Jewish Traces in Unexpected Places: Yiddish on a Carolina Mountaintop

For 35 summers, a mountaintop in Wildacres, North Carolina has been a gathering place for up to 110 guests of the Charlotte Yiddish Institute, a group that is united by one thing -- their love for the Yiddish language.

They hail from all over the United States, as well as from Mexico, Uruguay, and Argentina. During the four-day program, the guests are treated to Yiddish singing, dancing, klezmer music, poetry readings, sharing meals, and walks in the woods.

The narrator in Yiddish (with English subtitles) says that it was hard to keep the audience members in their seats, but we suspect that some, including the lady caught by the camera busily knitting during a performance, may have found it hard to stand up.

For anyone not fluent in Yiddish, which probably includes most of our readers, we apologize for the minute-long poetry reading without any subtitles. Also included in the video is a three minute interview with one of the founders that, if you'll forgive our Yiddish, shleppt zich a bissel. But all in all, we think it's good to see that Yiddish is still alive outside of the Catskills.

Enjoy!

(A SPECIAL NOTE FOR NEW EMAIL SUBSCRIBERS:  THE VIDEO IS NOT VIEWABLE DIRECTLY FROM THE EMAIL THAT YOU GET EACH DAY.  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.)