Follow link BELOW to read our new Fall Bulletin for 2011 including reports of recent activities plus special articles by Beata Kasiarz (“My Yiddish Summer”), Rivka Schiller (“The Significance of a Newspaper Article”) & Alan Todres (“The Fourteenth Annual Symposium for Yiddish Studies in Germany, 2011″):
The Chicago YIVO Society (in collaboration with Films for Two) was the proud sponsor of Dan Wolman’s new film Gei Oni. at this year’s Chicago Festival of Israeli Cinema.
Our screening was Sunday Nov 6th @ 3:30 PM at the AMC Northbrook Court, followed by a private dinner for Wolman at DiPescara Restaurant.
The screening was sold out! Sheynem Dank to everyone who attended & special thanks to the staff at DiPescara for a delightful evening.
Dan Wolman speaking about Gei Oni at the DiPescara reception. Pictured with Wolman below are Kate Berezutskaya (l) plus Morrie Fred, Cindy Stern & Fran Dvorkin (r).
Read more about Gei Oni in Tzivi’s Guide to the 2011 Chicago Festival of Israeli Cinema (in the October issue of the JUF News):
“Tamar Alkan makes an unforgettable screen debut as ‘Fania’ in Gei Oni (Valley of Fortitude). Fania is a refined young woman who arrives in Turkish Palestine circa 1882 traumatized by the Ukrainian pogroms which decimated her family. Moving to a settlement near Sfat, she must build a new life for herself while coming to terms with her past. Gei Oni, directed with epic scope and historical precision by Dan Wolman, has already received festival awards in France, Germany and Romania.”
Zackary Sholem Berger will read from his new book Not in the Same Breath (a book of poems in both English and Yiddish)
Where: Harold Washington Library Center
When: Tues Oct 18 @ 6:30 PM
Zackary Sholem Berger, better known to Forverts readers as Sholem Berger, will be in Chicago for a medical convention in October. (Those of you who read Forverts &/or The Forward regularly may have enjoyed his dispatches from medical school, and then as a resident in training in internal medicine.)
Among Sholem’s other accomplishments is producing children’s books, specifically translating two Dr. Seuss books (One Fish, Two Fish and The Cat in the Hat) into Yiddish. Sholem did this in collaboration with his wife Celeste (a book designer), and they were allowed to use the publisher’s copyrighted design, artwork, etc. as an “official” translation of these works.
Some of you may remember when Sholem and Celeste came to Chicago to read from Kats, der Payats way back in 2004, others may remember studying these texts (not really exact translations but rather adaptations capturing the essence of each story) in Khane Feygl’s classes.
Come to the Chicago Authors Room on the 7th Floor of the Harold Washington Library Center on October 18th and help us welcome Sholem back to the Windy City!
10/2/11 Update: Follow link for photos taken onsite –> 11Oct02TziviPix
To Pre-Schoolers, K-12, Gen-X, Gen-Y, Boomers, Bubbes & Zaydes:
The Chicago YIVO Society invites you & your entire family to a Holiday Sing-along with a quintet from the Maxwell Street Klezmer Band & noshes from EJ’s Pizzeria!
Date: Sunday, Oct 2 (between Rosh Hashanah & Yom Kippur)
Time: Doors open 11:30 AM/Music @ Noon/Refreshments 1-2 PM
Where: Evanston S.P.A.C.E. @ 1245 Chicago Ave.
One block east of Dempster Purple Line station.
Free municipal garage across the street, plus on-street parking.
Cost: $7.00 per person (under 6 years old FREE)
LIMITED SEATING – RESERVATIONS REQUIRED
email: fdvorkin@comcast.net / phone: Fran (630)620-0634
Click here for pdf download –> 11Oct02KlezmerParty
Tzivi’s Report: The life of Sarah Rose Lazarus was celebrated with joy and laughter when the Chicago YIVO Society presented Mayses un Klangen (Stories and Sounds) in her honor at the Illinois Holocaust Museum & Education Center in Skokie on July 10.
Cantor Stewart Figa of West Suburban Temple Har Zion in River Forest told a series of traditional Khelm Stories (including An Open Door and Teltse by Solomon Simon) while cellist Racheli Galay and pianist Ilya Levinson provided punctuation.
Most of the musical interludes came from Klezmer Tunes with a Classical Touch by Israeli composer Daniel Galay (Racheli’s father). Then, in his grand finale, Figa lead a sing-along of Yiddish favorites (such as Der Rebbe Elimelekh), and Galay and Levinson closed with a medley of their own called Wedding Potpourri.
Born in Warsaw in 1911, Sarah Lazarus lived most of her life in Chicago. After graduating from DePaul University with a degree in music, she became a beloved teacher at both Yiddish folkshuln and local Hebrew schools. She also sang in synagogue choirs and performed at hundreds of metro Chicago community events.
The SRO crowd included program sponsors Jerry and Debbie Lazarus (Sarah’s son and daughter-in-law) who came from Denver to reminisce with dozens of her former students.
Top photo from left: Levinson, Galay, and Figa.
Bottom photo from left: Levinson, Figa & Galay with Debbie & Jerry Lazarus, and Chicago YIVO Board President Jake Morowitz.
