TRANSLATING YIDDISH POETRY with Mr. Daniel Kraft Together we will read, discuss, and translate great works of Yiddish poetry. Each class we’ll read texts centered around a different theme in Yiddish literature and culture. The goals of this class are two-fold: to increase students’ comfort and ability rendering Yiddish literary texts into English, and to help students gain an intimate familiarity with the richness of Yiddish literary traditions. Translation is a venerable Jewish mode of connecting deeply with religious texts, and in this class we will work through Yiddish poetry in order to find a deeper connection to Yiddish and to broader Jewish thought and culture. Students will gain an appreciation of the ways that Yiddish literature can enrich their lives and open up new possibilities for making meaning in Judaism. If students are interested, there will also be opportunities to share original creative responses to the poems we read and discuss. Daniel Kraft is a writer, translator, and educator living in Richmond, Virginia. He holds a master's degree from Harvard Divinity School, where he was a Harry Austryn Wolfson Fellow in Jewish Studies and a resident at the Harvard Center for the Study of World Religions. Daniel  has taught at conferences, synagogues, and museums in North America and Poland, and his work has been supported by residencies, fellowships, and scholarships from institutions including the National Yiddish Book Center, the Community of Writers, and the Glen Workshop. His poems, essays, and translations appear in a number of publications, and he shares translations of Yiddish poetry in his newsletter at danielkraft.substack.com. Class meets Feb 21, 28; March 14, 21. NO CLASS MARCH 7 for Purim. Both sections are on Tuesdays and meet for an hour and a half each time. Students register for either the section starting at 1:30PM US Eastern, or the one starting at 7:30PM US Eastern. Please note that most of the United States observes Daylight Saving Time, and Drisha's online offerings hold by the local time in New York. Depending on where you live, the two sessions following Purim may be at a different hour due to the time change. Both sections cover the same material; the material being worked with this term is new, so both continuing and first-time participants are encouraged to join. Tuition for either section is 120USD; work-study arrangements and other financial aid are available to those in need (contact No'a: batmiri@drisha.org).