thursday, December 21, 2006, 8:00 PM
Walt Disney Concert Hall
111 S. Grand Avenue
Los Angeles, CA
The Klezmatics; special guest, Boo Reiners; special
guest, Susan McKeown.
One of klezmer's leading ensembles, the Klezmatics
blend sounds from
aching shtetl melodies to raucous Latin stomps,
soulful boogie-woogie,
and Yiddish labor songs; they will perform newly
discovered songs by
Woody Guthrie as part of their joyful Hanukkah
celebration.
Click
here for more info on tickets.