"God Bless America" in Yiddish ("Got Bentsh Amerike") - performed by cast of "Fiddler" in Yiddish
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 27 ส.ค. 2024
- A project I conceived and co-produced with fellow cast member, Ben Liebert:
The cast of the Off-Broadway hit, "Fiddler on the Roof" in Yiddish, performing "God Bless America" sung in Yiddish - and featuring the show's director, Academy and Tony Award-winning actor, Joel Grey, along with Steven Skybell, who starred as Tevye. This was originally released on the eve of the 59th Presidential Inauguration of Joseph R. Biden Jr. as a celebration of the ideals of the U.S., as well as a prayer for her future. Yiddish was one of the two native tongues of Irving Berlin, who wrote the iconic anthem.
ABOUT "GOD BLESS AMERICA"
“God Bless America” was originally written in 1918 for a musical revue by Irving Berlin, a Jewish immigrant born Israel Beilin, while Berlin was in the U.S. Army. Deciding the song didn’t fit the tone of the revue, the song was set aside. Twenty years later in 1938 with the rise of Adolf Hitler and fascism, Berlin revisited and revised the song and released it as a prayer for the country and a patriotic song of peace. “God Bless America” was introduced on an Armistice Day broadcast in 1938, sung by Kate Smith.
The Yiddish version of the song being presented by the cast, entitled “Got Bentsh Amerike,” was originally translated by producer, musicologist, performer and Yiddish Radio Project co-creator, Henry Sapoznik, who worked on Yiddish translations for Mandy Patinkin’s album, Mamaloshen. www.henrysapoznik.com
PERFORMERS:
The video features Steven Skybell, the award-winning actor who played Tevye in Fiddler in Yiddish, along with Jennifer Babiak, Samantha Hahn, Ben Liebert, Stephanie Lynne Mason, Rosie Jo Neddy, Raquel Nobile, Drew Seigla, and Rachel Zatcoff.
The production also includes a special message by the show’s director, Academy and Tony Award-winning actor/director, Joel Grey.
Additional Fiddler cast members appearing in the video (from both the Museum of Jewish Heritage production along with the Off-Broadway, Stage 42 production) include: Joanne Borts, Josh Dunn, Michael Einav, Lisa Fishman, Kirk Geritano, John Giesige, Lydia Gladstone, Abby Goldfarb, Mary Illes, Josh Kohane, Maya Jacobson, Moshe Lobel, Evan Mayer, Jonathan Quigley, Nick Raynor, Bruce Sabath, Kayleen Seidl, Adam B. Shapiro, Jodi Snyder, James Monroe Stevko, Ron Tal, Bobby Underwood, and Mikhl Yashinsky.
The video also features Lauren Thomas, who played the titular role in Fiddler, on violin, along with the show’s clarinetist, Zisl Slepovitch, on piano.
ABOUT THE VIDEO:
The video of “God Bless America” in Yiddish was conceived by Lisa Fishman
www.lisafishman.com
and co-produced with Fiddler cast member, Ben Liebert.
The video was mixed and edited by Liebert.
www.benliebert.com
An original musical arrangement and piano accompaniment were provided by Fiddler orchestra first chair clarinetist, D. Zisl Slepovitch, www.dmitrislepovitch.com
The video features Lauren Jeanne Thomas on violin, who played the titular role of The Fiddler. Motl Didner, Associate Artistic Director of the NYTF, served as dialect coach.
A PRAYER OF MESSAGE AND PEACE:
Lisa Fishman, a singer, songwriter, and actress who played Bobe Tsaytl in Fiddler and who came up with the idea for the video explains, “Berlin, a Jewish immigrant whose family came to America in 1893, released ‘God Bless America’ as a ‘solemn prayer’ and song of peace during a time of rising fascism in Europe.”
Fishman continued, “As we emerge from this dark chapter of division and strife and welcome in a new Presidential administration, singing this iconic anthem in Yiddish - the author’s native tongue, is a unique way for the Fiddler family to honor our incoming leaders, to celebrate the ideals and values of our country, and to pray for this beautiful and fragile - yet enduring - democracy. I can’t think of a more appropriate time in history or group of people to share Berlin’s prayer with the world.”
ABOUT "FIDDLER" IN YIDDISH:
Fiddler on the Roof in Yiddish (aka: Fidler afn Dakh) was originally produced by the National Yiddish Theatre Folksbiene at the Museum of Jewish Heritage - A Living Memorial to the Holocaust. This production transferred to Off-Broadway’s Stage 42 Theater with Hal Luftig and Jana Robbins as lead producers.
The production was directed by Joel Grey - with assistant direction by NYTF’s Associate Artistic Director, Motl Didner, and musical direction and conducting by NYTF’s Artistic Director, Zalmen Mlotek. Dominick Balletta serves as Executive Director of the NYTF.
National Yiddish Theatre Folksbiene:
www.NYTF.org
YIDDISH LYRICS:
GOT BENTSH AMERIKE
LAND VOS IKH LIB
SHTEY ZHE BAY IR
MADRIKH ZAY IR
IBERAL LAYKHT A SHTRAL UNDZ TSULIB
FUN DI BERG BIZ
TSU DI PRERYES
BIZ DI YAMEN VAYS MIT SHOYM
GOT BENTSH AMERIKE
MAYN ZISE HEYM
גאָט בענטש אַמעריקע
לאַנד װאָס איך ליב
שטיי זשע בײַ איר
מדריך זײַ איר
איבעראַל לײַכט אַ שטראַל אונדז צוליב
פֿון די בערג ביז
צו די פּרעריעס
ביז די ימען, װײַס מיט שוים
גאָט בענטש אַמעריקע
מײַן זיסע היים
www.lisafishman.com
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Im sure Irving Berlin would be proud to hear the song in Yiddish.
