All sessions are in Eastern Time (ET) and are recorded and sent to students for review or catching up. Classes are conducted solely on Zoom. Refunds will not be given after the second class.
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WORKERS CIRCLE MEMBER RATES
Member registration rates are $150 per class including song courses, and $310 for intensive courses.
FULL-TIME STUDENTS WHO ARE MEMBERS
We are pleased to offer a 50% class discount for high school students, college students, and Yiddish teachers.Email yiddish@circle.org for more information. Member registration for full-time students and Yiddish teachers is $75.WORKERS CIRCLE NON-MEMBER RATES
Non-member registration rates are $180 per class including song courses, and $360 for intensive courses.
FULL-TIME STUDENTS WHO ARE NON-MEMBERS
We are pleased to offer a 50% class discount for high school students, college students, and Yiddish teachers. Email yiddish@circle.org for more information. Non-member registration for full time-students and Yiddish teachers is $90.
BROWSE CLASSES:
WORKERS CIRCLE MEMBER RATES
Member registration rates are $150 per class including song courses, and $310 for intensive courses.
FULL-TIME STUDENTS WHO ARE MEMBERS
We are pleased to offer a 50% class discount for high school students, college students, and Yiddish teachers. Email yiddish@circle.org for more information. Member registration for full-time students and Yiddish teachers is $75.
WORKERS CIRCLE NON-MEMBER RATES
Non-member registration rates are $180 per class including song courses, and $360 for intensive courses.
FULL-TIME STUDENTS WHO ARE NON-MEMBERS
We are pleased to offer a 50% class discount for high school students, college students, and Yiddish teachers. Email yiddish@circle.org for more information. Non-member registration for full time-students and Yiddish teachers is $90.
All sessions are in Eastern Time (ET) and are recorded and sent to students for review or catching up. Classes are conducted solely on Zoom. Refunds will not be given after the second class.
Email yiddish@circle.org to learn more!
Beginner Classes
If you have any questions about placement, or about course materials, feel free to email yiddish@circle.org
To view course descriptions and instructor bios, please click on + symbol.
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Tuesdays and Thursdays 2:00–3:30PM: June 4, 6, 11, 18, 20
Course Goals: Learn to read printed Yiddish materials in five sessions.
Course Tools: Yiddish street signs, posters, book covers, and alef-beys worksheets provided by the teacher.
Additional Info: No prior knowledge of Yiddish alef-beys required.
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Sundays 6:30–8:00 PM: June 30, July 7, 14, 21, 28
Course Goals: Basic comprehension, reading, writing, speaking, and grammar.
Course Tools: Yiddish: An Introduction to the Language, Literature & Culture, Vol. I by Sheva Zucker (available for purchase here), supplementary basic reading texts and songs.
Additional Info: Additional Info: Previous knowledge of the alef-beys is not required.
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Tuesdays 12:00–1:30PM: July 9, 16, 23, 30, August 6
Course Goals: TThis course introduces students to basic Yiddish reading, writing, listening and speaking skills with a spirit of joy. We will begin learning the fundamentals of Yiddish grammar and make connections between the Yiddish language and Ashkenazi-Jewish culture. There will be a focus on learning the alef-beys.
Course Tools: Yiddish (Volume I) by Sheva Zucker (available for purchase here), along with materials provided by the instructor.
Additional Info: Previous knowledge of the alef-beys not required.
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Wednesday 6:30–8:00PM: July 10, 17, 24, 31, August 7
Course Goals: earn the basics of Yiddish conversation, reading, writing, and listening in a friendly environment. We’ll learn basic expressions, the present tense, days of the week, numbers, classroom objects, colors, and more!
Course Tools: In Eynem, by Asya Vaisman Schulman, Jordan Brown, and Mikhl Yashinsky (available for purchase here), along with materials provided by the instructor.
Additional Info: Students should learn the alef-beys in advance. They can practice their reading using the comic section at the beginning of In Eynem and can use the free alef-beys learning materials, available here.
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Thursdays 1:00–2:30 PM: July 11, 18, 25 August 1, 8
Course Goals: Build your basic reading, speaking, and writing skills and knowledge of some fundamentals of grammar through the communicative approach.
