Interest in Yiddish a sign of the times

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This article was published 25/01/2025 (253 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

“Yiddish is not just about the past.”

That simple and profound quotation, from the documentary film Welcome to Yiddishland, explains exactly why the Rady JCC, for the second year in a row, is hosting Put a Yid on It — A Festival of New Yiddish Culture.

The festival, which runs from Jan. 26 to Feb. 8, features speakers, panel discussions, concerts and movie screenings, all of which celebrate the ancient language, its history, its significance and its revival.

Those screenings include two black and white films from the Golden Age of Yiddish cinema, the 1937 musical Jester and the Molly Picon starring-feature Mamele. It also includes the above mentioned Welcome to Yiddishland, a documentary about the Yiddish Renaissance and the international artists intent on creating new Yiddish art for the 21st century.

When the Rady JCC launched the festival last year, it was with the hope of attracting a diverse audience from both within the local Jewish community and beyond it.

“The goal was an intergenerational festival with younger people, most of whom don’t speak the language, joining older folks who may have grown up in Yiddish homes,” explains Shira Newman, the Rady’s coordinator of arts and older adult programming.

“We wanted it to be fun for both Jews and people from the broader Winnipeg community.”

While Newman now admits that she wasn’t sure what to expect in terms of interest and attendance, the inaugural festival attracted large and diverse audiences.

“The feedback after was really powerful,” Newman says. “I heard all throughout the festival and afterward that people really felt transported to a different time and place. Many people were really deeply touched. It seemed to be very healing to be able to celebrate Jewish culture in this way that highlights community, connection and creativity and brings people of different ages and backgrounds together to laugh and dance.”

That overwhelming positive response made it an easy decision for Newman to organize the festival again this year.

Considering the lineup she has put in place — which includes a finale concert by traditional Yiddish psychedelic rock band Forshpil, from Latvia — she expects the excitement and interest from local audiences might even surpass what was experienced in 2024.

Forshpil plays Saturday, Feb. 8 at the West End Cultural Centre.

Winnipeggers’ interest in Yiddishkeit, it should be noted, is being matched around the world at a time when young people in general seem eager to pay homage to the languages and cultures that informed where they came from and who they have become.

“I think we are in a moment where people are reclaiming language in so many different communities,” Newman says. “I think many of us have realized how much our cultures, our stories, our sense of self are carried in our languages, and refuse to lose those things.”

That is one of the reasons why Yiddish festivals and conferences have become so popular across North America and Europe in recent years. Even with a rising tide of global antisemitism — or perhaps because of it — emotive and emotional displays of Yiddishkeit have brought diverse crowds together in venues as distant and different as the Berkshires and Berlin.

The fact that the Yiddish language and culture can be so widely celebrated, even after the number of Yiddish speakers dwindled from eleven million on the eve of the Holocaust to about a quarter million today, has much to do with the efforts of the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research.

Originally established as a scientific institute in Vilna, Poland in 1925, YIVO was forced to relocate to New York City during the Second World War and evolved there into a dynamic historical research and educational centre and archive.

A hundred years after its founding, YIVO remains the primary repository of knowledge related to the Yiddish language and culture and the 1,000-year history of Eastern European Jewish life.

In celebration of its centennial, YIVO has a vast array of programs and special events planned, including courses, study tours and speakers. Some of its programming will be available online, while others will require in-person attendance.

Winnipeggers who can’t make it to New York City, however, need not despair. After all, the Put A Yid on It festival is back right here at home.

“The most important thing for me is that people know this festival is for everyone,” Newman says. “You don’t need to be Jewish and you definitely don’t need to speak Yiddish. It’s a festival of exploration and celebration of this beautiful culture, and you don’t need to understand it to enjoy every part of the festival!”

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