Mir zaynen do! : Yiddish Music, American Jewish Identity, and the Promise of a Jewish Future

This thesis project examines the music of Yiddish-speaking Jewish partisans and ghetto resisters, as sung for a modern audience by the Boston Worker’s Circle community chorus, A Besere Velt (‘A Better World’). I draw from a combination of original interviews with current members of A Besere Velt across a wide age range, folklore and related interdisciplinary research, and primary Yiddish source material. I examine what makes singing these songs so poignant for contemporary Jews, giving them a life that exists beyond their original audience through continued performance. Ultimately, I argue that through repeat performance and interpretation of partisan and ghetto songs, members of A Besere Velt are creating a conduit between past and present time—a liminal space, ripe with possibility. I utilize the interviews I conducted with A Besere Velt chorus members to provide a nuanced portrait of the varying motivations and affiliations of the group, with an emphasis on each individual’s relationship to Jewishness and the Yiddish language. I also provide an in-depth look at the partisan and ghetto songs most frequently performed by A Besere Velt. I situate the songs within the genre of Yiddish music (or Yiddish folk music) more broadly and examine how chorus members create meaning through the performance of partisan music, the construction of Jewish space, and the promise of Jewish futures.Master of Art