Emma and John, our Klezmatize duo, arrived in Dundee rested and ready for the last ceilidh in our six city klezmer tour. Since it was Yom HaZikaron, the day of remembrance for fallen Israeli soldiers, Bill Shackman, the Chair of Tayside and Fife Hebrew Congregation, lit a candle and recited a memorial prayer.
There was a great turnout of adults and children at the buffet and Being Jewish in Scotland discussion, and still more people arrived later to join in the dancing. It’s been great to share the project findings with audiences throughout Scotland, and to hear more of peoples’ experiences of what it’s like for Jewish people living the length and breadth of the country.
One Israeli family talked about having felt completely isolated as Jews in the area before they heard about SCoJeC through the Being Jewish in Scotland project last year, and another man told us he had contacted SCoJeC to find his nearest shul.
After which, everyone threw themselves into the dancing, with children as young as five joining in enthusiastically. A few traditional Scottish songs were included alongside the klezmer melodies, and it was exciting to see some families demonstrating Scottish twosteps and clapping dances in between the horas, freylechs, patsch dance, and kolomeyke.
