Festival Schedule
saturday, january 10
Richmond Yiddish Week Kickoff Concert
Doors 6:00 PM | Concert 6:30 - 9:00 PM at Gold Lion Cafe
Featuring local klezmer bands My Son the Doctor and The Vulgar Bulgars
Tickets: $15 at the door
sunday, january 11
Yiddish Storytime
2:00 - 3:00pm at Richmond Public Library Main Branch
Gellman Room
Details TBA
monday, january 12
Yiddish Dance and Instrumental Klezmer Workshop
6:00 - 8:00 pm at Studio Two Three
Yiddish Dance is the folk dance tradition that developed in tandem with klezmer music. In this workshop led by world-class music duo Ilya Shneyveys and Cantor Sarah Myerson, dance participants will learn a variety of Yiddish dance styles while instrumentalists learn to play klezmer music for dancing. Open to participants of all levels.
$15 Suggested Donation
tuesday, january 13
Electric Rose: The Rose Cohen Experience
7:00 pm at Révéler in Carytown
In this immersive lo-fi performance, multi-instrumentalists Ilya Shneyveys and Cantor Sarah Myerson reimagine the obscure songs of Rose Cohen, a Jewish immigrant from Ukraine who brought her family’s unique repertoire of Yiddish ballads, Jewish prayers and Slavic folksongs to the New World at the turn of the 20th century. With wildly electric, multi-instrumental flair, Sarah and Ilya depict Cohen’s stories of love and loss, work and immigration in bold and unexpected ways.
Admission: $17.50
Pre-show specials: 5:00PM
Music: 7:00PM
21+ / 16+ must be accompanied by an adult
Reserved seating
wednesday, january 14
SHTTL Film Screening
6:00 - 9:00 pm at VCU Commons Theater
SHTTL (2022) is Ukrainian-French drama depicting a Yiddish shtetl in Ukraine on the eve of the Nazi invasion known as Operation Barbarossa. The film follows Mendele, a filmmaker who returns from Kyiv to reunite with the love of his life, disrupting the balance of the entire town. Shot in a single unflinching take and featuring nearly all-Yiddish dialogue, SHTTL captures one final day in the life of the shtetl before its disappearance. Sponsored by the VCU Harry Lyons Chair in Judaic Studies
Free with Registration - Click Here to Register
thursday, january 15
Workshop: The Struggle with God in Modern Yiddish Poetry
with Danny Kraft, 7:00 pm at Quarry in Carytown
It is easy to think that religious faith and religious disbelief are neat, opposing categories, and that people are either believers or atheists, either faithful or faithless to the religious traditions they have inherited. Many Yiddish poets, however, wrote from a place between and beyond these binaries, believing and disbelieving in God and Judaism at once, enacting in their poetry an ambivalent, passionate, sometimes anguished struggle with God and religion. In this session, we'll read and discuss great Yiddish poems in English translation (no knowledge of Yiddish required!) that present these complex experiences and yearnings, and we'll consider their relevance to our own spiritual journeys.
Registration Required - Link Coming Soon
friday, january 16
Pre-Shabbos Nosh & Learn: What is Yiddishkayt? An Introduction to Yiddish Language and Culture
with Danny Kraft, 12:00 - 1:30 pm at University of Richmond
Sponsored by the Department of History, the Humanities Center, and Jewish Studies at University of Richmond
Where did the Yiddish language come from, and how did Yiddish culture develop into one of the 20th century's most dynamic and diverse diasporic traditions? Together we'll explore the history of Yiddish, and the richness of Yiddish art and culture from the past through today, as we consider the enduring power and meaning of Yiddish in our multicultural world. No knowledge of Yiddish is necessary, and attendees of all backgrounds are welcome!
Free with Registration - Click Here to Register
Address provided to registrants in the days leading up to the event