By Jana Mazurkiewicz Meisarosh
SAN DIEGO — A couple of years ago, I discussed Jewish life in San Diego with San Diego Jewish World editor Donald Harrison over a nosh at a deli by Mission Trails. We commiserated over San Diego’s lack of secular Jewish cultural institutions accessible to people of all ages. I shared my dream of building Yiddishland California, a Yiddish museum and a cultural center where visitors could immerse themselves in Yiddishkeit.
This year, that dream might finally come true.
During the pandemic, YAAANA, the Yiddish Arts and Academics Association of North America, a tiny non-profit organization I founded four years ago, saw significant growth, and is about to move into a new physical space in La Jolla. In June 2021, we plan to open a mini-Yiddishland California in the Village of La Jolla. Among the activities planned for that space are Yiddish music concerts, theater performances, activities for children, Yiddish classes, and festive Yiddish-style dinners. And, just like our previous pop-up and Zoom events, all YAAANA activities will be accessible to all regardless of Yiddish-speaking abilities. Additionally, childcare will be available to visiting parents.
The cost of a rental in that area is about $30,000 a year. For that reason, we are organizing a special fundraiser to help cover that cost, as well as operating costs.
That fundraiser will be held this Sunday, July 11, at 11 a.m. PDT as a way to celebrate YAAANA’s fourth anniversary. To mark the occasion, we are excited to present Korone un der nayer normal (Corona and the New ‘Normal’), a new Zoom play inspired by Leah K. Hoffman’s 1930 Kraft (Power). The play was adapted collaboratively last summer and its text directly refers to our reality and demonstrates how technology, “progress,” and corporations chip away at our humanity.
We have an amazing cast – Avi Hoffman starring as the Corona virus, Suzanne Toren as the Internet, Sam Guncler as the Essential Worker, Bertolt Karsten Troyke as Twitter, Mikhl Yashinsky as Facebook, Lea Kalisch as Instagram, Moishele Mario Alfonso as Madame Netflix, and Lea Rozenfeld as Baby TikTok. The performance will be followed by the premiere presentation of a 3D animation of the planned Yiddishland California project, created by Kendal Eastwood and featuring a bespoke new song by Psoy Korolenko. You can find the promotional video at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gHAO6tnee3k . Tickets can be purchased at https://yaaana.com/fundraiser/
And that’s not all.
At the end of May, in collaboration with the UCSD Jewish Studies Program, the Jewish Federation of San Diego County, the Jewish Community Foundation, and other community partners, YAAANA will offer the Not Your Usual Intensive Summer Yiddish Program, an exciting opportunity for students to explore the Yiddish language and theater. Upper level language, conversation, and reading classes will begin on Monday, June 7, and run through Thursday, June 17. Classes for beginners will begin on May 31st to give students time to master the Yiddish alphabet. The theater workshops and learn-Yiddish-through-song workshops are open to all. The Yiddish Acting Workshop will be held on June 5, 6, 11, 12, 13, 18, 19, and 20. The Yiddish Intonation Workshop will be held on June 4, 6, 11, 12, 13, 18, 19, and 20. The Learn Yiddish song workshops will be held on June 6, 11, 13, and 20. Due to the still ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, all classes and workshops will take place via Zoom.
YAAANA unites scholars, artists, activists, and anybody with an interest in Yiddish. Our mission is to expand awareness of the beauty and joy of Yiddishkeit and to preserve and advance the Yiddish language and culture within the US and worldwide. Our ultimate goal is to build Yiddishland—an immersive, shtetl-inspired, multigenerational destination for Yiddish and non-Yiddish speakers alike.
All our classes and workshops are taught by highly qualified and experienced educators who are eager to share their knowledge. To accommodate learners of all levels and backgrounds, we offer a mix-and-match menu of options which allows students to attend individual classes or workshops or register for complete packages. Whatever you choose, student and early bird discounts are available. More details on our specific packages are available at yaaana.com/intensive-program/, where you can peruse instructor bios, pricing, scheduling, and summaries of the programs’ contents. Financial aid is available to the UCSD students; to apply for a scholarship, please email jewishstudies@ucsd.edu before May 25th.
If you have any questions, feel free to get in touch with us through the contact form on the YAAANA website at www.yaaana.org. We look forward to seeing you at our fundraiser, and in any or all of our classes this summer! I hope that my next conversation with Don Harrison regarding the future of Jewish life in San Diego will take place in YAAANA’s new abode!
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Jana Mazurkiewicz Meisarosh is the founder and CEO of the Yiddish Arts and Academics Association of North America (YAAANA)