The Yorkshire festival that proves Yiddish is trending

“Since we went online we’ve had around 1,000 participants,” he said, adding: “The weekend event grew out of the success of the open mic sessions.”

Michael Alpert 2016

Leading the revival: acclaimed klezmer musician Michael Alpert (Wikipedia)

Asked what’s behind the mini-renaissance, Antony Lerman, ex-director of the Institute for Jewish Policy Research, says: “The main driver of this revival is the fact that, as Jewish populations become more diverse and Jewish identity less connected to religion and more to ethnicity, Jews are increasingly looking for alternative ways to be Jewish.”

It is thought that there are 4,000 non-Charedi Yiddish speakers across the world, and around 30,000 speakers in the UK, including the Orthodox.

Prof Ogin, who insists that only Yiddish will be spoken for the entire sof-vokh, says about 15 per cent of those who will attend will be people who grew up in Yiddish-speaking households. He also estimates that approximately 25 per cent of participants will be younger than 35.

The sof-vokh, which takes place at Wortley Hall near Sheffield (17-19 June), will consist of workshops, activities, games and walks, plus talks on London Yiddish writers, Yiddish in Scotland, and Chasidic Yiddish. Academics Lily Khan, Heather Valencia and Doctor Helen Beer are due to attend.

Klezmer musician Michael Alpert, who has been helping to revive Yiddish since the 1970s, will give a performance to conclude the event on the Sunday afternoon.