Photo Credits: Jan Lisa Huttner (7/10/11)
The Chicago YIVO Society is proud to announce Mayses un Klangen–a special concert in honor of Sarah Lazarus.
Date: July 10 (Sunday)
Time: 1:30–3:30 PM
Where: Illinois Holocaust Museum & Education Center
Mayses un Klangen (Stories and Sounds) features texts based on Jewish folklore to be narrated by Cantor Stewart Figa accompanied by cellist Racheli Galay and pianist Ilya Levinson. The music was written by Israeli composer Daniel Galay (Racheli’s father).
RSVP & PRE-PAYMENT REQUIRED!
For details, visit the ILHMEC website.
Sarah Rose Lazarus (1911-2000) taught thousands of children in Chicago’s folkshuln the joys of Yiddish music, and later taught at Hebrew day schools. Her happy personality and nurturing attitude made her beloved to her students.
Our special guest for this performance will be Sarah Lazarus’ son Jeremy. Born and raised here in Chicago, Jeremy A. Lazarus, M.D. (President-elect of the American Medical Association) is now a clinical professsor of psychiatry at the University of Colorado School of Medicine and resides in Denver.
Chava Alberstein
Date: Sept 8 (Thurs)
Six million Jews perished during the Holocaust and with them their spoken language, but a small core of survivors continued to create in Yiddish. Alberstein set out to interview these last writers of Yiddish poetry, to hear their poems and stories.
In addition to singing classic Yiddish folk songs, Alberstein also creates new music for several of the poems recited in this film. The full set of 15 poems of the greatest Yiddish poets of the 20th century can be found on her CD The Well (performed in collaboration with The Klezmatics).
The title “Too Early To Be Quiet, Too Late To Sing” comes from the work of Yiddish poet Binem Hiller (words which express the status of Yiddish literature today).
So We Said Goodbye
Date: August 4 (Thurs)
Time: 12:15 PM
Where: Skokie Public Library
Two Shorts by Jorge Gurvich
(~ 60 min combined runtime)
Two short narrative features provide an Israeli filmmaker’s poignant reflections on generational change as grandparents reveal themselves after decades of silence.
So We Said Goodbye is about an elderly man thinking back on 1937 when he left Poland and emigrated to Argentina, leaving his mother and siblings behind. (Languages: Spanish and Yiddish with English subtitles)
Pesya’s Necklace is about an elderly woman who accompanies her granddaughter on a Heritage Tour, returning to Poland for the first time since she emigrated to Israel after the Holocaust. (Languages: Hebrew and Polish with English subtitles)
Pesya's Necklace
Filmmaker Jorge Gurvich was born in Argentina in 1957. He emigrated to Israel in 1978 and studied in the Department of Cinema and Television at Tel Aviv University from 1979-1983. He is the producer-director of numerous fiction short films and television dramas, including the multi-award winning films The Shower, So We Said Goodbye, Pesya’s Necklace and Next Year in Argentina. He is a renown and sought-after cinematographer, serving as director of photography on many feature films and documentaries.
Gurvich has taught cinematography at Tel Aviv University, Sam Spiegel Film School, Camera Obscura & Maale, Beit Berl and Sapir University. He has been awarded the Ministry of Education Special Prize for directors and screenwriters and the Golden Lens (prize for best cinematography) three times. He has co-written several feature films scripts. Gurvich’s full-length feature film directorial debut, Mrs. Moscowitz and the Cats premiered at the 2009 Jerusalem International Film Festival.
So We Said Goodbye
Date: August 3 (Wed)
Time: 6:00 PM
Where: Harold Washington Library Center
Two Shorts by Jorge Gurvich
Two short narrative features provide an Israeli filmmaker’s poignant reflections on generational change as grandparents reveal themselves after decades of silence.
So We Said Goodbye is about an elderly man thinking back on 1937 when he left Poland and emigrated to Argentina, leaving his mother and siblings behind. Runtime is 26 minutes. Languages are Spanish and Yiddish with English subtitles.
Pesya’s Necklace is about an elderly woman who accompanies her granddaughter on a Heritage Tour, returning to Poland for the first time since she emigrated to Israel after the Holocaust. Runtime is 35 minutes. Languages are Hebrew and Polish with English subtitles.
Pesya's Necklace
Filmmaker Jorge Gurvich was born in Argentina in 1957. He emigrated to Israel in 1978 and studied in the Department of Cinema and Television at Tel Aviv University from 1979-1983. He is the producer-director of numerous fiction short films and television dramas, including the multi-award winning films The Shower, So We Said Goodbye, Pesya’s Necklace and Next Year in Argentina. He is a renown and sought-after cinematographer, serving as director of photography on many feature films and documentaries.
Gurvich has taught cinematography at Tel Aviv University, Sam Spiegel Film School, Camera Obscura & Maale, Beit Berl and Sapir University. He has been awarded the Ministry of Education Special Prize for directors and screenwriters and the Golden Lens (prize for best cinematography) three times. He has co-written several feature films scripts. Gurvich’s full-length feature film directorial debut, Mrs. Moscowitz and the Cats premiered at the 2009 Jerusalem International Film Festival.
