The National Authority for Yiddish Culture - The National Authority for Yiddish Culture

Another year has passed, the holidays are coming! And we are once again preparing for the Storytelling Festival, directed by Yossi Alfi and starred by Lia Kenig, which will be held on Monday, October 2, 2023, Sukkot, at 4 pm at the Givatayim Theater.

Winners of the Yiddish Authority's Lifetime Achievement Award for 2023

The National Authority for Yiddish Culture yearly awards prizes to prominent figures in the fields of arts and literature who contribute significantly to Yiddish language and culture in Israel.
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Prof. Wolf Moskovich - linguist and researcher

Gadi Yagil - actor and comedian

Lifetime Achievement Award for 2022

The latest ceremony took place on December 14, 2022 in Jerusalem in the presence of Mr. Yitzhak Herzog, President of the State of Israel.

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The lifetime achievement award handed to Mendy Kahana, curator of Yiddish books, founder of the "Young Yiddish" society. Photo credit: Amos Ben Gershom

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- Leonid Rachman receives a certificate of appreciation for editing and proofreading dozens of Yiddish sprays. Photo credit: Amos Ben Gershom

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The lifetime achievement award handed to Benny Mer, a writer, editor, journalist and translator. Photo credit: Amos Ben Gershom

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The singing group "Kinnor David" and its soloist Shulamit Reznik entertained the evening with a string of Yiddish songs. Photo credit: Amos Ben Gershom

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Dr. Sara Ziv, the chairman of the Authority, gives the president an envelope with a stamp in honor of Yiddish. Photo credit: Yossi Zamir

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Judit Solel, CEO of the Authority with the award winners. Photo credit: Yossi Zamir

During the coronavirus pandemic,the Authority continues to be committed to the elderly population in Israel, working to provide them with the touch and joy of Yiddish culture. In light of the restrictions, we have been organizing performances by artists in the courtyards of nursing homes and sheltered housing, so that the residents can safely listen and join in the singing from the windows or balconies.

Pictured below: Nursing homes in Herzliya, Jerusalem, and Rechovot

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Ya'akov Glatstein, American-Yiddish poet:

"Talk to me in Yiddish, my Jewish land, and I'll certainly address you in Hebrew"

רעד צו מיר ייִדיש, מײַן ייִדיש לאַנד.
און איך וועל צו דיר רעדן עבֿרית ממילא.
אַבֿרהם מיט שׂרהן קומען מיר אַנטקעגן
פֿון דער מערת־המכפּלה...

"גאָט־העלף, זיידע־באָבעשי."
אַבֿרהם גייט שווײַגנדיק די גאַס אַריבער.
"נעם זיך ניט צום האַרצן, יאַנקעלע,"
זאָגט שׂרה, "ער איז מבֿין כּל דיבור."

"ס'איז אַזוי דאָ אָנגענומען -
מאַנצביל דאַרף ייִדיש שטומען.
אָבער אַ ייִדענע פֿון ייִדיש־טײַטש
האָט אויך עפּעס־וואָס צו זאָגן.
זאָג איך דיר: גאָט־העלף, מײַן קינד,
זאָלסט מיר אַל־דאָס־גוטס פֿאַרמאָגן.

גלייב מיר, יאַנקעלע, ס'וועט קומען אַ צײַט
אין חמשה־עשׂר־לאַנד פֿון ראָזשינקעס און פֿײַגן,
אַז אַלע עבֿרית־קינדער
וועלן אויפֿהערן ייִדיש שווײַגן.

און אַז זיי וועלן זיך צערעדן,
וועלן זיי, וועט אַ נחת זײַן צו הערן.
אַזוי וועט געשען, יאַנקעלע מײַן קינד,
אַ שבֿועה קען איך דיר שווערן."

דער זיידע אַבֿרהם פֿון יענער זײַט גאַס
ווינקט צו מיר און פֿאָכעט מיט דער פֿאַטשיילע...
אָ, רעד צו מיר ייִדיש, מײַן ייִדיש לאַנד,
און איך וועל צו דיר רעדן עבֿרית, ממילא!