Course Tools: In Eynem, by Asya Vaisman Schulman, Jordan Brown, and Mikhl Yashinsky (available for purchase here), along with materials provided by the instructor.
Additional Info: Students should learn the alef-beys in advance. They can practice their reading using the comic section at the beginning of In Eynem and can use these free alef-beys learning materials, available here. The first two class sessions will include some review of the Yiddish alphabet and pronunciation rules.
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Thursdays 1:00–2:30PM: July 11, 18, 25, August 1, 8
Course Goals: Further develop basic comprehension, reading, writing, and speaking skills.
Course Tools: Colloquial Yiddish by Lily Kahn (Units 7-8). Textbook can be purchased here; audio file here, supplementary reading and listening materials.
Additional Info: No prior knowledge of Yiddish alef-beys required.
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Thursdays 6:30–8:00PM: July 11, 18, 25, August 1, 8
Course Goals: This course serves as a comprehensive review of our previous Beginners I course, covering Units 1-4 of Colloquial Yiddish by Lily Kahn, while introducing new materials and resources provided by the teacher to enrich learning. The course is designed to reinforce and expand on the foundational skills in comprehension, reading, writing, and speaking Yiddish.
Course Tools: Colloquial Yiddish by Lily Kahn (Units 1-40 and supplementary reading and listening materials provided by the teacher. Textbook can be purchased here; audio files, here.
Additional Info: Participants should have a basic knowledge of the Yiddish alef-beys. This course is ideal for returning students who wish to refresh their skills and new students who have a foundational understanding of Yiddish and seek to further develop their abilities.
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Mondays and Thursdays 6:30–8:00PM: July 8, 11, 15, 18, 22, 25, 29, August 1, 5, 8
Course Goals: Build your basic reading, speaking, and writing skills and knowledge of some fundamentals of grammar through the communicative approach. Learn how to greet one another and introduce yourself, discuss your typical day and week, count objects, and describe your surroundings.
Course Tools: In Eynem, by Asya Vaisman Schulman, Jordan Brown, and Mikhl Yashinsky (available for purchase here), along with materials provided by the instructor.
Additional Info: Students should learn the alef-beys in advance. They can practice their reading using the comic section at the beginning of In Eynem and can use these free alef-beys learning materials, available here. The first two class sessions will include some review of the Yiddish alphabet and pronunciation rules.
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Monday and Thursday 12:00–1:30 PM: July 8, 11, 15, 18, 22, 25, 29, August 1, 5, 8
Course Goals: Build your basic reading, speaking, and writing skills and knowledge of some fundamentals of grammar through the communicative approach. Learn how to greet one another and introduce yourself, discuss your typical day and week, count objects, and describe your surroundings.
Course Tools: In Eynem, by Asya Vaisman Schulman, Jordan Brown, and Mikhl Yashinsky (available for purchase here), along with materials provided by the instructor.
Additional Info: Students should learn the alef-beys in advance. They can practice their reading using the comic section at the beginning of In Eynem and can use these free alef-beys learning materials, available here. The first two class sessions will include some review of the Yiddish alphabet and pronunciation rules.
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Tuesdays 1:00PM–2:30PM: June 25, July 2, 9, 16, 23
Course Goals: To learn basic spoken Yiddish in a supportive setting. Listening comprehension will be emphasized in the beginning until students have acquired the necessary vocabulary and confidence to speak on their own.
Course Tools: YiddishPOP.com (Chapter 1) as well as supplemental materials provided by the instructor.
Additional Info: Previous knowledge of the alef-beys not required.
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Wednesdays 1:00–2:30PM: July 10, 17, 24, 31 August 7
Course Goals: Build your basic reading, speaking, and writing skills and knowledge of some fundamentals of grammar through the communicative approach. In this course we will work on Unit 2 (chapters 5 and 6) of In Eynem. We will also do some review of chapter 3. This course is perfect for anyone who has worked through Unit 1 of In Eynem or someone with basic grammar knowledge from other sources.
