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Yiddish theater is revived in Tbilisi, Georgia after 100 years
When Lasha Shakulashvili was a grad student at Tbilisi State University in 2022, he stumbled onto something unbelievable. In the National Archives of Georgia, he found Yiddish posters from 1910 announcing theater performances put on by a grassroots, community-run troupe in Tbilisi in what was then still part of the Russian Empire. The troupe was called the Jewish Division of Musical-Melodrama Art.
The posters were fragile and there were only a few of them. Along with them was a single photo he found in a 1917 copy of The Jewish Daily Forward, found in the archives of the National Library of Israel. The paper had a short dispatch mentioning the Ashkenazi school in Tbilisi and the photo showed a teacher writing the Yiddish word friling — spring — on a chalkboard.
Shakulashvili was surprised. Almost nothing had been written about Ashkenazi Jewish heritage in Georgia because most Jews in Georgia were kartveli ebraelebi or Georgian Jews; ‘Mountain Jews’ (Jewish inhabitants of the eastern and northern Caucasus) and Sephardic Jews. Shakulashvili was eager to find out more.
Born in Tbilisi to Orthodox Christian parents, he was raised in part by a Jewish nanny who taught him Russian and Yiddish. That early exposure set him on his scholarly path – and instilled in him a love for Yiddish and Ashkenazi culture.
Before turning to academia, Shakulashvili, who’s now a Yiddish scholar, Jewish history educator and digital storyteller, worked as a diplomat for Georgia’s Permanent Mission to the United Nations and the Georgian Foreign Ministry. Thanks to this career, he told me: “I look at things as an academic and a diplomat. As a diplomat, you have to be cautious but also persistent. A scholar does that, too.”
That persistence led him to write a dissertation on his findings, and publish some of his early discoveries in the Forward in 2022. His thesis is on the role of Yiddish theater in Georgia in the Jewish enlightenment. “Yiddish theater was groundbreaking at a time when Georgia was a very conservative place,”Shakulashvili said. “There were more actresses than actors, women were leading it, and there were plays that explored arranged marriages and women getting revenge. It was a ‘Belle Epoque’: Ashkenazis had been in Georgia less than a century and they changed the life of the whole community.”
Shakulashvili traced how Ashkenazi Jews began arriving in Georgia in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, fleeing poverty and pogroms in densely populated communities in the Russian Empire’s Pale of Settlement. Before the 1917 Revolution, about 5,000 Ashkenazim lived in Georgia, joining an already diverse Jewish population.
Shakulashvili visited Jewish cemeteries, eventually finding graves of every actor whose name was mentioned on the 1910 theater posters. He conducted oral history interviews with Jewish residents of Georgia from different Jewish communities and learned how interconnected different Jewish populations were: Sephardic and Georgian-Jewish sources told him about their grandmothers being educated at the Yiddish school in a time when many schools didn’t accept girls. In turn, the Sephardic community has taken on the task of preserving the two historic Ashkenazi synagogues.
His journey took him to archives in Tbilisi, Jerusalem and Oxford, England. “I had to bring these stories back to life somehow,” he said. “It’s one thing to find a poster and prove the theater existed, but who played there and where did they come from and how did they learn? My curiosity for the theater led me to find out more about the Yiddish schools. One thing led to another — there was a school, there was a society, a whole culture. I wanted to find a complete picture.”
The majority of Georgian-born Jews have since emigrated to Israel or the United States. According to his interviews, most of them did so not because of fear or persecution, but simply for better economic opportunities after the collapse of the Soviet Union.
Shakulashvili shared discoveries with his students at the Paideia Institute in Stockholm and Tbilisi State University, where he was lecturing. He then began sharing his discoveries on Instagram. One early video he posted showed him offering his mostly non-Jewish students cookies shaped like letters of the alef-beyz (the Hebrew alphabet) — a traditional way of welcoming children into Jewish learning.
When Shakulashvili started speaking publicly about the long-lost Yiddish theater, non-Jewish Georgian actors and directors reached out. Many were stunned to learn that Tbilisi once had a Yiddish stage, shut down in 1926 by Soviet authorities. A question emerged: Could the theater be revived?
