digitalcourage.social is one of the many independent Mastodon servers you can use to participate in the fediverse.
Diese Instanz wird betrieben von Digitalcourage e.V. für die Allgemeinheit. Damit wir das nachhaltig tun können, erheben wir einen jährlichen Vorausbeitrag von 1€/Monat per SEPA-Lastschrifteinzug.

Server stats:

823
active users

#klezmer

5 posts5 participants1 post today

I have to take a sec to praise the KLEZKANADA!!! summer Jewish culture retreat in August. They continue to do really good Covid safety protocols, to protect the community. Fer instance, "Participants, faculty, and staff are REQUIRED to take a COVID TEST no more than 24 hours before arrival. You must test negative and be symptom-free to enter camp." Wow. Well done. Thank you. #klezmer #yiddish #jewish #CovidIsNotOver klezkanada.org/summer-retreat/

Replied in thread

another new one that came out since I posted the thread - Susi Evans & Szilvia Csaranko put out a set of 50 recordings of #klezmer standards to accompany a tunebook they published, Klezmer Playbook 2. so, not an album of originals but a very tasteful trad #accordion & #clarinet take on many standards.
shades-of-folk.bandcamp.com/al

#Vancouver people, pls check out this great event my org is putting on on Aug 3rd. "A multi-lingual performance from Zoë Aqua, Yonatan Kunda, and Dan Kunda Thagard exploring the traditional themes of destruction and rebuilding, cruelty and compassion, despair and hope."

I don't know Yonatan, but Zoë and Dan are longtime friends from the #klezmer scene who have never performed in Vancouver before AFAIK. Same day as Powell St fest but it's timed so both are doable.
peretz-centre.org/event-detail

Peretz CentreBeit בית بيت: An Evening of Poetry & Music for Tisha B'Av | Peretz CentreA multi-lingual performance from Zoë Aqua, Yonatan Kunda, and Dan Kunda Thagard exploring the traditional themes of destruction and rebuilding, cruelty and compassion, despair and hope

Quoting Iris Hefetz:

As part of the “new chapter” in its history, #Germany has become a kind of #Jewish shtetl. Descendants of #Nazis adopt Jewish symbols, worship #Zionism and persecute Jews who criticize Israel – in the name of fighting #antisemitism, of course.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

Hefetz describes how Germany has undergone what she calls “convertion to Zionism,” that is the transformion of descendants of Nazis into “the new Jews.” But she starts with a joke she heard from a Jewish child in #Berlin:

“What’s the difference between Jews and Muslims? The Jews are already past that.”

Muslims have become the new target for traditional German racism and intolerance. She contrasts today’s Germany with the country she found 23 years ago:

“Germany 23 years ago was truly a different Germany. It was still an anti-militaristic and anti-nationalist society and state, which respected its constitution and international law to some extent, where a million people marched against the horrific and internationally illegal war by the US in Iraq, which Germany refused to participate in.”

She traces this transformation back to Germany’s first chancellor, Konrad Adenauer, who stated: “We caused the Jews such great injustice, we committed such terrible crimes against them, that there was a need to atone for them or repair them to some extent, if we wanted to regain honor among the nations of the world.” However, Adenauer’s antisemitic reasoning was revealed when he added: “The power of the Jews – even today, especially in America – should not be underestimated. Therefore, I consciously and carefully invested my entire being, to the best of my ability, to bring about reconciliation between the German people and the Jewish people.”

Hefetz says that Germans have now collectively “converted to Zionism” without the need for actual conversion:

“An entire wing of the German ‘left’ consists of men who ‘engaged in identity searching’ and found it in the form of Israel. They sound as if Noa Tishby is speaking from their throats, wrapping themselves in Israeli flags and IDF flags, going to see folk dance performances celebrating diplomatic relations between the states, and saving Jews from ‘antisemitism.’”

She explains that “according to data published in the Israeli magazine in Berlin, ‘Spitz,’ in an article later removed, more than half of the complaints about antisemitic incidents in Germany are by German Christians with Nazi grandparents, who are attacked by Jews demonstrating against Israel, for example.” The irony, she notes, is that “descendants and great-grandchildren of Nazis are very sensitive to ‘antisemitic attacks against them,’ especially if they come from Jews and Israelis.”