Course Tools: In Eynem, by Asya Vaisman Schulman, Jordan Brown, and Mikhl Yashinsky (available for purchase here), along with materials provided by the instructor.
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Wednesday 6:30–8:00PM: July 10, 17, 24, 31 August 7
Course Goals: Build your basic reading, speaking, and writing skills and knowledge of some fundamentals of grammar through the communicative approach. Learn how to greet one another and introduce yourself, discuss your typical day and week, count objects, and describe your surroundings. We will pick up in chapter 6.
Course Tools: In Eynem, by Asya Vaisman Schulman, Jordan Brown, and Mikhl Yashinsky (available for purchase here), along with materials provided by the instructor.
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Thursdays 12:00–1:30PM: June 27, July 11, 18, 25, August 1
Course Goals: This course introduces students to Yiddish reading, writing, listening and speaking skills with a spirit of joy. We will continue learning the fundamentals of Yiddish grammar and make connections between the Yiddish language and Ashkenazi-Jewish culture, past and present.
Course Tools: Yiddish: Volume I (from Chapter 5) by Sheva Zucker (available for purchase here), along with materials provided by the instructor.
Additional Info: Previous knowledge of the alef-beys required.
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Mondays and Wednesdays 6:00–7:30 PM: July 1, 3, 8, 10, 15, 17, 22, 24, 29, 31
Course Goals: Build your basic reading, speaking, and writing skills and knowledge of some fundamentals of grammar through the communicative approach.
Course Tools: In Eynem, by Asya Vaisman Schulman, Jordan Brown, and Mikhl Yashinsky (available for purchase here), along with materials provided by the instructor.
Additional Info: New students should have done at least one semester of Yiddish, be able to read the alef-beys, and be able to construct simple sentences in the present tense. We will begin with chapter 3 of In Eynem.
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Tuesdays 1:00–2:30PM: July 2, 9, 16, 23, 30
Course Goals: Further develop basic comprehension, reading, writing, and speaking skills.
Course Tools: Colloquial Yiddish by Lily Kahn (Units 13-14). Textbook can be purchased here, audio files here, supplementary reading and listening materials.
Additional Info: This class is for students who have already done four or more semesters of Yiddish at beginners level, and have a good grasp on present and past tense. Knowledge of the alef-beys required.
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Tuesdays and Thursdays 2:00-3:30 PM: July 2, 9, 11, 16, 18, 23, 25, 30, August 1, 6
Course Goals: Build your basic reading, speaking, and writing skills and knowledge of some fundamentals of grammar through the communicative approach.
Course Tools:InEynem, by Asya Vaisman Schulman, Jordan Brown, and Mikhl Yashinsky (available for purchase here), along with materials provided by the instructor.
Additional Info: Students should have done at least two semesters of Yiddish, be able to read the alef-beys, and be able to construct simple sentences in the present tense. We will begin with chapter 9 of In Eynem.
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Mondays 1:00PM–2:30PM: July 1, 8, 15, 22, 29
Mira Rivka Blum
Course Goals: To achieve basic listening comprehension and conversational abilities in Yiddish without learning the alphabet. Comprehension will be emphasized in the beginning until students have acquired the necessary grammar and vocabulary to speak on their own.
Course Tools: YiddishPOP lessons from chapter 3 and other supplementary texts. Transliterations will be provided when needed.Additional Info: This class is a continuation of Beginner’s Conversational Yiddish. Knowledge of the vocabulary and grammar of YiddishPop chapters 1 & 2 is recommended, but no knowledge of the alef-beys is required.
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Wednesdays 11:00AM–12:30PM: June 26, July 3, 10, 17, 24
Course Goals: To achieve basic listening comprehension and conversational abilities in Yiddish without learning the alphabet. Comprehension will be emphasized in the beginning until students have acquired the necessary grammar and vocabulary to speak on their own.
Course Tools: YiddishPOP lessons from chapters 5 and other supplementary texts. Transliterations will be provided when needed.
Additional Info: This class is a continuation of Beginner’s Conversational Yiddish II. Knowledge of the vocabulary and grammar of YiddishPop chapters 1-3.2 is recommended, but no knowledge of the alef-beys is required.
