YIDDISH THEATER: CONGREGATION TEMPLE EMANU-EL'S HEBREW SCHOOL
The central community of Jews in Europe was that of Poland. The Jews of Poland lived a very distinct life. They were considered to be a separate national group; living within their country. Their national language was Yiddish. Many Jews therefore encouraged the development of literature, poetry and drama in Yiddish. This was a mark of the pride they felt in their language and also reflected the fact that for many Jews Yiddish was their everyday language. Many were not fluent in any other language.
Yiddish theater began in the 1870s when Abraham Goldfaden began to perform in barns and fields in Romania.
Regina Magid
The theater, which soon became popular all over the Yiddish speaking world, captured the imagination of the population because it talked about the lives of the people who went to see it. Sometimes classical plays like those by Shakespeare were rewritten as if they were taking place among the Yiddish speaking Jews of Eastern Europe. Others talked about Jewish folklore or themes from modern literature. The Stars of the Yiddish theater were like today's movie stars. When a Yiddish theater group would come to a shtetl everybody would turn out to see the play.
Yiddish theater spread to North America, Argentina and every place where Yiddish was spoken. In the 20s and 30s a Yiddish movie industry developed. Sadly with the destruction of the center of Yiddish culture much of Yiddish theater faded away.
There are still however Yiddish theaters in New York, Israel and Poland where people come to enjoy the beauty of Yiddish culture. In New York, there are big efforts to get young people to appreciate Yiddish theater. In Poland most of the actors are not even Jewish and learn Yiddish in order to act in the Yiddish theater.