Five cities now have regular meet-ups in Yiddish
The initiative was launched as an alternative to other Yiddish events that are held mostly online today
Yiddish speakers in Boston enjoying brunch outside, Aug. 11, 2024 Photo by Yugntruf
By Rukhl Schaechter March 22, 2025
If you know Yiddish and live in or frequently visit Boston, Chicago, Michigan, Montreal or Toronto, you can now join other Yiddish speakers on organized trips to museums, concerts, hikes or singalongs.
The initiative, called Farbreng, was launched in the spring of 2024 by Yugntruf, the organization best known for its week-long Yiddish summer retreat in Copake, NY called Yiddish Vokh. Yugntruf provides modest financial support and publicity for the activities of each Farbreng branch.
In return, the organization has only two requirements: each group must meet a minimum of four times a year and all participants are expected to speak only Yiddish throughout the event.
With the weather warming up, the next couple of weeks are especially busy:
• On March 29, Farbreng:Boston will visit the Harvard Art Museums (RSVP here)
• On March 30, Yiddish speakers in Montreal are meeting in a private home for a post-Purim singalong of the delightful Megile Lider by Itsik Manger (RSVP to [email protected])
• On April 6, Farbreng:Toronto will be dining together at a brunch buffet accompanied by live klezmer music at the Free Times Cafe (RSVP to [email protected] by March 31)
One reason Yugntruf leaders founded Farbreng, said Yugntruf’s treasurer, Meena-Lifshe Viswanath, was because there were so few opportunities for Yiddish speakers to get together in person anymore: “Since the pandemic, most Yiddish organizations have focused their resources on virtual Yiddish courses, lectures and social events. At Yugntruf we understand how important it is for Yiddish speakers to meet face to face.”
It was actually during the Yiddish Vokh that Viswanath first heard people suggesting the idea. “Over the years a number of Yiddish Vokh participants said that they wish they could get a taste of the Yiddish Vokh in their own cities throughout the year,” she said.
Yiddish speakers who would like to launch a Farbreng group in their own cities should contact Viswanath at this address: [email protected]
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