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Wednesdays 1:00–2:30 PM: June 26, July 3, 17, 24, 31
Dovid Pliskin was a Jewish communist, anti-fascist and a children's poet who in the 1930s became well-known on the Jewish left for his poems depicting a better world, often through children's eyes. When the Nazis invaded Paris in 1940, Pliskin joined the underground resistance as part of the team that helped put together clandestine newspapers and pamphlets in Yiddish. He was arrested in 1942 in the famous Velodrome d'Hiver round ups and deported to his death.
Course Goals: Improve your Yiddish by reading the simple poems of Dovid Pliskin. The focus will be on grammar, vocabulary and fluency of reading. Students will be given the opportunity to choose and practice reciting one of Pliskin's poems. We will also dedicate some time to discussing his life and the movement he was part of.
Course Tools: Short grammar and vocabulary exercises based on the poems. All materials will be provided by the teacher.
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Tuesdays 3:00–4:30PM: July 2, 9, 16, 23, 30
Course Goals: Develop speaking and listening skills. Improve fluency in talking about everyday life topics.
Course Tools: Readings and vocabulary lists in Hebrew letters and in transliteration provided by the instructor. Short audio and video recordings.
Additional Info: Students should have a basic grasp of Yiddish conversational skills.
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Tuesday 6:30–8:00PM: July 2, 9, 16, 23, 30
Course Goals: Progress your Yiddish through conversation about your daily life, your opinions, and past experiences. Practice your listening, speaking, and pronunciation.
Course Tools: No textbook needed. Any supplementary materials will be provided by the instructor.
Additional Info: Must be comfortable with class being almost entirely in Yiddish. Students should have a basic grasp on present, past, and future tense. Knowledge of the alef-beys not required.
Register Today
IN-PERSON CLASSES
If you have any questions about placement, or about course materials, feel free to email yiddish@circle.org
To view course descriptions and instructor bios, please click on + symbol.
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Wednesdays 11:00AM–12:30PM: July 3, 17, 24, 31, August 7
Course Goals: Reading and interrogating excerpts from women writers in Yiddish
Course Tools: Texts, background materials, and glossaries provided by the instructor.
Additional Info: This course will be taught entirely in Yiddish.
Register Today
To view course descriptions and instructor bios, please click on + symbol.
InTERMEDIATE Classes
If you have any questions about placement, or about course materials, feel free to email yiddish@circle.org
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Tuesdays 6:30–8:00PM: July 16, 23, 30, August 6, 13
Course Goals: Improving aural comprehension, reading, writing, speaking, and grammar.
Course Tools: Yiddish: An Introduction to the Language, Literature & Culture Vol. II by Sheva Zucker (Starting with Unit 13), supplementary videos and readings including poetry and songs.
Additional Info: Requirements include previous knowledge of basic Yiddish grammar, including past tense and use of cases, and good reading and comprehension skills.
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Tuesdays 4:00–5:30 PM: July 2, 9, 16, 23, 30
Course Goals: Continuing practice in listening, reading, speaking and writing Yiddish in a variety of situations.
Course Tools: Yiddish: An Introduction to the Language, Literature & Culture, Vol. II by Sheva Zucker (Starting from Unit 18A), supplementary basic reading texts & songs.
Additional Info: Previous knowledge of Yiddish is required.
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Thursdays 4:00–5:30 PM: July 11, 18, 25, August 1, 8
Course Goals: Intensive practice in listening, reading, speaking and writing Yiddish in varied settings.
Course Tools: Yiddish II by Mordkhe Schaechter (Starting from Unit 5), songs and specialized handouts.
Additional Info: This course will be taught entirely in Yiddish.
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Tuesdays and Thursdays 1:00–2:30 PM: June 27, July 2, 9, 11, 16, 18, 23, 25, 30, August 1
Course Goals: Intensive practice in listening, reading, speaking and writing Yiddish in varied settings.
Course Tools: Yiddish II by Mordkhe Schaechter (Starting from Unit 9), songs and specialized handouts.
