Jewish Traces in Unexpected Places: Jewish Song and Dance in Belarus

Jewish life is returning to Belarus and its capital, Minsk. After the founding of yeshivot in Volozhin and Mir in the nineteenth century, the Jewish population rose to almost a million in the 1900s.

After the Holocaust, only ten percent remained, many of whom moved to Israel. Recent surveys estimate the population now to be around 50,000.

Belarus was home to many notable Jews, including Shimon Peres, Chaim Weitzman, Menachem Begin, Yitzchak Shamir, Eliezer Ben Yehuda, Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik, Irving Berlin, Marc Chagall, Louis B. Mayer, David Sarnoff, and Ayn Rand.

Jewish organizations are taking root in Belarus, such as community centers, youth organizations, kindergartens, newspapers, magazines, and a web site.

A visible sign of a Jewish awakening is the performance of Jewish music in public places. In our ongoing search for new and unusual interpretations of Tumbalalaika, Hava Nagila, and Hevenu Shalom Aleichem around the world, we came across the Radzimichy Folk Ensemble of Belarus. In the video below, they sing and dance to the melodies of all three songs, dressed in their traditional folk costumes.

^Enjoy!
(A SPECIAL NOTE FOR NEW EMAIL SUBSCRIBERS:  THE VIDEO MAY NOT BE VIEWABLE DIRECTLY FROM THE EMAIL THAT YOU GET EACH DAY ON SOME COMPUTERS AND TABLETS.  YOU MUST CLICK ON THE TITLE AT THE TOP OF THE EMAIL TO REACH THE JEWISH HUMOR CENTRAL WEBSITE, FROM WHICH YOU CLICK ON THE PLAY BUTTON IN THE VIDEO IMAGE TO START THE VIDEO.)