Celebrating the 120th Anniversary of the Founding of the Jewish Labor Bund

When: Sunday, October 22nd, 2017 | 1:00pm-4:00pm

Where: YIVO Institute for Jewish Research at the Center for Jewish History, 15 West 16th Street • New York, NY 10011

Admission: $20, $10 for Members and Students

Reservations Available at: yivo.org/bund120 or at (917) 606-8290

New York, NY – The 120th anniversary of the founding of the Jewish Labor Bund, the socialist movement which played a key role in the progressive history of East European and world Jewry throughout the 20th century, will be celebrated on Sunday, October 22 at the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research.

The program will consist of formal presentations on Bund history, performances of songs and poetry (in English and Yiddish) and commentary by contemporary activists.

The first panel, moderated by Daniel Soyer, will include scholars and translators David Slucki, Jack Jacobs, Marvin Zuckerman and Hinde Ena Burstin, who will discuss the Bund’s evolution, activism, and ideology.

A discussion of the Bund's relevance to today's political issues will be led by Alex Weiser, composer and YIVO's program director. Participants will be Avram Patt, Vermont community activist, Ann Toback, Executive Director of the Workmen’s Circle, and Clare Kinberg, Ann Arbor LBGT and progressive activist.

Yiddish music impresarios Moishe Rosenfeld and Zalmen Mlotek will present songs and poetry rooted in Jewish Eastern European life and political action. A commemorative booklet of poems and songs, highlights of the Bund history, and reflections of those—past and present— influenced by the Bund will be distributed.

The Bund, a leading force in the early Russian revolutionary movement, organized the Jewish worker movements throughout Eastern Europe. Bundists actively defended Jewish communities against pogroms and advocated for Jewish cultural autonomy in Russia and Poland. Bundist central tenets included commitment to democratic socialism, the perpetuation of Yiddish language and culture, and do'ikayt ("here-ness"), historically in contrast to Zionism, supporting for the vitality of Jewish communities worldwide. Bundist ideals continue to influence international activism today.

This celebration is the result of an initiative undertaken by individuals who have either grown up in Bundist homes, attended the Bundist summer camp, Camp Hemshekh, in upstate New York in the 1960’s and 70’s, or discovered the Bund as an ideological pathway as adults.

YIVO Institute for Jewish Research houses the archives of the Jewish Labor Bund and is serving as co-sponsor and host. The Workmen’s Circle, which provided an American home and forum for Bundists throughout the 20th century, is also a co-sponsor of the celebration.

Executive Committee for the Commemoration: Irena Klepfisz, Moishe Rosenfeld, Alex Weiser. Co-sponsored by the Workmen’s Circle; Media Sponsor: Jewish Currents.

About YIVO

The YIVO Institute for Jewish Research is dedicated to the preservation and study of the history and culture of East European Jewry worldwide. For nearly a century, YIVO has pioneered new forms of Jewish scholarship, research, education, and cultural expression. Our public programs and exhibitions, as well as online and on-site courses, extend our outreach to a global community. The YIVO Archives contains 24 million unique items and YIVO’s Library has over 400,000 volumes—the single largest resource for the study of East European Jewish life in the world. yivo.org / yivo.org/the-whole-story