CELEBRATING YIDDISH: MAME-LOSHN REDUX
by Lila Zeiger

Imagine a glowing Spring day in late May, 1997 - green, pink, blue, gold everywhere. You are on the spacious campus of Sacred Heart University, in Fairfield, Connecticut, but the students you see about you are an odd mix indeed. Some are wearing yarmulkes, others eyebrow rings and cut-off jeans. Some are jogging or doing tai-chi, others moving purposefully in their wheelchairs. There are babies in strollers, toddlers, teen-agers, and white-haired adult who seem even more energetic than the youngsters. Listen carefully. Most of them - even the three-year olds - are speaking Yiddish!

This was Mame-Loshn '97, a memorable Memorial Day weekend sponsored by the Workmen's Circle Arbeter-Ring, where, for four days, over four hundred people came together to celebrate Yiddish and Yiddishkayt. The tempting brochure promised "immersion in a vital Yiddish atmosphere that welcomes and encourages every level of language ability," and that is the distinctive appeal of Mame-Loshn, its unique contribution. Foremost Yiddish scholars of our time - grammarians and linguists of international fame - sat side by side with people who knew only a word or two, and many classes and activities were conducted in Yiddish and English, or with the aid of transliteration, wherever possible. There were at least a dozen stimulating offerings every day presented in each of four 90-minute sessions. In each session, one had the option of Yiddish language classes on every level (beginners, intermediate, advanced) with some of the finest teachers in the country. Therefore, no matter what point you had hearted from, your Mame-Loshn could grow significant in those four days.

It was difficult to resist all the other fascinating offerings, however, and we all wished for more than the proverbial one rump to place on the many chairs we coveted. (That idiom works best in Yiddish, of course!) Offerings like Bird-watching, Shiatsu, Homeopathy, The Virtual Shtetl (in the computer room!) beckoned. One could hear about Yiddish in Czernovitz or Birobidzhan, the YlVO collections, or the Singer family; meet with fellow Mendelniks known only from E-mail; practice doing translation from English into Yiddish, or learn how three noted families brought their children up Yiddish-speaking by creating "Bainbridgevke," in the Bronx. Titles such as "Chasidic Life: Being There and Leaving" or "A Bord On a Yid? The Passion for Jewish Culture in Germany Today" or "Secret Life of Dovid Kominsky" (Danny Kaye) enticed us. I have carefully avoided mentioning any presenters in this article, so as not to slight anyone, but they are among the best in their fields, coming from all over the world to grace Mame-Loshn '97.

Course offerings in Yiddish culture were comprehensive. Included were such subjects as "Yiddish Khazn Music," "Ballroom Dance," "Women's Literature," "Making Film in Yiddish," "Storytelling," and even "The Vocabulary of Love and Sex in Yiddish." A film in progress about gays in the orthodox and chasidic communities, "Trembling Before G-d," engendered much interest and discussion. Yiddish films, many of them quite rare, were shown throughout the day. We even enjoyed a documentary about early Jewish farming in New Jersey, which featured narration by one of our own Mame-Loshn participants.

There was ample opportunity for our many talents to be displayed. The Mame-Loshn Players, with little time to prepare and minimal props (an asparagus stalk became a cigar!) regaled us with their acting ability. We joined in many sing-a-longs. An adult chorus (Community Koyles!) delighted us, and a children's chorus, as usual, stole the show. There were Cabaret events for all those who wished to shine - and glitter they did! Impromptu dancing began by snaking its way around a gym filled with 650 white chairs. And oh, how we danced! People with canes under their arms, kids on a parent's shoulders, even a gutsy young woman with crutches. The Klezmer Conservatory Band and the Yale Klezmer Band made it impossible for us to keep our feet still. We would circle and stomp in a wild frenzy, but no one dropped.

Tired as we were from the day's hyperactivity, many of us would party all night. All it took was some soda (or stronger), some chips and a few pick-up klezmers. And everyone who could stay up was welcome. A man in his eighties might, after all, be more lively than a twenty-year old - and even more perky the next morning. One of the unanswered frages: What's the Yiddish expression for "hangover"?

The policy of inclusion is, indeed, what makes Mame-Loshn work so well. Differences of religion, politics, age, sexual orientation - for four days, they are almost irrelevant as we discover new things about ourselves and about one another. Children have their own complete program of activities, but they are never sequestered for long. Orthodox Shabbes services arc available at the nearby Jewish Home for the Elderly, but so are "Egalitarian" services in one of the dining rooms. The work-study people, most of them young, are tireless and devoted in helping those, sometimes much older, with special needs-hut it is in the spirit of friendship and equality that they interact in all activities.

Our group was enlarged this year because we hosted the National Association of Yiddish Clubs, which gave us a wonderful opportunity to meet many enthusiasts from all over the country. We also took pride in honoring the hundredth anniversary of the Yiddish Forward, with sessions in Yiddish and English on the history and future of the paper, a program on "A Bintel Brief," and even a conversation with the managing editor of the new Russian Forverts. Another moving special event was the dedication of the newly released "Songs of Generations: New Pearls of Yiddish Song," by Chana and Yost Mlotek.

Freedom of choice extended to all aspects of the weekend. At spare moments, people browsed through a large selection of recordings, disks, books and T-shirts, many of them rare and specially priced. In the carefully koshered SHU cafeteria, a smorgasbord of delectable vegetarian and dairy dishes was provided at every meal. Blintzes and pizza, pierogi and pesto, elaborate breads, salmon, ratatouille, a cornucopia of fresh fruit, said, yogurts, ten homemade desserts if one desired—but leave some room for honeycake and tea at the evening's entertainment! Of course there were some problems even in this Gan-eden. How could there not be, with hundreds of eager people descending all at once to register, to find apartments and classrooms, more hangers and soap, needing showers or hungry for lunch at the same moment? But the amazing dedication of the staff and presenters was contagious, and good will prevailed in even the most difficult situations.

From the moment of our arrival, we were full of enthusiasm and the expectation that these four days would meet needs within us that we had not even defined before. By Monday at noon, we sang our last song together - America the Beautiful (in the transliterated Yiddish of our songs hits, Amerike di Prekhtike). Later that day, saying a sometimes tearful goodbye to old friends and so many new ones, we all knew in our bones that Mame-Loshn '97 had made a profound impact on our lives.