The WJC is excited to present
Yiddish Tam: The Taste of Yiddish
with Motl Didner, Danielle Dorter, and Lori Leifer.
Motl Didner, Program Director of National Yiddish Theatre Folksbiene and creator of the hit online Yiddish learning show “15 Minute Yiddish” leads this fun and moving journey through the rise, fall and rebirth of Ashkenazi Jewish culture in the old country and America. This 90-minute presentation includes historic illustrations and film clips as well as live performance of classic Yiddish humor and theater songs that will have the audience, in the words of Sholom Aleichem, laughing through tears.
We will trace the thousand-year journey of Yiddish from the Rhine Valley to Poland and the Pale of Settlement and the mass migration that would bring Yiddish speaking Jews to England, The United States of America, Canada, Mexico, Argentina, Cuba, Australia, South Africa, and even China and Singapore.
PURCHASE TICKETS HERE
Matthew “Motl” Didner serves as Program Director of National Yiddish Theatre Folksbiene and creator of the hit online series 15 Minute iddish (more or less). Associate Director of “Fiddler on the Roof” in Yiddish (Winner of Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle, and Lucille Lortel Awards) directed by Joel Grey, Motl has performed onstage at Carnegie Hall in “Vessels of Light” and in NYTF productions of “Gimpel the Fool” and with The Folksbiene Troupe. Yiddish coach: “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel,” “An American Pickle, The Immigrant,” and New York City Opera’s “Angels in America.” Motl is the author of The Big Book of 15 Minute Yiddish (more or less) and 15 Minute Yiddish Mayselekh (more of less).
Danielle “Elize-Rokhl” Dorter began her performing career in musical theater and opera. Notable roles include ‘The Narrator’ in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat and ‘Papagena’ in The Magic Flute. Additional productions include South Pacific, Sweeney Todd, Carmen, Lucia di Lammermoor, and Il Trovatore. Elize-Rokhl behan Her Yiddish journey taking lessons at the Worker’s Circle, and later became a member of the Folksbiene Troupe, a traveling group bringing Yiddish theater to audiences throughout the northeast. She lives in Brooklyn, NY with her husband, two daughters, and two cats.
Lori Shulamis Leifer is a Jewish entertainer in NYC working to keep Yiddish theater and music alive. She starred as Roma in the Yiddish screenplay Crumbs on ChaiTV, as Hindy Goldshtein in the premier of Di Froyen and various roles onstage with The National Yiddish Theatre Folksbiene and The New Yiddish Rep. She performs Yiddish Folk songs regularly for the 92Y’s Cognitive Agility program and for many synagogues and cultural centers across NYC. To watch a recording of Lori performing ‘Pirate Jenny’ in Yiddish and to watch other clips of her work, go to her website at www.lorileifer.com.
This performance has been underwritten by the Chane Yachness Memorial Fund for Ashkenaz culture through Yiddish language, song and literature.