WBAR SCENE REPORT: KLEZTRONICA!
By Nina Kapstein and Is Perlman
When people asked us about our weekend plans, it was hard to describe Kleztronica without laughing. “It’s like... Klezmer music (the traditional folk music of Ashkenazi Jews) combined with... house music...” Even we did not fully know what we were getting ourselves into as we entered the doors of the Market Hotel. And nothing could have prepared us for the multimedia intergenerational diasporic experience that awaited us inside. Picture this: a red and green LED lit room, in view of the above ground train station nearby; a room full of Yids (young and old); a crow chanting “trans Jews trans Jews trans Jews.” And what’s playing? Techno Ma’ariv orchestrated by DJ Allium. For those of you that don’t know: Ma’ariv is one of three daily Jewish prayers, and is recited in the evening. Many acts followed: electronic remixes of traditional Yiddish folk tunes (shoutout Volt Ikh Gehat Koyekh), a hurdy gurdy, a man who looks remarkably like your local Chabad rabbi, absolutely shredding it on the clarinet. There were dance circles, and people of course broke out classic Klezmer dance moves, (The horah. We danced the horah.), but we also shook major ass. Attendees ranged from teenagers to elderly people- from a friend’s seminar professor to gaggles of queer youth to a rabbi we have beef with (no kidding). The Yiddish world being as small as it is, our group of friends recognized about 20% of the crowd. It was ridiculous.
But, on a serious note, we both felt that Kleztronica was an immensely healing event in a moment where our relationship with the mainstream Jewish communities on campus feels irreconcilable. As anti-Zionist Jews who are profoundly committed to our religious and cultural background, and who find deep joy in Jewish communal life, it was exciting to be in community with people who explicitly share our vision of Jewish futures free from the grip of Zionism. We danced traditional folk dances that our ancestors danced before us, sang songs they sang before us, and prayed words that have sustained our people for thousands of years. Kleztronica was a radical imagining of a Jewish world rooted in diasporic practice that embraces the multiplicity and beautiful diversity of Jewish identities. We joined in community, not despite, but in celebration of each of our distinct embodiments of Jewishness. Kleztronica allowed us to envision and enact a world in which Judaism is not inherently tied to Zionism and one in which we make home wherever we are. As many Yiddishists proclaim, mir zaynen do. We are here.
Come to the next kleztronica, whenever and wherever it is, to dance Klezmer, hear a room full of people chant “trans Jews,” and get cholent in Williamsburg when it’s all over. We’ll certainly be there.
Is Perlman, CC ‘25 and Nina Kapstein, BC ‘25