Itzik Gottesman, associate editor of the Yiddish Forward, reports on the first-ever Montreal International Yiddish Theater Festival, an event that brought together troupes from Poland, Romania, Israel, France and New York:
To watch the video in Yiddish, click here.
To watch a forward.com video about Yiddish theater in Israel, click here.
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Once upon a time, when Yiddish was truly the language of the vast majority of the Jews, Yiddish-speaking Jews saw their language as the very definition of nationhood. For Yiddish-speakers, the Jews are a single nation defined by their language.
Therefore, the very title of "Montreal International Yiddish Theater Festival" is an indication that the whole Yiddish world has utterly collapsed. Even those who are busy with Yiddish no longer understand what Yiddish is. Yiddish is a national language of the Jews, not an international phenomenon. What has happened is that all those involved in Yiddish language and culture have in reality adopted non-Yiddish identities. They see themselves as Canadians and as Americans and as Frenchmen - hence their interest in Yiddish is "international".
One hundred years ago in the Czernowitz Conference, the Yiddishist Movement was founded, and it declared Yiddish "a national language of the Jewish people". It was unimportant that Yiddish-speakers carried different passports. Their language was the focus of national identity, not the state that issued them a passport. The competing movement, Zionism, also defined the Jews a a single nation. Notice that there is a "World Zionist Organization". The key word is "world" - not "international". The members of the organization might come from different places in the world, but they see themselves as a single nation. This basic concept of Yiddish identity - its very soul - has been lost on today's Yiddishists. It is quite absurd to promote a Yiddish culture (the theatre) without its message of Jewish identity.
looks like a good time!! i wish i'd been able to go