Community Read: "Ven ikh bin Roytshild"

Workshop Co-sponsored by the International Association of Yiddish Clubs Admission: Free Watch the video

Join YIVO and the International Association of Yiddish Clubs (IAYC) for a beshutfesdike leyenung, or a “Community Read.” Led by esteemed Yiddishist, Dr. Raphael (Refoyl) Finkel, attendees will read Sholem Aleichem's short story, “Ven ikh bin Roytshild,” (“If I Were Rothschild”). While Dr. Finkel reads the Yiddish text aloud, participants will see the story in yidishe oysyes, in YIVO transliteration, and in English translation. The online Yiddish text will have a feature that enables readers to see the English translation of any given word in red colored font. With another click, the word will return to the original Yiddish spelling. During the program, Dr. Finkel will explain the linguistic and cultural characteristics of certain words and phrases that appear in the Yiddish text. A discussion of the short story will follow the reading.

Read Ven ikh bin Roytshild in Yiddish, transliteration, and English translation.

Read the glossary for this text.

Read more about the New York production of Ven ikh bin Roytshild from 1939.

All registrants will receive links to the three texts and a glossary via email in advance of the program. For questions, please write to the IAYC at IAYCbriv@gmail.com.

IAYC is dedicating this program to the memory of the beloved Troim Katz Bliacher Handler z"l, who was a staunch Yiddishist and a Yiddish poet. For many years, she served on the IAYC executive board of directors. During her tenure, she selected teaching materials and performance materials for the benefit of IAYC Clubs and their leaders. Those materials were mailed to the clubs several times a year. In 2014, Troim received the IAYC Lifetime Achievement Award.

This program is supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, in partnership with the City Council.