News from the Paris Yiddish Center-Medem Library

The Paris Yiddish Center - Medem Library English newsletter is now on line

on the website : http://yiddish2english.canalblog.com

דער חודשלעכער בריוו פֿונעם פּאַריזער ייִדיש–צענטער -- מעדעם–ביבליאָטעק איז שוין אויף אינטערנעץ

וועבאָרט : http://yiddish2yiddish.canalblog.com

New cultural season - March 8 to May 13, 2012

THE UTOPIAS OF YIDDISH- Birobidjan, Argentina and the others

Exhibition

Thursday March 8 at 7.p.m.

Opening of the exhibition Utopias of Yiddish

Admission free of charge. March10 to June 26, 2012.

Sunday March 11 at 5.30 p.m.

Concert by Efim Chorny and Susan Ghergus.

Songs of the Jewish pioneers in the Soviet Union. All new show.

Admission: 30 €. Members: 20 €.
Tickets available at Maison de la culture yiddish.
Theater « Passage vers les étoiles », 17 cité Joly, 75011 Paris (Métro Père Lachaise, Rue Saint Maur)

Saturday March 24

3.00 p.m. Lecture

Red flag and blue star: the kibbutz as a community experience in Eretz-Israel.

By Meïr Waintrater, director of l'Arche.

Admission. : 5 €. Members: 3 €.

5.00 p.m. Film showing

Inventing Our Life: The Kibbutz Experiment. Directed by Toby Perl Freilich.

Admission: 5 €. Members: 3 €.

Saturday March 31

3.00 p.m. Lecture

The Jewish agricultural colonies in Argentina, Brazil and the United States created at the initiative of Baron Maurice de Hirsch.
By Dominique Frischer, author of Moses of the Americas: the life and works of the munificent Baron de Hirsch (éditions Grasset).

Admission: 5 €. Members: 3 €.

5.00 p.m. Film showing

Legado. Directed by Vivian Imar and Marcelo Trotta.

Admission: 5 €. Members: 3 €.

Encounters

Palabres Centre-européennes

Tuesday March 13 at 7.00 p.m.

Panorama on books of Central Europe

Christine Lecerf, specialist on Austrian literature, journalist, producer at France Culture, will present her selection of new publications concerning Central Europe (see attached program).

Organized by the CIRCE, in cooperation with the Heinrich Heine Center, Polish Institute, Czech center, Hungarian Institute, Slovak Institute, Romanian Cultural Center, Austrian Cultural Forum and Litterall.

Every two months, authors, translators and publishers present books dealing with Central Europe recently published in French.
Download complete program _here.

Springtime of poets

Saturday March 17

3.00 p.m. Our measure is not beauty but horror.  

Following the publication of his novel D’un pays sans amour (éd. Grasset), Gilles Rozier proposes a bilingual presentation and readings of poems by the three writers who are the heroes of the book: Peretz Markish, Uri-Zvi Grinberg and Melekh Rawicz.

The poems will be read in Yiddish and French by Sharon Bar-Kochva and Noëmi Waysfeld.

5.00 p.m.  Encounter with Charles Dobzynski, poet and translator from Yiddish

His collection of poems, Je est un juif, roman, published in 2011, is an in-depth questioning of Jewish identity and Jewish condition. 

Admission: 5 €. Members: 3 €.

Wednesday March 21 mars à 20h00

Encounter with Israeli writer Moshe Sakal

On the publication in French of his novel Yolanda (éditions Stock).

With the participation of his translator Valérie Zenatti and (subject to confirmation) publisher Marie-Pierre Grâcedieu.

Presented in French by Sharon Bar-Kochva and Gilles Rozier

In a style that is at once sensitive, moving and funny, Moshe Sakal takes us into the inner world of a cosmopolitan family heavy with secrets. 

Thursday March 22 at 8.30 p.m.

Myriam Anissimov, writer

On the publication of her biography of Vassili Grossman (éditions du Seuil).

Novelist, journalist and biographer, Myriam Anissimov is the author of biographies of Primo Levi and Romain Gary. After detailed investigations in Russia, Ukraine and Israel, Myriam Anissimov presents the life of the author of « Life and Fate ». As Grossman gradually became aware of the tragedy of Stalinism, he fell victim to a regime of which he was once a partisan, a system which, through its persecution of all opponents, and Jews in particular, became profoundly destructive.

Admission: 5 €. Members: 3 €.

