Yiddish Language and Theater Festival opens at Bucharest Choral Temple

The 5th edition of the Yiddish Language and Theater Festival debuted on Monday evening at the Choral Temple in Bucharest, in the presence of numerous guests, after the last two editions took place online due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Agerpres reports.

Minister of Culture Lucian Romascanu highlighted the importance of Yiddish in Romanian culture, a language with ancient origins, almost 1,000 years old and gave assurances of all the openness and collaboration of the institution he leads, which, representing the national culture, also represents the Jewish culture in Romania.

"It is an honor for me to be speaking at the Choral Temple for the first time, and it is a great pleasure for me to greet the actors of the Warsaw Jewish Theater who took part in today's event. Poland has a special place in history. (...) Poland was a real pole of the Jewish culture's development, film and theater. (...) We are proud to be the heirs of this period of glory and I am glad that here in Bucharest we will have the opportunity to bear this great legacy," said Polish Ambassador in Bucharest Maciej Lang.

The history of the Jewish theater in Romania is directly related to the impressive modern renaissance of the Jewish people, whose culmination is the construction and development of the State of Israel, said Victor Opaschi, Secretary of State for Religious Affairs.

"In 1876, Avram Goldfaden laid the foundation stone of the world's first professional Yiddish theater in (northeastern, ed. n.) Iasi, and he could not measure the implications of this historic event. His inaugural gesture, professed under the sign of dialogue and cultural interference and wholeheartedly welcomed by Mihai Eminescu, gave birth then to the most important institution of secular Jewish culture; 146 years of Jewish theater in Romania express the trajectory of a destiny," said Victor Opaschi.

The president of the Federation of Jewish Communities in Romania, deputy Silviu Vexler, the initiator of the law underpinning the organization of the festival, said that Yiddish has really experienced a renaissance, especially in recent years, which was more than a joy for all Jews in Romania and underlined the contribution in this respect of the State Jewish Theater.

"Regardless of whether it was poetry, the form of creation expressed, Yiddish has truly given life to Jewish culture and communities. Yiddish continues to do so as a defining element for Jewish communities in Romania and beyond. The language of the Jews, if you will, is Hebrew, but Yiddish still remains the language of the heart. Currently, there are more than 3 million Yiddish speakers worldwide. (...) In Romania, and not only, Yiddish and Yiddish culture are being revived," stressed the parliamentarian.

After this moment, the president of FCER awarded two decorations, to the applause of the participants, these being granted by decree of the President of Romania, Klaus Iohannis.

A performance by the Zydowski Theater in Poland, a series of musical moments and a film screening Der Dibuk took place on the first day of the festival, which ends on Tuesday.

Director Andrei Munteanu made a presentation entitled "The Yiddish Theater between tradition and modernity".