April, 2026

Sholem Aleichem, Friend,

Mir vintshn aykh a freylekhn, koshern, un geshmakn peysekh! We wish you a happy, meaningful, and delicious Passover. To help things along, here are some Passover songs in Yiddish:

• Mu Asapru (Who Knows One?, the Yiddish version of Ekhad Mi Yodea?) with Theodore Bikel. Lyrics »
• Di Fir Kashes (The Four Questions) with The Lori Cahan-Simon Ensemble. Lyrics »
• Khad Gadyo (One Kid) with Cantor Moishe Fisher scat singing.

Enjoy! And see below for April programs.

If someone has forwarded this mailing to you,

we invite you to join our mailing list.

Grants Available

KlezCalifornia is accepting proposals for a sixth round of grants from The Yiddish Culture Fund to help develop the next generation of Yiddish culture leaders in the San Francisco Bay Area! The application deadline is Sunday, April 12 for requests between $300 and $3,000; see detailed application procedures. Read about previous grants awarded. We encourage contributions of all amounts to sustain The Yiddish Culture Fund.

More Info »

Joy of Jewish Music and Dance with Polina Shepherd and Bruce Bierman

Fiscally-sponsored by KlezCalifornia

Sunday, April 12, 2 - 5 pm, Congregation Netivot Shalom, 
1316 University Avenue, Berkeley

Join the monthly series, great for musicians, dancers, and enthusiasts to meet, learn, play, shmooze, or simply to take in the beauty of these rich Jewish music and dance traditions. Bring your instruments and dancing shoes.

For the April 12 session, instrumental and vocal music will be taught by Polina Shepherd, a powerhouse pianist and vocalist with a deep repertoire and a four-octave singing range. Dance will be taught by Bruce Bierman.

More info »

Flisik Yidish Salon

Presented by KlezCalifornia

Sunday, April 19, 2 - 3 pm PT, online

This free, monthly online conversation Salon is for fluent (flisik) Yiddish speakers.

Di teme far april vet zayn: Vos iz an opruf/nisoyen vos ir shteyt far dem? Vi bageyt ir zikh mit dem?

What’s a challenge you’re currently facing? How are you approaching it?

More info »

Kol Retreat

KlezCalifornia Yiddish Culture Fund Grantee

At Urban Adamah, 1151 Sixth St, Berkeley
Friday, May 1 - Saturday, May 2

Join Kol for a weekend of music, Shabbat practices, and community building. This unique participatory retreat brings together singers, musicians, and learners of diverse backgrounds and ages to explore both ancestral and modern Jewish music. Together with faculty teachers, they will co-create the weekend.

More Info »

Der Goylem Yiddish Puppet Spectacle

KlezCalifornia Yiddish Culture Fund Grantee

Fernwood Site in Joaquin Miller Park, Oakland
Saturday, May 2, 6 - 8 pm

Anshl Bodony received a Yiddish Culture Fund grant to hold workshops to create a Yiddish-inspired puppet show which the public is invited to see on Saturday, May 2. In Jewish legend, a golem (goylem, in Yiddish) is a clay figure brought to life by magic. Der Goylem marries the rich tradition of Yiddish puppetry with the practice of large-scale protest puppet theater. The performance will feature both Yiddish and English, as well as klezmer musical accompaniment. Der Goylem is by and for the trans and queer Jews of the East Bay but all are warmly welomed. It will carry themes of our often-marginalized stories. In the lineage of Cheap Art, it will be truly sliding scale, $0-18, no one turned away for lack of funds. Outdoors, masked, challah served.

More Info »

VIDEO

The Hideaway Studio Sessions with Francesca Ter-Berg

In her solo pieces cellist Francesca Ter-Berg experiments with improvisation, looping and many different effects, basing some of her pieces on Yiddish themes. View video »

View more events and classes on our website:

• KlezCalifornia Event Directory (with all the events we know of) »

• Yiddish Culture Lecturers in the San Francisco Bay Area »

Honor Wall