Music, Theatre, Literature

 

Cantor Nissan Spivak (widely known as Nisye Beltzer, from Yiddish Belts — 1824 – 1906) was a Jewish cantor and composer. He was cantor in his birthplace of Bălţi (Beltsy), Bessarabia, and was generally known as 'Nisn Beltzer'. Later he was cantor at Kishinev (Bessarabia) and from 1877 at Berdyczów (now in Ukraine). Wikipedia entry (Added November, 2013)

Cantor Moishe Oysher (Yiddish: משה אוישר, (born 1906 in Lipkon (Lipkany), Bessarabia. He was a cantor and Yiddish theatre actor. Wikipedia Entry (Added November, 2013)

Cantor Shabtai Ackerman born in Kishinev, was cantor in Kishinev, Bucharest, Great synagogue in Tel Aviv and ni Birmingham (Mich.) Read about him and listen to Shema Yisroel at www.youtube.com/watch?v=dx1c7TUWHVo (Added October, 2013)

Cantor Chaim Millman born in Brichany, student in Kishinev Yeshiva, was a cantor in Kishinev, Khotin, synagogues in NY and Philadelphia, Newark, Cleveland and Chicago, as well as Montreal and Toronto, Canada. Read about him and listen to Av Harachamim at www.youtube.com/watch?v=TOegoNcVLAw (Added October, 2013)

Lexicon of the Yiddish Theatre. Short biographies of those once involved in some way with the Yiddish theatre, as described in Zalmen Zylbercweig's 'Leksikon fun yidishn teater' (1931-1969). Translation project coordinated by Steven Lasky, founder and director of the Museum of Family History, http://www.museumoffamilyhistory.com/, with assistance from members of the Bessarabia SIG. Thanks to Leye Levitt, Gabriel Goldenberg, Iosif Lachman, Yefim Kogan and Dena Ressler (Project #20).

To see all of the translations for this ongoing project, please visit www.museumoffamilyhistory.com/yt/lex-biography.htm.
To see the entire online exhibition that is dedicated to Zylbercweig's work, please visit www.museumoffamilyhistory.com/yw/zylbercweig/zz-main.htm.

Among the more than 1,700 current translations (from Yiddish to English), seventy-nine of the people whose biographies appear within the Lexicon were born and lived in Bessarabia in towns of Akkerman, Ataki, Beltz, Bendery, Brichany, Calarasi, Dombroveny, Khotin, Kiliya, Lipkany, Orgeev, Soroki, Teleneshty, Sekureny, and others. Fifty-four of these have already been translated. You can find the list of people below in html and in Excel format (May 2012). More volunteers are always welcome to complete the translations. Please contact Yefim Kogan if you wish to volunteer.

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Bessaraber Biographies (html)

BessaraberBios.xls

Song 'Reizel'. From the CD GARDEN OF YIDN, Yale Strom & Hot Pstromi www.yalestrom.com and www.hotpstromi.com.
Music by Mark Olf, lirics by David Seltzer - both from Soroki, Moldova. Vocals by Elizabeth Schwartz.
Yale Strom presented at the 2010 Los Angeles Jewish Genealogical Conference with great Klezmer Music, Films and books of interest by Jewish Genealogists.
Posted with permission of Yale Strom, 2011.

Bessarabian Medley (Klezmer). Alicia Svigals, Iliya Magalnyk and Marilyn Lerner. Posted with permission of Alicia Svigals, 2011 (www.aliciasvigals.com).