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.,<• •- . *4* ^ HE CENTER'S News from the Atlanta Jewish Community Center, Inc. From Mike Lainoff Assistant Executive Director “The Halls are Alive With the sounds of Yingiish” My grandparents and my mother, who was the oldest child, arrived at Ellis Island in 1904 from the Ukraine area of what is now Soviet Russia. Coming off the boat, the family spoke nothing but Yiddish, and like many Eastern Europeans, my grandparents also spoke a smat tering of Polish. As a young child growing up in the ’30s, 1 lived one block from my grandparents. In our house, we spoke English since my parents were both young children when they came to this country (they actually grew up bi lingual, since Yiddish was a language with which they communicated to their parents). After 20 some odd years in the United States, my grandmother, who was a very important part of my life, still did not speak English. However, due to contacts with neighborhood people and in the marketplace, her Yiddish became interspersed with a variety of English words, thus the language “Yingiish” was a language with which I grew up in my childhood. The development of Yingiish in our Jewish communities was not unique to my neighborhood in St. Louis. A number of our Atlanta Senior Adults, to this day, speak a brand of “Yingiish.” When Beverly Shmerling, AJCC Cultural Arts direc- Some of the cast members are, left to right, standing, Ravona Molkner, Rachel Lehmann, Pat Rosenberg, Harry Axlerod, Lisa Little, Playwright Scott Orlin, Rita Levine, Enoch David Goodfriend and Gene Schmuckler. In the front row are Debbie Ulman, Susan Barbe and Herb Broder. Other cast members are listed below. tor, decided to do a Yiddish theater program using local talent, she began to realize that Yiddish was more than a language, it was a culture. Futhermore, although there is an excellent audience in Atlanta for pure Yiddish theater and entertainment programs, there is a dearth of talent available locally for an all-Yiddish production. Thus, the idea of a “Yingiish” theater presentation was born. In working with the elderly, there is a recognition and understanding of a method called “reminiscent therapy.” Essentially, translated into lay terms, this is a process in which the therapeutic value of elderly people discussing and verbalizing and reminiscing about, their past has been proven. Not only does this have enormous psychological value for the elderly, but for those us who are able to listen and to hear, we learn of the development of our country and of our Jewish community. Thus, the basis for the material for Yingiish Theater was gleaned from our Jewish elderly in Atlanta. 1 met with Scott Orlin, a native Atlantan, (who is the writer of our first Yingiish theater show) in New York in August when 1 accompanied the Israeli youngsters from Yehud on their tour of New York City and Washington. We toured the lower East Side and as we toured, we spoke to many of the old shopkeepers who are still ped dling their wares on the sidewalks much as they had done in mv grandmother’s time. Scott made many notes and engaged many of these elderly in conversations in order to piece together the information that our elderly in Atlanta had given with those who had remained in the area on the lower East Side of New York. Scott took these notes, together with the tapes and the written material based on interviews with Atlanta's elderly, and put together a beautiful script entitled, “Have I Got A Story For You.” Written by Scott Orlin and directed by Beverly Shmer ling, the play is in English with familiar Jewish melodies and it relates the history of the Jewish experience in America. The cast is an intergenerational cast and represents all segments of our Atlanta Jewish community. Included in the cast are Betty Goodfriend, Dr. Sanford Shmerling, Bebe Forehand, Jody Avren, Susan Barbe, Mr. and Mrs. Herb Broder, Rita Levine, Belle Kalefsky, Ravona Molkner, Tony Rosenberg, Debbie Ulman, Gary White, Nate Becker, Enoch David Goodfriend, Bernie Gross, Harry Axlerod, Rick Rosenthal, Rachel Lehman, Lisa Little. Babs Karesh, Pat Rosenberg, Dr. Gene Schmuck ler and Sara Shapiro. “Have I Got A Story For You” will make its world premier and will be shown only twice in Atlanta. The first showing will be April 5, at the AJCC, Peachtree Building, at 8 p.m. and the second and last showing will be Sunday, April 6, at the Peachtree Building at 3 p.m. The show is something for the entire family. The stories will delight you, and the melodies will entertain you. Have we got a story for you? Come and find out for yourself! For further information or for tickets, call Beverly Shmer ling, 875-7881. 2 ? ■\ More ond more, people ore turning to The Southern Israelite for... Community, National ond World news ond events... ^ Subscribe and keep in touch r- 30357 1 | The Southern Israel.te, P O. Box | Address Name——— ~~ State City _ personal address below V-V. this is a ^ subsenpdon^^r | Name ^tate City- . A . inr muself—both This is: * subscription for mysel !^ft (indicate occasion) Y^iear! 8S23.00 2 years, S4t«« 1 have enclosed my check for PAGE 13 THE SOUTHERN ISRAELITE March 28, 1986