Other items in today’s column include:
*YAAANA sponsors online Yiddish festival July 19 – August
*Recommended reading
SAN DIEGO — Beth Jacob Congregation responded quickly to Gov. Gavin Newsom’s order on Monday, once again closing down indoor places of worship in response to the spiking coronavirus pandemic.
The governor’s order also included fitness centers, offices for “non-critical sectors,” personal care services, malls and hair salons and barbershops.
“This means Shabbos davening will be outsie and the weather is expected to be hot,” the Orthodox congregation messaged its members. “Tomorrow we’ll send out the schedule and open online registration, but it’s likely that we will start Shachris earlier, a 8:00 a.m., to mitigate the heat.”
The message went on to say that “in order to participate in the minyanim, everyone agrees, when signing up, to wear a mask and stay at their seat. For the most part, there has been compliance. However, with the passage of time, some people have been less than careful in this regard. Beginning today, we are going to be very strict on enforcing these basic rules of safety. If thee following it too difficult for anyone, one is permitted to daven at home instead.
1. Mask must be on your face (over nose and mouth) from the time you enter the property to the time you leave. They must remain over the nose and mouth during the entire service.
2. One must daven in front of their seat for the duration of service, not at the side. Some have a tendency to stroll around their seats and this is not allowed. Each person has a seat in front and behind them. Congregants are to remain between the seats for all of the davening.”
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YAAANA sponsors online Yiddish festival July 19 – August 4
The San Diego-based Yiddish Academic and Arts Association of North America (YAAANA) is sponsoring an online Yiddish festival from July 19 through August 4, with half of the 12 programs all in Yiddish, the other half in English.
YAAANA’s founder and executive director Jana Mazurkiewicz Meisarosh said that some subscribers wanted the festival to be all in Yiddish, while others, who still haven’t learned the mame loshn (mother tongue), wanted it to be in English. So, Meisarosh said, a compromise was made. People may subscribe to the entire series, with both Yiddish and English offerings, for $120, or choose the six Yiddish programs for $60, the six English programs for $60, or purchase any single lecture for $15. Ticket information, times, and program descriptions are available through this website.
Meisarosh, a San Diegan who is completing her doctorate in Yiddish studies at the University of Michigan, previewed the festival for San Diego Jewish World.
The opening day event on Sunday, July 19, will feature Cindy Paley performing Yiddish songs about women. The split screen will translate the lyrics into English. Paley is cantorial soloist for Lev Eisha and Valley Beth Shalom’s N’shama Minyan, two women’s services in Los Angeles. A video of her performing is above.
On Monday, July 20, Meisarosh will lead a discussion in Yiddish about Dora Diamant, who was Franz Kafka’s last lover, who burned some of his papers at his request, and retained others in defiance of his wishes.
Tuesday, July 21, will mark the first of three open-ended discussions in Yiddish about festival topics and current events with a number of surprise guests, including Sandra Fox, executive producer of “Vaybertaytsh: A Feminist Podcast in Yiddish.” The other two all-Yiddish discussions will be conducted on July 28, and August 4, with Abby Stein, a transgender woman raised in a Hasidic community scheduled as a guest August 4.
Amelia Glaser, director of the Jewish studies program at UC San Diego, will deliver a talk in Yiddish on Wednesday, July 22, about the writings of Jewish women on the topic of lynching.
On Thursday, July 23, the Festival will feature Sheva Zucker, who will discuss Yiddish poems about mother. Zucker is the executive director of the League for Yiddish and editor of Afn Shvel, the league’s magazine. She is also the author of Yiddish textbooks.
On Sunday, July 26, the Festival will return to the fascinating life story of Dora Diamant, with an English-language talk by Kathi Diamant, a Kafka project director at San Diego State University and author of Kafka’s Last Love: The Mystery of Dora Diamant.
Deborah Hertz, a history professor at UC San Diego, will continue the Festival on Monday, July 27, with a discussion of the Bund, and how Jewish women became politicized.
On Wednesday, July 29, the documentary short Beyle, about the life and legacy of Broxn activist Beyle Schoechter-Gottesman, will be aired followed by a discussion.
Klezmer musicians Yale Strom and Elizabeth Schwartz of San Diego will perform in concert on Sunday, August 2, with some special guests.
On Monday, August 3, Shuli Elisheva, in a Yiddish event, will discuss the process by which she composes contemporary Yiddish songs.
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While we’re on the subject of Yiddish, Goldie Morgentaler of the University of Lethbridge , translator of the novels and other works of her late mother Chava Rosenfarb, will be interviewed at 9 a.m., Tuesday, San Diego time by Prof. Hannah Pollin-Galay of Tel Aviv University, with the interview archived for later viewing. Morgentaler has contributed several articles to San Diego Jewish World and has been the subject of others, per this website.
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Recommended reading
*Slate provides background on what it describes as a “frivolous suit” by David Abrams against the New Israel Fund.
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Donald H. Harrison is editor of San Diego Jewish World. He may be contacted via donald.harrison@sdjewishworld.com
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