Slingshot 08/09
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 We have been named one of North America's 50 most innovative Jewish nonprofits in Slingshot 08/09, a resource guide to Jewish innovation.
Learn more.
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Dear Friend of Yiddishkayt,
All of us here at Yiddishkayt wish you and your family a happy, healthy and sweet new year, leshone toyve.
With real excitement we can tell you that 5769 is already off to a great start for Yiddishkayt. Last week we were named one of the nation's 50 most  innovative Jewish nonprofits in Slingshot 08/09, a resource guide to Jewish innovation. The annual guidebook features programs, organizations, and leaders that take innovative approaches to addressing age-old concerns of identity and community in Jewish life today, reinvigorating Jewish expression and practice in the areas of ritual,
history, language, liturgy, culture, and tikkun olam, healing the
planet.
The extensive evaluation process is overseen by 25 foundation professionals who pour over hundreds of nominees from every corner of America. Yiddishkayt is thrilled to join the ranks of innovative nonprofits listed in Slingshot 08/09,
including Birthright Israel, American Jewish World Service, Foundation
for Jewish Culture, Jewish World Watch, JDub Records, and Progressive
Jewish Alliance.
This incredible honor recognizes what you already know: that our Yiddish heritage is priceless. When we celebrate that heritage and find ways for new generations to connect to Yiddish we offer a profound pathway to Jewish identity. As one evaluator noted, Yiddishkayt "is a beautiful and novel approach to Jewish identity-building..."
Last Saturday, The ¡Viva Yiddish! Project brought together an amazingly talented and diverse group of musicians to ask the question: what is the Yiddish-Latino sound of Los Angeles? Their answer was an extraordinary journey through Yiddish, Spanish, klezmer, banda, rock-en-español, and more. A diverse crowd of 1,500 Angelenos witnessed the historical fusion of cultures, with roots for the project springing from Eastern Europe, Buenos Aires, Mexico, and Boyle Heights.
The ¡Viva Yiddish! Project invited a group of artists to take their own existing musical traditions and forge new connections. It's this sort of creative approach to exploring Jewish culture and engaging diverse audiences that led to our selection for Slingshot 08/09. As pointed out in Slingshot, Yiddishkayt is "bringing Yiddish culture into mainstream consciousness where unaffiliated Jews can celebrate their identity and heritage with easy access and unabashed pride."
 At Yiddishkayt, we don't see Yiddish as dusty or old or in need of revitalization. We see a thousand years of language, culture and history - marked by a cultural dynamism and Jewish identity that remains relevant today. We see our efforts as a humble link in the chain of Yiddish history - not the final link - and not a link anywhere near the end. Our work seeks to keep alive not only the traditions but the creativity of Yiddish culture, providing opportunities for Yiddish to continue evolving and adapting as it always has. We have witnessed the fact that once people tune into the cultural stream of Yiddish, they form a deep identity with their history that can't be found anywhere else. This is why Yiddishkayt believes that there is more to come, that the story of Yiddish is far from over.
Please consider making a donation today to help bring Yiddish into the new year. Your support is critical as we recover financially from this successful concert and focus on our future endeavors.
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* The banner in this yidbits features illustrations from Zunland, a Yiddish literary journal published in Los Angeles in the early 1920s. The orange tree designs were used on the cover of the 1925 "California Jewish Diamond Jubilee" publication, celebrating the first 75 years of Jewish California.
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Yiddishkayt Los Angeles
www.yiddishkaytla.org
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