Shakulashvili’s discovery and networks forged online brought together Georgian historians, Jewish community leaders and actors of all backgrounds. Ana Sanaia, a prominent Georgian actress, director and playwright emerged as the producer who’d make this dream a reality.
A century after its last performance, the Tbilisi Yiddish Theater reopened in 2023. The first production – performed in Yiddish and old Russian, with Georgian supertitles – was Osip Dymov’s 1907 drama Shema Yisroel (named for a centerpiece prayer in Judaism). Jewish protagonists convert to Christianity to survive, only to be rejected by their families and left stranded between identities.
The reopening in Tbilisi came at a tense time. Since the Oct. 7 attacks on Israel and the war in Gaza, Jewish cultural institutions elsewhere have faced protests and boycotts. Georgia has largely avoided that backlash, something Shakulashvili attributes to the country’s strong identification with its Jewish history.
Still, Georgia is politically polarized, especially as Russia’s war in Ukraine continues to shape regional affairs. The theater is self-funded exclusively through independent fundraising, Ana Sanaia, the theater’s producer, told me.
While Shakulashvili has since stepped back from the theater, his research paved the way for recovering the forgotten Yiddish culture of Georgia. He is now based in Israel, where he produces digital content, leads heritage tours and travels for lectures. He still spends the spring semester teaching in Tbilisi.
Meanwhile, Sanaia continues to produce plays, raise funds and recruit actors. She is currently producing her own play in Georgian about the Yiddish-speaking community and their relationship with Abkhaz Muslims in a Black Sea town in 1907.
Shakulashvili’s latest project focuses on online public education about the diverse arts, culture and languages of the Jewish people, through a platform he calls “Jewish Storytelling.” He is also working on a memoir about his discovery and the journey it sent him on.
“I’m proud to be a Georgian Orthodox Christian, and I am proud to work in Jewish studies,” Shakulashvili said. “Everyday I say ‘thank you’ to God that I have been able to do what I love.”
The post Yiddish theater is revived in Tbilisi, Georgia after 100 years appeared first on The Forward.
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Contributor to Drop Site News Says Israelis Should ‘Be Removed From Our Planet’
Abubaker Abed reporting from Gaza. Photo: Screenshot
Abubaker Abed, a self-described Palestinian journalist and contributor to the far-left news outlet Drop Site News, has come under intense scrutiny following the circulation of social media posts in which he called for the “wiping out” of Israel and said that Israelis “mustn’t feel safe.”
The remarks, which quickly spread across multiple online platforms, have prompted widespread condemnation and renewed skepticism over the credibility and coverage of Drop Site News, a controversial publication fiercely critical of Israel and US foreign policy in the Middle East.
“Wiping out Israel off the planet is not enough revenge. Israelis mustn’t feel safe anymore. Haunt them and go after them where they go. These terrorist parasites must be removed from our planet,” Abed posted on an Instagram story.
Drop Site co-founder Ryan Grim responded to the incident by clarifying that Abed’s comments do not reflect the editorial position or institutional stance of his publication. Grim, a far-left investigative reporter who has repeatedly accused Israel of committing “genocide” in Gaza, did not condemn the statements by Abed.
“We also are never going to police the language of anyone who survived a genocide,” Grim posted on X.
Abed, a social media influencer from Gaza who evacuated to Ireland during the Israel-Hamas war, has previously suggested that attacks on Jewish institutions might be justified if they signal support for Israel.
Following the recent attack on the Temple Beth Israel Synagogue in Michigan, Abed resurfaced a photo from the synagogue featuring an Israel soldier. Abed wrote that the attempted mass casualty event was justified because the assailant defended himself.
“A person is not criminally responsible if they act reasonably to defend themselves against an imminent and unlawful use of force,” Abed wrote in a since-deleted post on X. “Israel murdered his relatives and is illegally bombing and invading his country.”
The FBI said last week that the attack on the largest Jewish temple in Michigan was an “act of terrorism” inspired by Hezbollah, the Iran-backed Lebanese terrorist group committed to Israel’s destruction.