This made me cry. And I am not even American. I am Canadian. But the sentiment of the song resonates.
Simply beautiful, gave me chills. Thank you from a naturalized American citizen 🇺🇸🩷🤍💙
Zayer git, My mother z'l would have loved it
A yiddish version of God Bless America.
Absolutely beautiful saw fiddler on the roof in Yiddish twice Steven skyball is amazing Thankyou Joel Grey
I was able to understand every word! I was thrilled to hear my parents language spoken again!
Appreciate the Yiddish lyrics - I am learning Yiddish, and it is wonderful to have music like this to help.
Absolutely beautiful! So moving ❤
A groysen donk! I was privileged to fly up just for the weekend from Miami to NY to see Fiddler in Yiddish. Nice to have met you Ben and great that you Lisa, teamed up with him to produce this!
Glad you got to see Fiddler, and so happy you enjoyed the video! :-)
1960: My grandfather used to sit in our driveway on Long Island and pet the family dog: He always said "In America, even a dog is lucky!" If he were alive today, he would not be pleased at our recent politics. But he would still love America.
Gave me goosebumps! So beautiful and moving!
i love joel grey and what he has done for yiddish is amazing and wonderful.
I saw Joel Grey perform his solo show in the Greek Theater Los Angeles years ago and loved it.
Hopefully some day in the future when things improve he might bring Fiddler in Yiddish to LA.It would be a smash hit here!
And San Francisco!
That was amazing. Beautiful job, Fish and Friends!
Beautiful, always!
Beautiful song.😃
Kudos to Zisl for the wonderful intro! To Motl for great pronunciation and accents! And to you, Lisa, for this wonderful history lesson, and using Henry's translation, and this excellent cast to fill my heart with such warmth, right when I needed it! Your timing around the inauguration was perfect! Mit hartsikn dank.
Thank you so much! So glad you enjoyed it and that it was so meaningful for you. :) lisa
@@LisaFishman I neglected to kvell about my favorite part: the loving voice and glittering eyes of Steven Skybell. Gottenyu! Instead of the triumphant march that many make it to be, he voices the gratefulness of my family, blessedly free of Tsarist Russia. Amayn.
You could not have pried my grandparents off this land with a backhoe. My Bubbe Rose’s famous quote from the 1950s to my mother when going to Europe became popular among the American upper middle class, “Leah, Europe.? I’ve been there. It’s not so great and I’m not going back😊❤️🎶🎶🎶🎶🎶
My Aunt Minnie said the same thing when my uncle wanted to take her to Europe for a vacation
Many of us had a Bubbe Rose. I did.
Beautiful! I loved it! Thank you so much for sharing. Xoxoxo
Thanks for posting! I enjoyed this very much!
Beautiful!
beautiful
Best version I have heard!
Thank you
Thank you God Bless Very Nice For A Change !1
Wonder gift!
So beautiful! Love it! Hello Adam Shapiro!!!
Hermoso.
Shkoyach, a brucha tzemachen! 🇺🇸🇮🇱
Good stuff
Who better to introduce this rendition than the son of the great Mickey Katz! פילע דאַנק
Actually the original lyrics were written in Yiddish and then translated to English
Correction, it wasn't translated into Yiddish, it was translated into English
This should be our national anthem in english
..star spangled is to violent and belucose. Plus you cannot sing the other verses today!
It would be a wonderful national anthem if it didn’t leave out unbelievers and followers of non-Abrahamic faiths. I say that not with resentment or sarcasm but with deep regret. It is a great song, and I wish that I, as an atheist and former neo-pagan, could sing it with full sincerity. I love it despite feeling excluded by it. Irving Berlin was truly America’s songwriter.
1:55
A. MERIKE
I'm wondering if someone can tell me which dialect of Yiddish this is?
Yiddish is not a dialect, it’s a language with all the components that are required …
@@susieweiss3320 Yiddish is a language that HAS many dialects - three major ones.That was my question.
Sever y single language on earth have mixed dialects in it, that doesn’t make a language a dialect
When a language has sintaxis, literature, poetry etc among other things, it’s considered language… Yiddish is a mix of several other languages , English is too!!!!
Dialects have a lack of rules , literature, poetry etc like I mentioned before… dialects utilize symbols, images, and the structure of a sentence not necessarily follows the rules of a language… sometimes verbs and or adjetives, subjectives etc. are missing …
Yiddish on the contrary, follows every single rule and it’s rich in literature and poetry, songs, theater, philosophy…
Have you ever seen a Yiddish dictionary? I have one from Yiddish to English and Spanish
Dialects don’t have this wealth and culture
Sorry I meant Every … lol
My poor English…(it’s not my first language, I try my best)
I do speak Yiddish!
@@susieweiss3320 If you do not know English that would explain why you misunderstood my question. I did not say that Yiddish is a dialect. I asked which dialect this video is using. I think that you do not understand the word “which”
About this absurdity the prophet David wrote:
If I'll forget you, oh Jerusalem.
May I forget my left hand also.
May my tongue stick to my upper jaw,
If I wont remember you.