Across a century, the Call chronicled the Jewish experience in America — from presidential elections to labor and civil rights, from debates on assimilation and secularism to reflections on the Holocaust and the plight of Jewish refugees.
This November, we’re opening the doors. We’ve built a fully digitized, keyword searchable Call Archive that will be accessible to all.
Join us on Monday, November 10, at 7:00 PM ET on Zoom for Living History: Voices from the Call Archive — a one-hour event featuring dramatic readings by acclaimed actors, including Broadway and screen star Jessica Hecht, recipient of the Workers Circle Activism Award and currently starring in Eleanor the Great; educator and off-Broadway Director Matt Gehring, actor and artist Malky Goldman; and Yiddish actor Motl Didner. Together, they’ll bring two powerful archival pieces to life: one celebrating Yiddish culture and another championing social justice.
Experience history as it was written — and rediscover the voices that shaped a century of Jewish life and thought.
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Matthew “Motl” Didner is the Associate Artistic Director of the National Yiddish Theatre Folksbiene. He is the Associate Director of Fiddler on the Roof in Yiddish (Winner of Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle and Lucille Lortel Awards) directed by Joel Grey, co-director of The Golden Bride (Drama Desk Award Nominated; Outstanding Revival of a Musical and Outstanding Direction of a Musical). Other directing credits include The Sorceress, Fyvush Finkel Live! (Drama Desk Award–nominated: Outstanding Musical Revue), Robert Brustein’s The King of Second Avenue, The Megile of Itzik Manger, The Pushcart Peddlers, The Marriage Contract. He was a Yiddish Coach for The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, An American Pickle starring Seth Rogen, The Immigrant at George Street Playhouse, and New York City Opera’s Angels in America. Motl was an inaugural Translation Fellow at the Yiddish Book Center and teaches Yiddish language classes and theater workshops at the Workers Circle. Motl has created four seasons of the hit educational series 15 Minute Yiddish (More or Less) and authored The Big Book of 15 Minute Yiddish (More or Less).
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Matt Gehring is a director, educator, and comedy creator. Noteworthy productions include Harry Clarke featuring Billy Crudup, written by David Cale (Berkeley Rep, assistant director to Leigh Silverman), and Pop Roulette’s Amazing Earth featuring SNL’s Bowen Yang at Amy Pohler’s Upright Citizen’s Brigade Theater. Matt has garnered recognition for his character comedy at the New Faces showcase, part of the Montreal Just For Laughs festival, and featured in Amazon’s The Tick, Netflix’s Set It Up,and more. He is also the co-creator and leader of the Comedy Artist Makers Program (CAMP), a groundbreaking residency program for comedians at the Obie-winning theater company Ars Nova.
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Malky Goldman is an actor, artist, and writer living in New York City. She was born and raised in a Yiddish-speaking home in Jerusalem. She relocated to the United States and graduated from Hunter College with a Degree in Fine Art. Her work spans film, theater, and visual art, often blending these disciplines. On screen and stage, she has performed in both independent and major productions, including lead roles in The Badchan and Strangers, as well as in The Vigil, Unorthodox, and High Maintenance.
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Tony-nominated actress and founder of The Campfire Project
Jessica Hecht is an acclaimed Tony-nominated stage actress and teaches acting at Williams College and the HB Playwright's Studio. Broadway credits include Eureka Day and Summer, 1976 (Tony nomination for each), The Prica, Fiddler on the Roof, The Assembled Parties, Harvey, After the Fall, The Last Night of Ballyhoo, Brighton Beach Memoirs, Julius Caesar, and A View from the Bridge (Tony nomination).
Off-Broadway, she has appeared in King Lear, Stage Kiss, Three Sisters, The Orchard, Letters from Max, and Admissions (Obie Award and Outer Critics Circle Award nomination). Her recent television appearances include the Netflix series Special, for which she received an Emmy Award nomination, and her roles in Tokyo Vice, Super Pumped, The Sinner, The Loudest Voice, Dickinson, The Boys, and Succession. She is also recognizable to television audiences from her roles in the beloved series Breaking Bad and Friends. She recently completed the film Eleanor the Great, directed by Scarlett Johansson, which just premiered at the Cannes Film Festival.
Jessica founded The Campfire Project in 2017 to respond to the overflowing migrant population in Greek refugee camps and has since worked with refugee communities in camps worldwide. Last year, she was honored with the Paul Robeson Award.