Tuesdays of history

Tuesday March 27 at 8.00 p.m. Philippe Boukara

The Jews and Asia: India, Central and Southern Asia (2/4).

Part of a cycle of lectures on the theme: « Other Promised Lands? »

The geography of the Jewish people, past and present, is not limited to the « western world » and the Arab countries. It also includes fertile interactions with the non-western civilizations of Asia and Africa.

Admission: 5 €. Members: 3 €.

Annual General Assembly
Thursday April 12, 2012 at 8.00 p.m.
You who have all year long contributed to the success of our projects, your presence, support and mobilization have given our team the strength that is indispensable to achieving our goals.
The general assembly is the occasion to better understand the work we have accomplished, to open a dialogue or express your opinion on future projects. The agenda of the meeting will be posted in our Center and can be downloaded on our www.yiddishweb.com as of March 19, 2012.
To vote, your dues must be paid for the year 2011/2012. There is still time to renew your membership, if you have not yet done so. If you are unable to attend this meeting, it is essential to send in the proxy ballot which you will be given, in order for the General Assembly to take place.

Workshops of the Maison de la culture yiddish

This month – don’t miss!

Dance workshop: Saturday March 10 from 3.00 p.m. to 5.30 p.m. 

Cooking workshop: Friday March 30 at 6.30 p.m. (sharp) 

Also:

Choral group Tshiribim: Sunday March 25
Theater workshop: Tuesdays March 6, 20 and 27
Klezmer workshop: Sundays March 4 and 25
Translation workshop: Tuesdays March 6, 13 and 27

For further information on the program of workshops here as well as Yiddish courses and price Yiddish courses and price information.

Kindershul

Led by Sharon Bar-Kochva, Anyel Fisbein and Fleur Kuhn
With the occasional participation of Marthe Desrosières and the Klezmer workshop.

Sundays from 2.30 to 5.30 p.m.: March 18
Nineteen sessions of 3 hours each, including Jewish holidays

Purim: Sunday March 11 at 2.30 p.m.

Download program of courses for children and price information in pdf format.

Monthly Seminar in Yiddish literature

Directed by Yitskhok Niborski and Natalia Krynicka
Themes of the year
1. Jewish humor, original version

2. Traditional motifs and their avatars

Sunday March 11
1-Humor and the holidays. Selected stories.
2- Traditional motifs in modern authors.

This seminar is conducted entirely in Yiddish; it is accessible to any student who has studied the language for about three years. 

Participants eat lunch together: everyone brings a contribution of food or beverage.

From 9.00 a.m. to 12.30 p.m. and 2.00 to 4.30 p.m.    

Admission: 34 €. Members: 27 €
Photocopy fee: 10 € for the year.

Summer University of Yiddish language and literature

The Paris Yiddish Center - Medem Library English newsletter is now on line on the website : http://yiddish2english.canalblog.com

דער חודשלעכער בריוו פֿונעם פּאַריזער ייִדיש–צענטער -- מעדעם–ביבליאָטעק איז שוין אויף אינטערנעץ

וועבאָרט : http://yiddish2yiddish.canalblog.com

Tuesday, February 7th at 8:30 PM

Le gros lot
by Sholem-Aleykhem

Adaptation and direction: Charlotte Messer
A provincial city in the Tsar’s empire. Shimele Saroker, a humble Jewish tailor, is heavily in debt. He is unable to pay his rent and his bills at the local shops. But, fate takes a turn: he wins the big lottery and becomes the wealthiest man in the city. What will the life of Shimele and his family be like from now on? Find out by coming to see the Troïm Theater’s new production, “The Big Lottery” adapted from a play by Sholem-Aleykhem, in the delightful Yiddish so typical of his work.

In Yiddish with French surtitles.

Information and tickets available at the Maison de la culture Yiddish: 01 47 00 14 00
or at the Centre d’Art et de Culture – Espace Rachi- Guy de Rothschild: 01 43 31 93 60
Tickets available here on the internet.

Tickets : 23 €. Members : 18 €.

A MUST !

Thursday, 9 February at 20h30 Simon Epstein

In conjunction with the publication of his book 1930 : une année dans l'histoire du peuple juif (éditions Stock).

What were Jews doing before the Genocide? What were their ideological orientations, their community organizations, their defense strategies? How did they see the future?

To answer these questions, Simon Epstein has reconstituted with precision, country by country, the Jewish political events of 1930.

