Join us for the July Art Walk this Friday, a new course of Judeo-Spanish (Ladino) for
Beginners, and more!
Dear Friend of YAAANA and Yiddishland California,
Happy Independence Day weekend! Due to some last-minute scheduling changes last week, we were unable to send the newsletter last week, and we sincerely apologize for this delay. This newsletter reflects the new events and changes, including the postponement of the Manzanita Blues live performance to August and our new guest for the July Art Walk, clothing brand from Los Angeles, Bubuleh. We hope to see you in person for those events, and online for our upcoming Yiddish and Ladino classes! Over the next few months programming at YAAANA and Yiddishland will be lighter to allow us to focus on administrative projects and planning our fall fundraiser. The fundraiser is tentatively scheduled for September 4 and will be focused on surprise extension plans. The full-time programming is due to return after the High Holidays. More details will be available soon. Read below for more information about the upcoming events and classes and please email us at info@yiddishland.ca with any questions you may have.
In the next few weeks, we will be offering the following events and courses:
Featured Event: First Friday Art Walk – La Jolla’s monthly First Friday Art Walk with artwork for sale and drinks and snacks available – This Friday, July 1, 4:00 to 7:00 p.m. at Yiddishland California. The theme of the upcoming Art Walk is Red, White, and Blues, and will feature a partnership with the clothing brand Bubuleh – more information below
Featured Course: Leyenkrayz for Intermediate to Advanced Students – Tanya Yakovleva will be leading an online leyenkrayz (reading circle) in Yiddish for intermediate to advanced speakers starting next Wednesday, July 6, 12 p.m. PT (2 p.m. CT, 3 p.m. ET). Classes can be taken individually or as a 10-class series – more information below
Course of Judeo-Spanish (Ladino) for Beginners – NEW – We are now offering online Ladino classes for beginners with Dr Agnieszka August-Zarębska from the University of Wrocław, Poland. Classes can be taken individually or as a 6-course series, and begin Tuesday, August 2, 1 p.m. PT (3 p.m. CT, 4 p.m. ET) – more information below
Yiddish Shmueskrayz with Tamara Gleason and Arturo Kerbel – NEW – This fall we are hosting an online forum to practice your Yiddish and get to know new people, facilitated by academics Tamara Gleason and Arturo Kerbel. Sessions begin Thursday, October 6, 2:30 p.m. PT (4:30 p.m. CT, 5:30 p.m. ET) – more information below
Yiddishland in the News – Yiddishland was recently featured in an article on Yiddish startups by our former teacher Zach Golden, and a book about Jewish institutions in San Diego. Read more about these pieces below, and soon we will share a link for purchasing the book through Yiddishland California – more information below
August Art Walk with Manzanita Blues – Friday, August 5, 4 to 7 p.m. The performance of local band Manzanita Blues was postponed because the group is looking for new members. They will be joining us in a month at the August Art Walk instead! Register Here
We are still offering memberships for the year, as well as positions for interns and volunteers to help us with our expansion. Memberships and internships are available remotely and in-person. We are also welcoming donations. Donations to our non-profit organization are tax deductible to the extent allowed by law. More information can be found on our website: www.yiddishlandcalifornia.org
Cheers,
The YAAANA and Yiddishland team
info@yiddishland.ca
July First Friday La Jolla Art Walk
On Friday, July 1, Yiddishland CA is participating in La Jolla’s monthly art walk and will have a variety of artwork and Judaica available for purchase. Join us for drinks, snacks, Yiddish entertainment, and the opportunity to see wonderful, original artwork. This month’s theme will be Red, White, and Blues! As a new feature this month will be hosting a Yiddish-inspired clothing brand Bubuleh They will offer special discounts to Yiddishland visitors. To learn more about them visit their website by clicking here.
A link to obtain a free parking pass for this event will be e-mailed to registered participants.
When: Friday, July 1, 4:00 to 7:00 p.m.
Where: Yiddishland California
Tickets: Free! Drinks and snacks will be provided.
Leyenkrayz for Intermediate to
Advanced Students
In this course conducted entirely in Yiddish, intermediate and advanced students will practice reading and translating skills without judgment and comparisons. We will read and translate Itsik Manger’s satirical novel Di vunderlekhe lebns-bashraybung fun Shmuel-Abe
Abervo (Dos bukh fun gan-eydn) /The Amazing Life Story of ShmuelAbe Abervo (The Book of the Garden of Eden) written in 1939. You will learn a new vocabulary and have an understanding of the Yiddish history and culture.
When: Wednesdays, starting on July 6, ending on September 7; from 12:00 – 1:00 p.m. PT (2:00 – 3:00 p.m. CT, 3:00 – 4:00 p.m. ET, 9:00 – 10:00 p.m. in most of Europe, 10:00 – 11:00 p.m. in Israel)
Where: Online Via Zoom
Cost: Students (with valid Student ID): $180 all 10 weeks or $20
for a 60-minute online class.
