In Zaltsikn Yam - A Yiddish Workers' Song
Mir Leben Geblibene
Directed by Natan Gross
Material Type:
Films
It Was The Custom
Directed by Natan Gross
This film shows and explains different Jewish customs. Among the customs shown are children singing the Shem'a over a babies cradle. That is a common custom in Poland and Ukraine. Additionally, there is a wedding ceremony of Eastern European Jews.
Film located at the Steven Spielberg Jewish Film Archive
Material Type:
Films
God, Man and Devil
Directed by Joseph Seiden
This Yiddish film brings the classic tale of Faust to the Shtetl. It is about a pious man who makes a deal with the devil and the downward spiral that he is led down. Music plays a major part in the film, most notably the fiddle playing motive that appears at various points.
Material Type:
Films
Year:
1949
A letter to mother - A Brivele der Mamen
Directed by Joseph Green
Classic Yiddish film from 1939 with music by Abe Ellstein. In this film music is integral to the development of the plot and in addition to the film's central melody that acts as a leitmotif throughout the film, a Passover seder is also featured and a few non-religious Yiddish songs are sung during the course of the film.
Material Type:
Films
Year:
1939
Khevrisa European Klezmer Music
Composer
Composer
1. Suite in A Minor A Freygish, D Freygish, D Minor: Sher
2. Suite in A Minor A Freygish, D Freygish, D Minor: Mazltov
3. Suite in A Minor A Freygish, D Freygish, D Minor: Sher
4. Suite in A Minor A Freygish, D Freygish, D Minor: Alvavo Rab bo Shteyger
5. Suite in A Minor A Freygish, D Freygish, D Minor: Alvavo Rab bo Shteyger
6. Suite in A Minor A Freygish, D Freygish, D Minor: Shir Ha-Ma lois
Material Type:
Recordings
Year:
2000
Ma Nishtana
Performer
This is a standard version of the four questions of the Seder, sung in the learning formula of the East European Heder and common among the Hasidim. The first version is in Hebrew only, and the second juxtaposes the Hebrew and the Yiddish versions, phrase by phrase.
Material Type:
Recordings
Year:
2008
Vos der Yidisher Aktyor Dertseylt [What the Jewish Actor Recounts]
Author
A collection of anecdotes relating to the Yiddish theater and its star actors.
Material Type:
Books
Year:
1928
Hintern Forhang [Behind the Scenes]
Author
This book includes articles and anecdotes about Yiddish theater. A second edition was published by the National Yiddish Book Center in 2000.
Material Type:
Books
Year:
1928
Musical Characteristics of East-European Jewish Folk-song
Author
Click Here for Slide Show
This entry is part of an online exhibit entitled: "Hava Nagila: From Idelsohn to Belafonte & Beyond," prepared by Eva Heinstein with help from the JMRC staff. To view the exhibit in its entirety click on the link above.
Material Type:
Articles in Journals
Year:
1932
- A Polka Mazurka
- Niggun of the Meggid of Mezerich From the album, "The Hasidic Niggun as Sung by the Hasidim." This dance niggun is the seventh and last in a series of niggunim sung by Bratslav Hasidim as they dance after the Shabbat evening service on Friday night. Some have attributed the niggun to R. Dov Ber, the meggid of Mezerich.
- Kol B'ru'ei (Padua, Italy) From the album, "Italian Jewish Musical Traditions from the Leo Levi Collection (1954-1961)." The poem depicts "all creatures" singing and praising the unity of God, and was recited in the Italian rite during the daily morning prayer. This melody was sung only on Rosh Hashanah (New Year) in the Italian tradition of Padua.
- Yigdal From the album, "Judeo-Carribean Currents, Music of the Mikve Israel-Emanuel Synagogue in Curaçao," performed by Gideon Zelermyer. The Yigdal is part of the ceremonial section of the liturgical order of Shabbat and the Holy Days in the Curaçao synagogue. It is one of the ending hymns of the service.
- Eres Chiquita y Bonita From the album, "Judeo-Spanish Moroccan Songs for the Life Cycle," sung by Alicia Bendayan from Tetuan. This is a song about courtship, related to the Jewish rituals that mark the events of the life cycle.
- Sweet Shalt Be My Chant From the album, "Kulmus Hanefesh," performed by Yair Harel on voice and tar, and Matti Kovler on voice and piano. A sacred hymn attributed to Rabbi Yehuda ha-Chasid, this is a Chabad tune with a near-Eastern arrangement.
- Lyr II From the album, "The Music of the Mountain Jews." Lyr is a genre found among all Turkish peoples, consisting of long, complex compositions usually comprised of three parts.
- Gilu ha-Galilim (Rejoice Galileans) From the album, "Nights in Canaan, Early Songs of the Land of Israel (1882-1946)." This is a Second Aliyah (1904-1914) song which became an integral part of the historical repertoire of Hebrew song. Both native-born and newly arrived pioneers sang this song in all circumstances.
- Saperi Tama From the album, "With Songs They Respond: The Diwan of the Jews from Central Yemen." This is a girdle poem by Se'adia ben Amram. Saperi Tama is sung to many melodies and is one of Yemenite Jewry's most common poems.