Additional Info: This course will be taught entirely in Yiddish.
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Wednesdays 3:00–4:30PM: July 10, 17, 24, 31 August 7
Course Goals: Improve speaking and listening skills, with the focus on developing vocabulary.
Course Tools: Readings and vocabulary lists in Hebrew letters and in transliteration provided by the instructor. Audio and video recordings in different dialects.
Additional Info: Previous knowledge of Yiddish is required.
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Tuesdays 1:30–3:00 PM: July 16, 23, 30, August 6, 13
Course Goals: To explore a range of modern Yiddish poetry at some depth through the readings of selected works by seven renowned poets, including: H. Levick, Avrom Sutzkever, Itzik Manger, Kadya Molodowski, Rachel Korn, Rokhl Fishman, Rivka Basman Ben-Chaim. Students participate in discussions regarding poetic themes, form, language, symbolism, and biographical and historical context.
Course Tools: Handouts of selected Yiddish poetry.
Additional Info: Requirements include previous knowledge of Yiddish at least on an Intermediate level, with good reading and comprehension skills.
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Wednesdays 11:00AM–12:30PM: July 10, 17, 24, 31, August 7
Course Goals: Do you want your spoken Yiddish to have a more of a Yidishn tam? The joy of Yiddish lies in its emotional, sweet and warm melody. Improve and make more confident your use of Yiddish speech’s unique music. The course covers the theoretical and practical aspects of Yiddish intonation, and compares Yiddish’s intonation with that of other languages such as English, Spanish, and Hebrew.
Course Tools: The exercises come from Itsik Manger’s famous play Hotsmakh-shpil: oyf a motif fun Goldfaden and from “Yiddish Intonation in 10 Classes” by Daniel Galay.
Additional Info: Take a look at the YouTube videos under the title “Yiddish Zingt Zikh” here.
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Thursdays 11:00AM–12:30PM: July 11, 18, 25, August 1, 8
Course Goals: To strengthen one’s understanding of both Yiddish and Yiddishkeyt by learning the basics of the Jewish yom toyvim entirely in Yiddish. Each class will focus on a different holiday, where we will delve into some history and discuss various traditions such as foods, songs, etc. Participants are encouraged to participate and share their own knowledge and/or experiences with the class.
Course Tools: Dos Idishe Yor by Lipa Friedman; YiddishPop episodes on Sukkos, Purim, yomim noranim, and Pesakh. Misc. holiday-themed songs.
Additional Info: Reading ability using the alef-beys is highly recommended.
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Thursdays 4:00–5:30 PM: June 27, July 11, 18, 25, August 1
Course Goals:
This course will enjoy the songs of Mordechai Gebirtig (Kraków, 1877-1942) and Mark M. Warshawsky (Odessa, 1848-1907), including those that are not well known.
We will read the songs in the original Yiddish and discuss them in English, concentrating both on grammar and insights into Jewish life. In the cases where we have melodies (all of Gebirtig, for example), we will also sing the songs.
Course Tools:
The songs are available in scans from the Yiddish Book Center, and the instructor will also prepare the songs as web pages and links to recordings.
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Sundays 12:00-1:30 PM June 30 July 14, 21, 28, August 4
Course Goals: A summer course to get you ready for the High Holidays. In the month of Elul, leading up to Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, Jews used to flock to the cemetery, to talk to their ancestors and ask them for help on the coming day of judgement. In many parts of Eastern Europe, Jewish women would measure the cemetery - known in Yiddish as feldmestn. They would then use the thread to make special neshome likht – soul candles for Yom Kippur.
Course Tools: In this course we will read sources relating to this practice from Yiddish memoirs, fiction, ethnographic studies and yizker bikher (memorial books). All materials will be provided by the teacher.
Additional Info: Designed for intermediate speakers, the course will be conducted in Yiddish, with explanations in English when needed. Although the focus is on learning about the practices of cemetery measuring and making neshome likht, we will also pay attention to language as we study the sources.
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Tuesdays 8:30–9:30PM: July 2, 9, 16, 23, 30
Course Goals: Develop Yiddish skills while discussing topics in sustainability, climate change, and environmental justice.
