Happy Hanukkah ! אַ פֿרײלעכן חנוכּה

Our normally happy Hanukkah programming was overshaddowed by the horrific massacre of Jews at a Hanukkah celebration in Sydney, Australia's Bondi Beach. We spoke with Alex Dafner, Australia's main Yiddish radio presenter the past 40 years and a leading Yiddish and Jewish cultural activist and teacher based in Melbourne, about the horrible massacre and about the situation of Australian Jewry in general. Also heard are short excerpts from the funeral of Rabbi Eli Schlanger, who was murdered in the massacre. Alex Dafner is host of the Kadimah Yiddish Show, a radio show and podcast produced by Melbourne's J-Air Jewish radio station. To listen to the live show and podcasts, go to their website: https://www.j-air.com.au/kadimah-yiddish-show-2/ Follow Alex on social media at Twitter/X: @AlexDafner or Facebook: facebook.com/YiddishRadio. We reached Alex Dafner via Zoom at his home in Melbourne, Australia, on Tuesday, Dec. 16, in the evening, Boston time, and Wednesday, Dec. 17, in the morning, Melbourne time.

Music for Hanukkah:

• Cantor Pierre Pinchik (פּינחס פּינטשיק): Maoz Tsur (מעוז צור)
• Cantor Sidor Belarsky: Haneros Halolu

Intro instrumental music: DEM HELFANDS TANTS from Jeff Warschauer: The Singing Waltz

Air date: December 17, 2025

Happy Hanukkah ! אַ פֿרײלעכן חנוכּה

Highlights:

• Sender Botwinik (סענדער באָטװיניק), music and Yiddish teacher, chorus director and Yiddishist, discusses the new CD he produced and publishedZumer iz Shoyn Vider Do – זומער איז שוין ווידער דאָ featuring the music of his late father Dovid Botwinik, the Vilna-born music composer, music teacher, songwriter, chorus director and Holocaust survivor. Info here: https://botwinikmusic.com/new-album/ We reached Sender Botwinik in Philadelphia via Zoom on Dec. 8, 2025.

Music from CD Zumer iz Shoyn Vider Do – זומער איז שוין ווידער דאָ:

• Anna Reisner, Tessa Pearlstein:Vider brent dos alte lempl
• Mackenzie Sherman and Chorus (Anna Reisner, Joelle Pearlstein, Kendall Gold-Rappe, Laney Gold-Rappe, Skylar Zachian, Tessa Pearlstein): Shtoltse likhtelekh
• Chorus: Nem in hant dos kleyne dreydl
• Chorus: Dreydele
• Skylar Zachian, Tessa Pearlstein and Chorus: A khanike-nes
• Dina-Malka Botwinik: Dreydele

Other Music for Hanukkah:

• Avram, Elisha and Sarah Mlotek: Lesht nit di likhtlekh oys
• Yossi Desser: Dreidelech
• Jordan Wax: Khanike iz Freylekh / Spin Around Like a Dreydl
• Moishe Oysher: Blessing of the Candles
  • Klezmer Conservatory Band (soloist: Judy Bressler): Chanuka, Oy Chanuka
  • Lori Cahan-Simon: Kinder haynt iz khanike
  • Arbeter-Ring Kinder Khor: Hanukkah song medley

Intro instrumental music: DEM HELFANDS TANTS from Jeff Warschauer: The Singing Waltz

Air date: December 10, 2025

Highlights:

• Mikhl Yashinsky (מיכל יאַשינסקי), a multifaceted actor, playwright, director, lyricist, translator and Yiddishist, discusses his translation of the new bookAdventures of Max Spitzkopf: The Yiddish Sherlock Holmes by Jonas Kreppel, originally written by Jonas Kreppel in Yiddish and recently published in English translation (October, 2025) by White Goat Press. Publisher's page: https://www.yiddishbookcenter.org/about/white-goat-press-0/jonas-kreppel For more info on Mikhl Yashinsky visit: https://yashinsky.com

• The interviewer, Lillian ("Leah") Shporer-Leavitt, is a frequent cohost of The Yiddish Voice and an experienced Yiddish translator and teacher. She has taught Yiddish for many years at various institutions in the Boston area, including Workers Circle and Gann Academy.

• Music:

  • Moishe Oysher: Blessing the Chanukah Candles
  • Ikh Bin a Kleyner Dreydl
  • Pripetshik Singers: Kh'Bin a Dreydl
  • Marthe Schlamme: Chanuke o Chanuke
  • Pripetshik Singers: Akht Likhtelekh
  • Sidor Belarsky: O, Ir Kleyne Lichtelech
  • Intro instrumental music: DEM HELFANDS TANTS from Jeff Warschauer: The Singing Waltz

Air date: November 19, 2025