New Leyenkrayz (reading circle) Starting in June

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This June I will be leading my second leyenkrayz: six short stories from Found Treasures over six weeks. (Six consecutive Wednesdays starting June 10 at 7pm) This is really a hybrid-leyenkrayz. Each week we will read the story in English translation ahead of time. I send out the Yiddish text and in class, we read selections from the Yiddish out loud, along with a class discussion of the story in English. 


This new leyenkrayz is coming after the success of my first leyenkrayz over April-May. We read the wonderful new translation of Rokhl Faygenberg's 1905 memoir, The Winding Road. Each week we read part of the Yiddish and for week 4, we had a visit from the translator, Tamara Helfer. 

This hybrid format turned out to be perfect for Yiddish learners who aren't ready to read an entire Yiddish novel on their own. Reading the English ahead of the Yiddish aids comprehension tremendously. It also allows beginner and intermediate students the opportunity to think about translation in a more complex way, as reading aloud in class naturally leads to discussion of the many layers of translation choices. 

The Found Treasures leyenkrayz begins Wednesday, June 10 at 7pm (EST). Roughly half of each class session is for reading the Yiddish text out loud, then we discuss the story. In addition, where appropriate, I give short talks about various elements of the story and context. We might even have supplemental readings that illuminate the main text. In The Winding Road, Rokhl Faygenberg describes how important "shund" novels were for her as a teenager, especially those of Shomer and Yankev Dinezon. In fact, her first literary creation was fanfic based on the characters in Dinezon's Young Dark Man. We when we got to that section of the book, I sent around a sample chapter of Young Dark Man so we could get a sense of what Faygenberg was actually reading. 

If you're interested in joining the upcoming leyenkrayz ($200 for six sessions) drop me an email and you'll get payment and registration info. I'd love to see you there!

Questions or to sign up and pay, email: cjcrokhl@ gmail dot com  

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