Vilna Yiddish literary reading circle invites to its next meeting

The Vilna Yiddish Literary Reading Circle is hosted at the Jewish Cultural and Information Center, a partnership project of the Jewish Community of Lithuania and the Vilnius Municipality. The second session will be held this coming Sunday, 27 September 2015, at 1 PM (1300) sharp, and further sessions will follow thereafter each Sunday at the same time. Those who wish to purchase coffee and snacks (including delicious toasted bagels!) are asked to come at least 15 minutes earlier as the session starts, in good old Litvak style, at 1 o’clock on the dot.

The instructor, Professor Dovid Katz (www.dovidkatz.net), has been volunteering to lead the circle since its inception in September 1999 for those in the Jewish community (and equally, those from all other communities in Vilnius!) who wish to develop their knowledge of Yiddish language, literature and culture. Whoever can read Yiddish participates by reading a paragraph to the best of his or her ability. Those who cannot are invited to attend and listen (listening to Yiddish is good for your health!). The text is discussed, and many other topics are discussed. The opinions may vary dramatically, but only Yiddish may be spoken. (Some years, there is a one penny fine for each non-Yiddish word!) The project continues in recent years in memory of two of its founding members, Dr. Sheine Sideraitė (1921—2005) and Dr. Izraelis Lempertas (Yisroel Lempert, 1925—2012), and one of its latter-year stalwarts, Meilach Stalevich whom the Jewish community lost almost a year ago (1923—2014). The project’s administrative coordinator is Julius Norwilla.