JoansYiddishBlog: A LONDON MEMORY: HAYNT IZ DO

Many years ago I had the privilege of attending a series of Yiddish classes in London. They were held in classrooms of London University and the students came from all over the world.

On Saturdays we would take the Tube to an old formerly Jewish neighborhood where in donated space we would attend meetings of the local Yiddish group. The format was simple -- first we sang a song together, always the same song, and afterwards everyone who had prepared something would read, recite or sing a story, poem or song that they had composed themselves in Yiddish or simply loved and wanted to share with the group.

Then we would have light refreshments and everyone contributed to a "kitty" to pay for this and for the use of the space.

The participants -- mostly senior native speakers -- were warm and welcoming. It was a lovely activity.

Here are the words to their opening song - Khayashu -- by Chiam Tauber. I love this song because it reminds me to live in the present as much as I can. Here are the words; just click once to enlarge it.