Course Tools: References will often be made to relevant materials (usually not in Yiddish), but no preparation is necessary outside of class.
Additional Info: This course will be conducted in Yiddish. It is an informal discussion group, and the specific content of the discussion will depend a lot on the interests and participation of the students, though just listening in is fine, too. Students can join at any time throughout the semester, but sessions will not be recorded. This is a free course, but contributions are welcome and/or we encourage you to take this course in addition to one of the other courses in our catalog.
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Tuesdays 11:00AM–12:30 PM: July 2, 9, 16, 23, 30
Course Tools: Conversation practice for those who are at a communicative level but would like to improve their fluency, vocabulary, and idiomatic expression.
Additional Info: This course is conducted entirely in Yiddish.
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Thursday 12:00pm-1:30pm July 11, 18, 25, August 1, 8
Course Goals: Get to know these poets by examining their lives and works. Discuss the thoughts and feelings they evoke.
Course Materials: Texts, recordings, film clips to be provided by the instructor.
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Wednesdays 1:00–2:30 PM: July 17, 24, 31, August 7, 14
Course Goals: To continue the study of the fundamentals of Yiddish: vocabulary, reading, writing, speaking and particularly grammar. We will begin with a review of elementary grammar, as needed/requested.
Course Tools: Yiddish: An Introduction to the Language, Literature & Culture, Vol. II by Sheva Zucker (starting with Unit 12), available at the first class.. Students must also purchase the Answer Key to Vol. II from the instructor. The recordings are recommended but optional.
Additional Info: This course will be taught almost entirely in Yiddish and is designed for those with approximately 1.5–2 years of Yiddish language study, and who have completed Yiddish: An Introduction to the Language, Literature & Culture, Vol. I by Sheva Zucker, or the equivalent.
Register Today
To view course descriptions and instructor bios, please click on + symbol.
ADVANCED Classes
If you have any questions about placement, or about course materials, feel free to email yiddish@circle.org
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Monday 1:30–3:00PM: July 15, 22, 29; August 5, 12
Course Goals: Comprehension, reading, writing, speaking, and grammar review. This course will aim to solidify grammar studied (or missed) in Volume II of Yiddish: An Introduction to the Language, Literature & Culture by Sheva Zucker or the equivalent and we will also continue with new grammar.
Course Tools: Delightful vignettes of Jerusalem, Australia and Poland from Yosl Birshteyn’s Dayne geslekh — Yerusholaim. Materials will be provided by the teacher.
Additional Info: This course will be taught entirely in Yiddish and is designed for those with approximately three-four years of Yiddish language study or who have completed Yiddish: An Introduction to the Language, Literature & Culture, Vol. II or the equivalent. We will concentrate on reviewing grammar, based on students’ requests and needs, and new grammar that arises from the texts. You need not have taken the spring course to join this class.
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Sundays 10:00–11:30AM: July 7, 14, 21, 28, August 4
Course Goals: The course represents a group biography of five Yiddish authors from the perilous literary landscape of the Stalinist era. Their longtime or lifelong literary home was in Kyiv, the capital of Soviet Ukraine since 1934: Avrom Abchuk (arrested and executed in 1937), Chaim Gildin (arrested in 1940; died in a camp in 1943), Itsik Kipnis (arrested in 1949; released in 1955), Rive Balyasne (arrested in 1952; released in 1955), and Hirsh Bloshteyn. While Abchuk and Gildin fell victims of repressions in the years, when prosecution of Yiddish writers rarely occurred in Ukraine, Kipnis and Balyasne suffered in a purge directed specifically against Yiddish cultural figures. Bloshteyn did not experience incarceration during the Stalinist period. Quite the opposite, he left a trace in the history of Soviet Yiddish literary life as an enthusiastic agent of the secret police. The rationale of the focus on Kyiv is that the city was the primary fountainhead for Yiddish literary creativity in the early post-revolutionary period, and remained a leading Soviet Yiddish literary center, second in importance only to Moscow. Highly significant is that Ukraine’s archives have been much easier accessible than the similar archives in Russia and Belarus.
