Robert Burns recited in Yiddish at Scottish Jewish arts day

Jewish families in Scotland were treated to renditions of Robert Burns recited in Yiddish and performance art with Hebrew stencils at a Jewish school south of Glasgow last week.

The Jewish Arts Family Book Day was hailed as a “groys” success by organisers as almost 100 people congregated for an afternoon of entertainment at Calderwood Lodge Primary School in East Renfrewshire.

Young children were treated to storytelling and craft with the PJ Library, while older children had a private illustration session with acclaimed artist and writer Sarah Lightman.

Adults also had their own session, which included a discussion by author Ellen Galford about her book ‘Yiddish Lost and Found.’

This was segued into a performance of Robert Burns in Yiddish by “national treasure” Ida Schuster Berkeley, who later told the audience about her memories of 1951 Festival of Jewish Arts in Glasgow.

Organisers Shayna Conn and Adele Conn, chair of Jewish Arts, said the event was in memory of the late Naomi Livingstone, who was originally from London and moved to Glasgow in 2009 with her family.

Two years ago she moved back to London to be nearer her family but became ill shortly after.

In hospital her condition deteriorated to the point that doctors said the only way to save her life was for her to be given an artificial heart, a rare and risky 10-hour surgery only performed in one hospital in the UK.

She survived the operation and, over the next six months, learned to breath, speak and eventually walk again, and when a donor heart became available she was delighted, but sadly she did not survive the operation and died in March last year.