General: $230 all 10 weeks or $25 for a 60-minute online class.
Instructor: Tanya Yakovleva
Tanya Yakovleva studied Comparative Literature, Classical, Slavic, Jewish, and Media Studies at the universities of Kharkiv, Regensburg, Bari, and San Diego. Tanya received her PhD in Russian and Jewish Studies from the University of Regensburg in 2019 and since then she
has been teaching for YAAANA.
NEW Course of Judeo-Spanish
(Ladino) for Beginners
Explore our brand-new language course which will introduce you to the language and help you gain reading and speaking skills. The course will focus on vocabulary, grammar, and communication, as well as the cultural history of the language. Course materials will be based both on Rashi script and on the Latin alphabet.
Availability: Dates and times can be rearranged according to participants’ availability. Individual tutoring and group classes available, please contact us at info@yiddishland.ca if interested.
When: Tuesdays, starting on August 2, ending on September 6; from 1:00 to 2:00 p.m. PT (3:00 to 4:00 p.m. CT, 4:00 to 5:00 p.m. ET)
Where: Online Via Zoom
Cost: $120 for 6 sessions or $25 for one session
Instructor: Dr Agnieszka August-Zarębska
Dr Agnieszka August-Zarębska is a scholar of literature and researcher of modern Sephardic literature. She has a degree in Spanish Studies from the University of Wrocław, Poland. Her doctoral dissertation was written on Poetry and Reality, the poetics of Jorge Guillén and Czeslaw Milosz. She also authored and coauthored several papers on contemporary Judeo-Spanish poetry, Sephardic children’s literature and Judeo-Spanish post vernacular culture. Until 2016 she worked as adjunct Professor at the Institute of Romance Philology, University of Wrocław, and now at the Tad Taube Department of Jewish Studies at the University of Wrocław where she teaches the following courses: Judeo-Spanish (Ladino) language, History and Culture of Sephardic Jews, and Sephardic Literature.
Yiddish Shmueskrayz with Tamara
Gleason and Arturo Kerbel
If you want to practice your Yiddish and have a good time getting to know people, this is the right session for you. We will speak in mame-loshn about diverse topics. We will have a conversation both as a group and in smaller cohorts. Some of the sessions will be focused on a specific topic. We will also try to solve a couple of riddles and learn some Yiddish expressions and sayings to enrich our repertoire.
When: Thursdays, starting on October 6, ending on November
10; from 2:30 – 3:30 p.m. PT (4:30 to 5:30 p.m. CT, 5:30 p.m. to
6:30 ET).
Where: Online Via Zoom
Cost: $120 for 6 sessions or $25 for one session
Facilitators: Tamara Gleason Freidberg and Arturo Kerbel
Tamara Gleason Freidberg is a historian (MPhil by UNAM, Mexico) and a gerontologist (MSc by King’s College London). She is the author of Di Shvue, los bundistas en México y su participación en la comunidad judía. Her work includes publications on Mexican Yiddish literature and the Jewish Left in Mexico. Tamara facilitates Yiddish sessions at the Holocaust Survivor’s Centre, is an active organiser of the Yiddish Open Mic (London) and Yiddish House London. As a PhD candidate at UCL London, she currently studies the Yiddish press in Mexico, its’ sources and its’ unique role in the communication of news about the Holocaust as it developed.
Arturo Kerbel a clinical psychologist (U Iberoamericana, Mexico), cognitive neuroscientist (UCL, King’s College London), and lifelong Yiddish activist. He led a student group resisting the exclusion of Yiddish from the school curriculum, received a grant from the Abraham Golomb Fund at age 14, and from the Ashkenazi Community at age 16, to continue with the fight. He founded Idishe Shtub Mx, a group of young Yiddish activists offering lessons and other cultural activities. He is the current coordinator of Yiddish House London, an informal organization planning Yiddish trips for young people around Europe, Yiddish lessons, Jewish holiday celebrations, and outreach projects in Jewish communities in Lithuania and Belarus.
Yiddishland in the News
Recently Yiddishland and YAAANA have been featured in the news! Our organization was highlighted in an article by our former Yiddish teacher Zach Golden in the Forward. The article looked at the work of Yiddish startups in recent years that are reinvigorating the language and strengthening Jewish communities in person and online. Additionally, Yiddishland was featured as a destination in a new book about Jewish institutions in San Diego, Vol II. of Schlepping and Schmoozing Along the Interstate 5 by local Donald H. Harrison. The book explores different parts of Jewish life in San Diego and destinations to visit related to Jewish culture and includes a chapter on Yiddishland California and our role in the local community. We will have the book in stock in our physical and online bookstore soon.
To read Zach Golden’s article in the Forward, click here.
To read an interview with the author of Schlepping and Schmoozing Along the Interstate 5, Donald H. Harrison, click here.