In this class, you will learn a selection of delightful Yiddish folk songs that celebrate Shabbat. This workshop will prepare you to take the songs with you out into the world, to teach to students or congregants, hum to yourself in the kitchen, or sing with family and friends! No previous experience with Yiddish or with singing is required. A word sheet will be provided with lyrics in Yiddish, transliteration, and English translation.

Adah Hetko is a Yiddish singer/songwriter, dance-leader and educator based in Boston, MA. Several of her compositions are featured on the album Levyosn’s Lullaby, recorded with her ensemble Levyosn (Ashkenazi Hebrew for “Leviathan”), and released by Borscht Beat in June 2023. Levyosn’s Lullaby has been described as “one of those special recordings that brings joy and a smile each time it is heard” (Ari Davidow) and “a warm Yiddish blanket [to] calm your frayed nerves” (Rokhl Kafrissen). Adah has developed her knowledge and skills in many ways, including performing with ensembles Soloveychicks and Eight Foot Babka, completing an ethnographic study of contemporary Yiddish women singers (and completing an MA in Jewish Studies at Indiana University in the process), studying Yiddish song and dance-leading with veteran artist Judy Bressler, and teaching Yiddish songs to students ages 5-95. You can learn more about Adah here.