Bread & Roses: Yiddish Songs of the Jewish Labor Movement, with Cindy Paley ONLINE

This KlezCalifornia workshop will focus on Yiddish songs of the Jewish Labor Movement. Jews have always been at the forefront of social and political movements. What began as local organizing efforts in Poland and Russia continued in the U.S., as Jewish immigrants quickly learned that labor in the New World needed unions too. Labor poets such as Morris Rosenfeld, David Edelshtat, and Avraham Reisen wrote songs of poverty, toil, and struggle that reflected the Jewish experience common to both immigrant life and life in the Old World. The voices of women, who faced oppression and exploitation, are also represented. Participants will learn songs and their background, listen to recordings, and most importantly, sing!

The event begins 11am Pacific Time (2pm Eastern Time, 7pm UK Time, 8pm most Europe, 9pm Israel Time).

To reserve a space, scroll down to BOOK EVENT, click on NEXT, and complete the registration form. Please put workshops@klezcalifornia.org in your address book so sign-in info does not go to your spam folder.

Those who have registered by Sunday 7am Pacific Time (10am Eastern Time, 3pm UK Time, 4pm most Europe, 5pm Israel) will receive sign-in by 8:10am that day. If you have not heard by then, write workshops@klezcalifornia.org a.s.a.p. Please do not wait until just before the workshop to notice whether you have the sign-in info.

If you are trying to register Sunday after 7am Pacific Time: Write workshops@klezcalifornia.org and we will try to send you sign-in information. Next time, please register earlier.

KlezCalifornia is presenting online workshops this Spring and Summer free of charge as a community service during the COVID-19 pandemic. Donations of $25 (or whatever you can afford) would be greatly appreciated to enable us to continue our mission to connect you with Yiddish culture.

General information about KlezCalifornia workshops »

Cindy Paley has delighted Jewish communities with her timeless albums and dynamic performances. As the music educator at Valley Beth Shalom for 36 years, she brought Jewish music to countless children. For the past 20 years she has been the cantorial soloist for Lev Eisha and Valley Beth Shalom’s N’shama Minyan, two women’s services in Los Angeles. Additionally, Cindy performs Yiddish music throughout California and Poland and teaches annual workshops at the Krakow Jewish Culture Festival. Although she is best known for Jewish music, Cindy also performs American folk songs of the 1960s with a trio called The Folk Experience.

This workshop is made possible in part by a grant from the Alliance for California Traditional Arts, in partnership with the Walter and Elise Haas Fund, the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, and the Surdna Foundation. We count on registration fees and donations to cover the rest of the expenses.