Additional Info: This course is taught entirely in Yiddish.
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Sundays 12:00–1:30PM: June 30 July 7, 21, 28, August 4
Course Goals: This course will be a deep dive into the Yiddish dialect of Warsaw. The Warsaw Jewish community was so large (the largest in Europe) that its Yiddish dialect had its own profile, significantly different from the rest of Polish Yiddish (much as New Yorkese was once different from the English spoken right outside New York). The poor Jews and underworld types of Krochmalna Street spoke differently from the farlitvisht intelligentsia. Many Warsaw Jews mainly spoke Polish, so that the Warsaw dialect was perhaps more thoroughly Polonized than elsewhere. This course will detail the linguistic features of Warsaw Yiddish and analyze texts and recordings in the dialect, especially the stories and speeches by Isaac Bashevis Singer.
Course Tools: Transcriptions from Prof. Ewa Geller's collection. Original recordings of interviews from the Language and Culture Atlas of Ashkenazic Jewry. Texts and recordings of Isaac Bashevis Singer.
Additional Info: This course is taught entirely in Yiddish.
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Mondays 12:00–1:30 PM: July 1, 8, 15, 22, 29
While some Yiddish poets were frum or modern practicing Jews, their peers en masse became secular modernists partly or fully detached from the very same form of traditional Jewish way of life in which they were reared in their childhood and teenager years.
Their journey from traditional Yidishkayt to modern cultural “Yiddishkeit” brought many of them to deal not with the practical cult matters but with modern, principally secular conceptions of Faith and Belief on the broad spectrum between Atheism and Agnosticism. It also made some of them to argue and wrestle with imagined, reimagined perhaps even fictional, but nearly always Jewish God. This type of arguing with, complaining to/on, and even chastising the Creator was figured prominently among at least three major Yiddish poets in America – shortly before, during and after the Holocaust years when millions of native Yiddish speaking European Jews were murdered in Europe.
In five sessions, each focusing on a separate relevant theme we will read, delve into, and discuss—entirely in Yiddish—about 30 poems culled from the vast body of work of the following seventeen poets: Shimen Frug, Yehoash, Arn Zeitlin, Dovid Einhorn, Joseph Rolnik, Moyshe-Leyb Halpern, Aaron Glatz-Leyeles, Abraham Joshua Heschel, H. Leivik, Kadia Molodowsky, Yankev Glatshteyn, Miriam Ulinover, Shmuel Halkin, Yosef Keler, Binem Heller, Rivka Basman Ben-Hayim, and Abraham Sutzkever.
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Mondays 3:30–5:00 PM: July 1, 8, 15, 22, 29
Course Goals: 1) to show how Yiddish borrowed scientific and technological terms from dozens of languages, adapting them into Yiddish; 2) to discuss Yiddish word creation mechanisms using them to develop the skill of deciphering unfamiliar words; 3) to considerably enhance the students’ personal command of this vocabulary.
Course Tools: Relevant fragments of the tutor’s PhD thesis (approved by Bar Ilan University in 2023), excerpts from literature rich in terminology, as well as glossaries of various origin with English, Hebrew, Russian, German and French equivalents.
Additional Info: This class is taught in Yiddish; however, difficult issues may be explained in other languages, if necessary.
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Tuesdays 1:30–3:00PM: July 2, 9, 16, 23, 30
Course Goals: Hasidus left an impression on Yiddish literature. Many writers were from Hasidic homes and communities, and in the 19th century they left the rabbinic hegemony and joined socialist circles, heretical and national/Haskalah groups and parties. Over time, there grew a Neo-Hasidic movement through Peretz who rescued the eternal values of the Hasidic movement from the first half of the 18th century.
Additional Info: This course is taught entirely in Yiddish.