Simon Epstein is an economist and historian, living in Jerusalem since 1974. He is the author of several works on racism and anti-Semitism.

Thursday 16 February at 20h30 Déborah Kaufmann (editor), Victor Kuperminc (translator) and Olivier Ranson (illustrator).

For the publication of a new French edition of Leo Rosten’s classic, The Joys of Yiddish, (éditions Calmann Lévy), which had a great success in France, as it did in the U.S.

Cost: 5 €. Members: 3 €.

New Tour with Valiske

Thursday 9 February at 18h Presentation of the tour to Birobidjan

André Kosmicki will present the new cultural tour organized by the association Valiske, which will take place from 20 to 31 August 2012, visiting Moscow, the Jewish Autonomous Region of Birobidjan, Vladivostok, and the region of Primorsky.

For further information, call us at: au 01 47 00 14 00.

Download: bulletin d'inscription.

Le symposium "Permanence of Yiddish", initially scheduled at UNESCO (Paris) on 6 and 7 February 2012, and organized by the permanent delegation of Bnai Brith to UNESCO, with the participation of the Maison de la culture yiddish-Bibliothèque Medem, has, for organizational reasons, been postponed to a later date, which will be communicated as soon as possible.

The General Assembly of MCY will be held on Thursday 12 April 2012 at 20 h00

All our members who have contributed all year long to the success of our projects are cordially invited to attend this assembly. Your presence, support and mobilization have given our co-workers the force indispensable to accomplish our mission. The general assembly is an opportunity to better understand the work we have accomplished, to dialogue with us and to express your opinions on our future projects. The agenda will be posted in our center and can be downloaded from our website: www.yiddishweb.com beginning on March 19, 2012.

To vote, you must have paid your membership dues for the year 2011/2012. There is still time to renew your membership if you have not yet done so.

In order for the General Assembly to take place, it is absolutely necessary if you cannot attend this meeting, that you send us the power of attorney, which will be put at your disposal.

Nadia Déhan-Rotschild and Aron Waldman

If you’ve learned to read and write but are unable to sign up for a regular weekly course, this day can help you keep in touch with Yiddish, both written and spoken. You can make progress through simple conversations, reading easy texts, learning some basic grammar and some songs to relax with and, in additon, a quick lesson (in French) on the traditional Jewish calendar. 

Saturday 4 February from 9h30 to 18h

Each participant should bring a picnic lunch.

Cost: 60 €. Members: 45 €.

Paris, Friday 3 - Sunday 5 February

Teaching staff directed by Yitskhok Niborski
Helen Beer (University College, London)
Natalia Krynicka (University Paris IV-Sorbonne)
Yitskhok Niborski (Inalco, Paris)
Karolina Szymaniak (University of Varsow)
Aron Waldman (Paris yiddish center)

One level : "intermediate" and "advanced" students

To register : mcy@yiddishweb.com
Download the registration form and the brochure in yiddish.

Led by Yitskhok Niborski and Natalia Krynicka

Themes of the year

1. Jewish humor, original version

2. Traditional motifs and their avatars

Sunday 5 February 2011

1. Characteristic mechanisms. Selected stories.

2. "The Whistle" – several authors around a Hasidic motif.  

This seminar is carried out entirely in Yiddish; it is accessible to any students who have studied the language for at least three years.  

Hours: from 9.30 to 12.30 and from 2.00 to 4.30 p.m.

Cost: 34€. Members: 27 €. Annual fee of 10€ for photocopies.

Lunch is taken together: each participant contributes some food or beverage. 

More information here.

More information here.

More information here.

The summer university program in Yiddish language and literature will take place in Paris from July 9 to 27. For further information, write to: annick@yiddishweb.com
Students wishing to find lodging or Parisians who can provide lodging for a student for the duration of the summer program (renting a room or apartment, or taking in a student free of charge) can contact us through our Facebook group: Parizer zumerkurs 2012.

More information here.

Wednesday 15 February at 20h : As a guest speaker of the association Liberté du Judaïsme, Yitskhok Niborski, director of studies at the Paris Yiddish Center, will give a talk in French on "Eliezer Shteynbarg, fabulous fabulist, Yiddish and Universal".

At the headquarters of the association Liberté du judaïsme (13, rue du Cambodge, 75020 Paris. Métro Gambetta).

