Subversive Yiddish Songs of Humor and Protest
with Cantor Janet Leuchter and special guest Lorin Sklamberg
of the Klezmatics
 America’s Jews have long
been identified as both subversively and ironically funny, exemplified
by mass-media icons from the Marx Brothers to Larry David. We’ve
also been accused of fomenting the mass political ideologies and movements
of the last two centuries—from Karl Marx on the left, to Ayn Rand
and the Neo-Cons on the right.
Where can we find the historical
and cultural grains of truth in these images? Yiddish songs, of
course. We’ll sing and explore a range of earthy, biting and
passionate Yiddish songs of humor and protest, sung in the Ashkenazic
world spanning Eastern Europe, Palestine (later Israel) and the West—in
homes and shops, on kibbutzim and picket lines, in cafes and theater.
These songs paint an indelible portrait of intensely fermenting tradition
and change among people who have always taken ideas seriously.
Come ready to sing, listen,
learn and enjoy in our rotunda coffeehouse. Transliterated texts
and refreshments provided. Admission $5.00.
Cantor Janet Leuchter was the vocalist of the klezmer revival’s first all-women
band, Klez-meydlekh. She has been studying, performing and teaching
Yiddish songs for many years, and loves introducing people to the gems
of this astonishingly rich and moving repertoire.
Lorin Sklamberg—singer,
accordionist, guitarist—is a founding member of the Grammy-award-winning
The Klezmatics, and performs and teaches Yiddish song and klezmer music
internationally. A Park Slope resident, he is also
the sound archivist at the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research
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