On Wednesday, September 27, 2023 the Tel-Aviv-based Leyvik-hoyz (Beit Leivick) Yiddish Cultural Center will host a Yiddish-language evening “Lomir khapn a shmues af mame-loshn” ("Let's exchange words in our mother tongue") at 5pm. The participants will be divided into groups according to their language proficiency levels.The event, hosted by Daniel Galay, will take place in Zoom. Admission is free. In order to enter, please click the link https://fb.me/e/3QQldjpHU

On September 7, 2023 a Yiddish song festival took place in the Ashkelon Congress Center

On June 22, 2023 the 27th annual Festival of Israeli Yiddish Choirs took place at the Ashkelon Congress Center

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Choir "Sholem" from Be'er Sheva

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Choir "Dos yidishe zemerl" and children ensemble "Kinor David" from Ashkelon

A new book issued with the Authority's support:

"I Dream in Yiddish" by the actor Shmulik Atzmon-Wirtzer

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For more info and purchasing: https://www.carmelph.co.il/product/i-dream-in-yiddish

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The laureates of our fourth (2022) Yiddish short story content

In 2019, Israel’s National Authority for Yiddish Culture launched the first government-sponsored Yiddish-language writing contest ever held in the Jewish state.

The fourth contest took place in 2022. The prize winners were:

* Avrom Makovetzky for "Mi keamkho Isroel - oder, der hunt fun dem tzveytn gorn"

* Aya Yas for "Eyer"

Click the stories' names to read them!

For details on 2019-2021 contests, click here.

On August 10, 2022, our literary and musical program marked the 70th anniversary of the murder of Yiddish writers and other members of the Jewish Anti-Fascist Committee in the Soviet Union.

"Me ken nit mit pulver dershisn keyn lider" ("Poems cannot be murdered with gunpowder"), as a Yiddish poet Shike Driz put it.

Keynote lecturer: Dr. Mordechai Yushkovsky.

In the artistic program: singer Marina Yakubovich, and singer Ruth Levin accompanied by the guitar of Alexey Belousov.

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A memorial plaque in the Rasko neighborhood in Jerusalem

Yiddish Radio Show – also online

A weekly radio program in Yiddish, sponsored by the National Authority for Yiddish Culture, is broadcast in Israel on public radio at the following frequencies:

104.9 and 105.3 FM (Kan Tarbut) every Friday at 2 p.m.; 100.3, 100.5 and 101.3 FM (Kan REKA) every Friday at 4 p.m. as well as at 10 p.m. on Saturdays.

Listeners can now tune in online at: http://www.kan.org.il/Radio/program.aspx/?progId=1136.

Listen and enjoy! The Authority welcomes feedback by email

Yosef Papernikov’s Yiddish song "Zol zayn" ("Let it be"), performed by Yoni Eilat. The clip has been sponsored by the Authority

The National Authority for Yiddish Culture was established following the Knesset's resolution authorizing it in 1996.

The Authority's mission includes:

* Deepening acquaintance with and increasing exposure of the Israeli public to Yiddish culture in all of its forms;

* Fostering research of Yiddish culture;

* Promoting the instruction of Yiddish language and literature;

* Encouraging the creation of contemporary works in Yiddish, including literature, poetry, theater, etc.

* Compiling, documenting and cataloguing oral folklore and written culture in Yiddish;

* Publishing selected works both in their original Yiddish versions and in Hebrew translation;

* Organizing events for people of all ages, transmitting Yiddish heritage from generation to generation.

The Authority's activities are focused mainly inside the State of Israel, but it also promotes collaboration with Yiddish cultural institutions around the world.

See two reports on our activity published in the leading Yiddish-language paper "Forverts", NY: from August 21, 2015 and from January 10, 2016.

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Virtual Yiddish keyboard

Ya'akov Glatstein, American-Yiddish poet:

"Talk to me in Yiddish, my Jewish land, and I'll certainly address you in Hebrew"