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Thursdays 1:30–3:00 PM: July 11, 18, 25, August 1, 8
Course Goals: There are no more harrowing stories in Yiddish than the tales of pogroms and sexual violence published by Lamed Shapiro in the first decades of the twentieth century, but Shapiro’s influence and achievement extend far beyond pogroms. A pioneering modernist, Shapiro was arguably the greatest Yiddish prose stylist of the century and the author of some of the greatest short stories in the language. In addition to his better-known work, we will also look at some of the later, less violent, American-oriented work of the writer whom novelist Isaiah Spiegel once called “the Yiddish Kafka.” The course will be conducted entirely in Yiddish. If you aren’t familiar with this material, prepare to be upset.
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Thursdays 6:30–8:00PM: July 11, 18, 25, August 1, 8
Course Goals: New times and new ideologies led Bergelson to focus in his writings on the struggles of a generation which sought new answers to the age-old Jewish question of redemption. And he became a victim of his search. He was arrested in 1948 and was killed along with the other Jewish Soviet writers in 1952.
In 5 lessons, we will read works that represent a few periods in his literary journey.
Additional Info: This course is taught entirely in Yiddish.
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To view course descriptions and instructor bios, please click on + symbol.
Klezmer/YIDDISH SONG
If you have any questions about placement, or about course materials, feel free to email yiddish@circle.org.
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Mondays 12:00–1:30 PM: July 8, 15, 22, 29, August 5
Course Goals: This workshop takes you on the road of exploration of the Yiddish song, old and modern, created by known and anonymous authors, covering many different themes. Each class opens with a nign — a wordless Hassidic tune, which serves as a form in introduction and meditation, and followed by several hand-picked songs, typically united by a certain theme – either a topic (love, labor, food, fashion) or a creator behind them (Gebirtig, Goldfaden, as well as some lesser known names).
The workshop will broaden your knowledge of the Yiddish songs, their creators, performers, historic recordings, and connections between different genres of Jewish and related music. It is just as about “how” as it is about “what.”
Course Tools: You will receive a printable PDF book before each session.
Additional Info: Open to everyone, no previous experience necessary. Ability to read music and knowledge of Yiddish will help but are not required.
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Mondays 1:45–3:00PM: July 1, 8, 15, 22, 29
Join me in an intensive 5-week training session in which we approach a tune from every angle. For each tune we’ll explore ornamentation, melody variations, phrasing, harmony choices, fills and turnarounds and accompaniment secrets. Regardless of whether you are used to playing only melody or only accompaniment in your everyday life, in this workshop you’ll be doing both. We’ll work on some learning and practicing techniques that are designed to help us memorize quickly and feel comfortable in most situations, but also to know what to do when confronted with a tune we’ve never seen or heard before in order to "fake it" with artistry, whether in a jam session, at a party, or playing for dancing. Beyond all this, we’ll have fun!
Course Tools: Syllabus, teaching materials, articles and some recordings will be provided as needed.
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Mondays 6:30–8:00PM: July 1, 8, 15, 22, 29
Course Goals: Aaron Alexander will teach a klezmer workshop focusing on material from the German Goldenshteyn repertoire, on which he played poyk. We will learn some of Aaron’s favorite tunes from the two recordings: “A Living Tradition”, and the legacy recording from his repertoire, “The Tradition Lives”. Aaron played on both recordings and looks forward to digging into this repertoire again. He teaches melodies on fidl and we learn forms, harmony, rhythms, ornamentation, context and more.
Course Tools: Charts in proper keys will be provided as well as play-along mp3s in different tempi.
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Tuesdays 12:00–1:30PM: July 2, 9, 16, 23, 30
The recent resurgent interest in the Jewish Labor Bund prompts this exploration of Yiddish songs associated with the Bund in the lives of a range of Yiddish (song)writers and cultural activists, among them: Sh. Ansky, Avrom Reyzen, Mordkhe Gebirtig, H. Leivick, Yosl Mlotek, Adrienne Cooper, Josh Waletzky. Revolutionary songs, workers songs, love songs, children's songs, lullabys, songs about everyday life – we will explore a rich repertoire of Yiddish song through the lens of the Bund and its cultural institutions. We will learn about the songs – and also learn to sing them! People with all levels of Yiddish fluency (from zero to native speaker) are welcome — all lyrics will be shared in transliteration, אותיות , and translation. People with or without musical training are welcome — we will learn all songs by ear.