On the air :
Yidish haynt, the monthly cultural program de culture (in French), on RCJ 93.9 FM, aired at 23h30, produced by the Maison de la culture yiddish, is on line.

On internet :
New weekly webcast in Yiddish, Tsu zingen un tsu zogn, produced by the Maison de la culture yiddish, animated by Sharon Bar-Kochva, Nicole Wajeman and Gilles Rozier. Listen to the latest program on our website and also have access to previous programs here.

Film director Idit Cebula is seeking extras for her next film, 13 rue Mandar  (with Richard Berry, Sandrine Kiberlain, Emmanuelle Devos, Lionel Abelanski, Michel Jonasz, Micheline Presle), (participation not remunerated) for one day, Monday, February 20. If you are interested, please contact Céline Jorrion at 06 68 26 90 61 or celinejorrion@gmail.com.

Simon Epstein, 1930 : une année dans l'histoire du peuple juif, éd. Stock.
What was happening in the Jewish world before the Genocide? What were the ideologies, organizations, defense strategies? How did they see the future?
To answer these questions, Simon Epstein, economist and historian living in Jerusalem, examines in depth, country by country, the political life of 1930.

A new edition of The Joys of Yiddish -- Joies du yiddish –by Leo Rosten, éditions Calmann-Lévy. The volume contains the original drawings by Olivier Ranson, illustrator for Parisien-Ajourd'hui in France.
De Aleph-beis à Zeyde -- This glossary of astonishing characters straight out of the shtetl is a humorous look at the culture of Ashkenaz from the Borsht Belt to Krakow via the Rue des Rosiers, the Lower East Side, Jerusalem and the town of Chelm.

Zygmunt Klukowski, "Une telle monstruosité…" : journal d'un médecin polonais, 1939-1947, edited by Jean-Yves Potel, éditions Calmann-Lévy
"I was consumed with the passion to write down notes that would later (I already hoped) enable the world to reconstruct the amazing story of the region of Zamosc and of Poland.

Anne Gorouben, 100, boulevard du Montparnasse, éditions Les cahiers dessinés
The title address is that of a small apartment in Paris, just next to the café La Coupole. The story of two childhoods: that of a father who claimed that his was devoid of any “great dramas”, despite the fact that during the war he was hidden for two years in the country, feeling both guilty and abandoned; and that of a daughter who has “ all she needs to be happy” but who lives haunted by the story of a family some of whose members were deported, and others fled or hid or simply disappeared.
The book includes drawings by the author, each accompanied by a text.

Encounter of October 20, 2011 : For the publication of his book Corpus Rothi (éd. Leo Scherr), Steven Sampson in a dialogue with Cécile Guilbert. Here.

Round Table of November 15, 2011 : «En pologne, c’est-à-dire nulle part », led by Gilles Rozier with Talila, Jérémie Dres, Hélène Oppenheim-Gluckman and Daniel Oppenheim. Here.

You can also hear or watch past episodes of the cycle "Writing the catastrophe” conceived by Cécile Wajsbrot.

Meeting of April 6, 2011 : Cécile Wajsbrot read her text Vesuvius, followed by a dialogue with Gilles Rozier
Audio and video versions on the site of the revue remue.net.

Meeting of April 28, 2011 : Hélène Cixous reads her text Après chaque fin du monde, then dialogue with Cécile Wajsbrot
Audio and video versions on the site of the revue remue.net.

Meeting of May 5, 2011 : Laurent Binet reads his text Tolstoy at Stalingrad
Audio and video versions on the site of the revue remue.net.

Meeting of May 26, 2011: Svetlana Alexievitch speaks (in Russian, translation into French) then dialogue with Cécile Wajsbrot
Audio and video versions on the site of the revue remue.net.

Meeting of June 16: Marcel Cohen reads a text on the theme then dialogue with Cécile Wajsbrot
Audio and video versions on the site of the revue remue.net.

Meeting of September 22: Gilles Rozier on the publication of his new novel D'un pays sans amour (éd. Grasset).
Audio and video versions on the site of the revue remue.net.

Meeting of October 13: Dominique Dussidour reads La Conjugaison des anges then dialogue with Cécile Wajsbrot
Audio and video versions on the site of remue.net.

Meeting of November 10: Laurence Werner David reads his text on the subject, then dialogue with Cécile Wajsbrot
audio.

The Yiddish Cabaret needs – seeks someone who can lend us – or give us -- two spotlights.