October 2026

Sholem Aleichem Friend,

A freylekhn Sukes, zman simkhoseynu (Happy Sukes, season of our rejoicing!), which began last Friday evening!

KlezCalYidFest returns next week; see details below. Last year's event was a huge success, with a sold-out opening night, lots of joyful dancing, outstanding concerts, and inspiring workshops; participants learned so much and had a great time.

The Yiddish Culture Fund: the deadline is approaching for submitting applications for grants — please submit your creative project ideas! See details below.

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KlezCalYidFest

Co-presented by KlezCalifornia

Friday, October 9 – Sunday, October 11, 2026

Finnish Hall, 1970 Chestnut St, Berkeley

KlezCalYidFest, KlezCalifornia’s annual klezmer and Yiddish culture festival, kicks off Friday, October 9, with a weekend of concerts, workshops and dancing with local and international artists from the klezmer and contemporary Yiddish culture scene.

More info »

Yiddish Culture Fund Grants

KlezCalifornia will award a seventh round of grants from The Yiddish Culture Fund, whose goal is to develop the Next Generation Yiddish Culture Leaders in the San Francisco Bay Area. Proposals are due Monday, October 19, with awards announced in late fall.

More information »

Yiddish in the Land of Sunshine: Race, Labor, and Jewish Radicalism in Los Angeles, with Caroline Luce

Presented by the Jewish Community Library
C0-presented by KlezCalifornia
Wednesday, October 14, 6:30 pm - 7:30 pm PT, online
 (calculate your local time HERE)

Yiddish in the Land of Sunshine offers a novel account of Eastern European Jewish immigration and Yiddish public culture in Southern California. It traces the journeys of a cohort of young Jewish radicals as they moved from the borderlands of the Russian Empire to the borderlands of the American Southwest.

More information »

Flisik Yidish Salon

Presented by KlezCalifornia

Sunday, October 18, 2 - 3 pm PT, online (calculate your local time HERE)

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

Hot ir letsns geton a mitsve? Oyb yo, bashraybt es. Oyb nisht, vos volt ir gevolt gehat geton?

More info »

COMING UP IN NOVEMBER

Daniel Kahn & Jake Shulman-Ment – UMRU/UNREST

C0-presented by KlezCalifornia

Thursday, November 5, 7 pm 
SFJCC, 3200 California Street, San Francisco

Drawing from their recent albums, troubadour and multi-instrumentalist Daniel Kahn and master fiddler Jake Shulman-Ment will pair new music with Yiddish renditions of songs by artists including Leonard Cohen, Bob Dylan, Tom Waits, Woody Guthrie and others. Here is a discount link for 50% off. You can also use the code: Klez50

More info »

View more events and classes on our website:

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

• Bay Area Lecturers »

Honor Wall