You've probably always wondered how to say "pink flamingo" in Yiddish, right? So nu, here it is: דער ראָזעװע פֿלאַמינגא — der rozeve flamingo. | There's lots happening in August. Check out the Yiddish-related activities below. |
| | | Save the date! The 2026 KlezCalYidFest, our annual Yiddish culture & klezmer music festival, will be held Friday, October 9 - Sunday, October 11 in Berkeley. Stay tuned for more details. | | San Francisco Jewish Film Festival | Co-presented by KlezCalifornia | | | | Saturday, August 1, 7:30 pm, Piedmont Theatre, Oakland; Sold out but tickets may be available in-person at showtime | Grossinger’s began as a haven welcoming vacationing Jews shut out of restrictive resorts, but was built by three generations of Jewish women into a juggernaut that launched the careers of entertainers from Milton Berle to Joan Rivers. More Info » | | KlezCalifornia Yiddish Culture Fund Grantee | | Sunday, August 2, performances at 2 pm and 6 pm
Fernwood Picnic Area in Joaquin Miller Park, Oakland | | | | |
Anshl Bodony received a Yiddish Culture Fund grant for workshops to create this Yiddish-inspired puppet show. If you missed the premiere on May 2, now is your opportunity to see the production. 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 features both Yiddish and English, as well as klezmer musical accompaniment.
More info and tickets »
| | Sunday, August 2, 4 pm PT, online (calculate your local time HERE) | | | | |
In conjunction with an exhibit of Shloimy Alman’s photographs, currently on view at the Yiddish Book Center, London-based artist, writer, and curator Rachel Lichtenstein and director of Jewish Renaissance Aviva Dautch will share the story behind these “unseen” photographs and the vanishing streets of East London.
More Info »
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Presented by KlezCalifornia
Sunday, August 16, 2 - 3 pm PT, online (calculate your local time HERE)
| | | | This free, monthly online conversation Salon is for fluent (flisik) Yiddish speakers. | Dertseylt undz dray zakhn vos hobn aykh ibergefilt mit freyd. Git tsu farshteyn far vos. | | Fiscally-sponsored (and this event co-presented) by KlezCalifornia | | Sunday, August 16, 4 pm, Congregation Sha’ar Zahav, 290 Dolores St., San Francisco and online, free | | | | |
Sharon Bernstein will perform live with Veretski Pass in celebration of the release of her new album: Forever in Our House: The Meir Noy Yiddish Song Project, published by the Jewish Music Research Centre (Hebrew University). From the archive of Meir Noy (1922–1998) — collected across a lifetime that spanned pre-war Galicia, the Red Army, a Cyprus refugee camp, and decades in Israel — come 17 songs, unusual and never before recorded.
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| | Presented by Yiddish Theatre Ensemble, a fiscally-sponsored project of KlezCalifornia | Thursday, August 27, 6 pm, SFMOMA, free with RSVP | | | | |
In connection with MOMA's Matisse exhibit, actress Laura Sheppard portrays the stories of Harriet Lane Levy, who moved to Paris in 1907 with her friend and neighbor Alice B. Toklas. Levy tells of her initiation into the Parisian lifestyle and salons of the Steins (Gertrude and her brothers Leo and Michael), the rivalry between Picasso and Matisse, wild nights in Montmartre, and her own discoveries as a single woman abroad.
More information »
| | | | This grant supports the Komets Alef Oakland beginner Yiddish project. All offerings are free to attendees. | | |
| This grant provides funding for a student-run organization supporting weekly meetings, Yiddish movie screenings, and trips to off-campus Yiddish and klezmer events. | | Stay tuned for announcement of deadline for this fall’s grant proposals. | | View more events and classes on our website: | | View KlezCalifornia's Honor Wall. Become a donor to post your tribute. | | A bisl mer (a little bit more) | | | | |
