“Shmues un Vayn”: A Yiddish Social Club
Here in Berlin, Yiddish is alive and kicking. In early 2022, as the pandemic was subsiding, I started the “Shmues un Vayn” group, which has met twice per month ever since to socialize and drink wine while speaking only Yiddish. By now, the group – which is part of Yiddish.Berlin – includes more than 75 Berlin-based Yiddish speakers from a variety of backgrounds, and about a dozen of us show up to an average gathering.
We have also co-hosted special events such as a Third Seder on Passover, picnics and lake swims, a “pub crawl” station during the Shtetl Berlin festival, and a street party during the 2022 Yiddish in Berlin summer program.
I have also taken the format on the road when traveling, and have organized similar meetups in New York, Tel Aviv, Kraków, and Warsaw.
Basics
- An ongoing series of Yiddish-speaking evenings around Berlin
- “Shmues un Vayn” means “conversation and wine”: the wine is optional, but the Yiddish is mandatory
Dates
- Twice per month on irregular evenings, usually weekdays but occasionally on a weekend
- Usually begins at 7 pm, often goes on until midnight or later
- You are welcome to arrive and leave at any time
Join Us
If you are a Yiddish speaker who lives in or plans to visit Berlin, contact me and I will let you know the upcoming dates.
We welcome Yiddish speakers of all levels, but from experience, you should have at least basic conversational Yiddish to attend, as we will not switch languages to explain things.