Hefetz describes Germany’s creation of an artificial Jewish identity: “Germany has become a kind of Jewish shtetl. There is no place in the world where you can hear more #klezmer music (traditional Eastern European Jewish music) , adapted to the German ear. The popular names in recent decades in Germany are Hebrew Jewish names.” She explains how “the German state began funding Reform conversion of Christians to Judaism, and recreated the destroyed German liberal Judaism, a ‘new Judaism’ that is of course more desirable than the ultra-Orthodox, who are ‘Ostjuden.’”

Note: The original derogatory term #Mizrahim as used by Ashkenazi Jews, referred to Jews of Eastern European heritage. In #Israel this term was then repurposed to describe Arab Jews, mostly, as part of what Aziza Khazzoom described as de-orinetalization of the largest Jewish diaspora, see “How the Polish Peddler Became a German Intellectual” sup.org/books/sociology/shifti

Hefetz details how this “Israelization” serves #Germany’s return to #militarism:

“Identification with Israel helps Germany return to being a militaristic state: it helps break the taboo of nationalism; it helps rehabilitate the image of the German man, who in the years after the war tried to be ‘non-German’ by emphasizing soft qualities, non-authoritarian education for children.”

She quotes recent statements by German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, who said Israel “does the dirty work for us” regarding attacks on Iran, while a security expert from his party stated “we are also ready to die for Israel.” She notes the antisemitic nature of these statements:

“These antisemitic statements about Jews doing Germany’s ‘dirty work’ are not new, and the reference to killing civilians as ‘dirty work’ recalls Himmler’s Poznan speech, or what Rudolf Hess said at the Nuremberg trials.”

She concludes that “Germany is making a comeback” through authoritarian measures disguised as fighting antisemitism, while “Germany supplies Israel with at least a third of the weapons for the genocide in Gaza.” Despite this official support, Hefetz notes that “there is an absolute majority in the German public that consistently opposes supplying weapons to Israel; and with all the pro-Israeli propaganda and Israeli flags flying over every government office in Germany, 73% think what Israel is doing in Gaza is genocide.“​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

Hebrew mekomit.co.il/%D7%9E%D7%AA%D7%

Photo: Iris Hefetz arrested during a pro-Palestinian protest (screenshot)

@palestine
@israel
#GazaGenocide
#OatmealQuotes

"#Yiddish #music lovers, this one’s for you: A free outdoor Yiddish music #concert and singalong is once again happening in #NewYorkCity this summer.

#NewYork Sings Yiddish,” presented by Capital One City Parks Foundation SummerStage and the National Yiddish Theatre Folksbiene, makes a triumphant return to #CentralPark on Monday, June 30.

This all-star celebration of Yiddish music and culture will feature performances from a host of #Jewish music all-stars, including #klezmer legend Frank London, rapper-singer-dancer-actor Lea Kalisch and klezmer-punk troubadour Daniel Kahn."

jta.org/2025/06/26/ny/a-free-y

Jewish Telegraphic Agency · A free Yiddish music sing-along and concert comes to Central ParkBy Noa Yolkut

Yo, #Seattle!

"Join us for an evening of #Klezmer #music and #activism at Klezmer Starts Here: A #Benefit for the #Jewish Coalition for #Immigrant Justice on Sunday, July 6 featuring Kesselgarden Klezmer Duo and The Talne Trio at the #RoyalRoom.

Show starts at 7:30pm and doors open at 6:30pm. $20 advanced tickets are available at tinyurl.com/klezmerjcij; Tickets at the door are $25."

jewishcoalition.org/events/kle

Jewish Coalition for Immigrant Justice NWKlezmer Starts Here: A Benefit Concert for JCIJ — Jewish Coalition for Immigrant Justice NWJoin us for a night of Klezmer with Kesselgarden and the Talne Trio!
Replied in thread

A thread of recent #klezmer albums worth checking out – the Magid Ensemble's "Shterna and the Lost Voice." A klezmer-inspired #soundtrack to a live show, mostly written by accordionist Mattias Kaufman, with #violin and #cello. Playful, introspective, triumphant, just like the live show.😁
borschtbeat.bandcamp.com/album

Continued thread

A thread of recent #klezmer albums worth checking out – Jake Shulman-Ment and Abigale Reisman's "Two Strings." Two of the top klez fiddlers of the US East Coast, IMO this collaboration displays their love of crunchy string ensemble rhythms, baroque melodies and nigunim.
borschtbeat.bandcamp.com/album