Drop Site, a new media organization which debuted in July 2024, has found itself under immense criticism over its coverage of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the broader Middle East. The outlet has consistently characterized Israel as a “genocidal” aggressor stoking chaos and violence throughout the region.
Meanwhile, Drop Site depicts internationally recognized terrorist groups such as Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Houthis in a far more favorable light. Drop Site lead reporter Jeremy Scahill routinely refers to Hamas as “the resistance” and has given softball interviews to Hamas leaders.
Drop Site has also defended the Iranian regime from accusations of terrorism, asserting that Tehran’s goals “center on national sovereignty.” The site contends that Iran has “sought to project influence regionally through allied governments and forces (Hezbollah, Hamas, Houthi, Iraqi Militants, etc.) what’s often called the ‘Axis of Resistance.’”
Some observers have raised alarm bells over the outlet’s growing popularity among establishment mainstream liberals. Ben Rhodes, a former Obama administration official and co-host of the popular “Pod Save America” podcast, has praised the outlet on his social media profile and confirmed he is a subscriber.
Drop Site’s expanding influence does not seem to be confined to left-wing or liberal ideological circles. Right-wing media personality Mike Cernovich contended on X that young conservatives are increasingly reading Drop Site “for Israel news.” Joe Kent, the former director of the US National Counterterrorism Center, over the weekend reposted a Drop Site article pushing Iranian regime propaganda falsely claiming the US was actually trying to kill a downed American airman — just hours before he was dramatically rescued.
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Frankfurt cinema declines to participate in Jewish film festival, spurring backlash
(JTA) — A Frankfurt cinema’s decision not to participate in the local Jewish film festival is spurring allegations of antisemitism, even as its manager says the move was financial.
The Jewish Community of Frankfurt announced last week that the Astor Film Lounge did not wish to host movies during Jewish Film Days this year. The cinema, it said, had cited its workers’ reluctance to staff movies that are part of the biennial festival, as well as concerns about the security required to host Jewish events.
“The decision unequivocally signifies that Jewish life, Jewish people, and a Jewish media presence are no longer welcome at the Astor Film Lounge,” the community said in a statement.
“This line of reasoning is not only disappointing, but sends a devastating societal signal: If Jewish life and Jewish presence are suppressed out of fear of potential reactions, then this effectively amounts to a capitulation to antisemitic pressure,” the statement continued. “The fact that Jewish life can only take place under police protection is already shameful. That this necessity for police protection is now being used as a pretext to completely prevent Jewish events is a scandal.”
But the cinema’s managing director, Tom Flebbe, contested the Jewish Community of Frankfurt’s interpretation of events. In a statement cited in a leading local newspaper, he said the theater had withdrawn this year for economic reasons, as only 40 to 50 guests had come to screenings last year.
Flebbe said a lower-level manager had made unauthorized and inaccurate remarks about security concerns.
“Economic viability is a legitimate and necessary basis for business decisions — regardless of the thematic context of an event,” Flebbe said, adding that other joint projects with the Jewish community will continue as planned.
“The ASTOR Film Lounge MyZeil views Jewish life as a natural and welcome part of this society,” the statement concluded. “The decision against participating in the 2026 Jewish Film Days is not against Jewish people, Jewish culture, or Jewish presence. It is the result of a careful consideration of economic factors. We regret that our reasoning has been interpreted in this way and stand by our decision.”
During the 2024 festival, a half-dozen venues hosted screenings as part of Jewish Film Days. The Astor Film Lounge hosted one screening, of the film “March ’68,” a love story set during the Polish government’s antisemitic campaign following Israel’s Six-Day War.
Film festivals have emerged as a frontier for tensions over Israel and antisemitism. Germany’s largest film festival, the Berlinale, was roiled by tensions this year as its jury head fended off calls to criticize Israel. A major Toronto film festival, meanwhile, ruffled feathers last year by first canceling and then screening a documentary about the Oct. 7 attack on Israel. And a Jewish film festival was canceled in Malmo, Sweden, last year because too few cinemas would agree to show movies for it.
Flebbe’s explanation for why Astor Film Lounge would not participate in this year’s Jewish Film Days did not satisfy everyone who heard it. The Berlin-based German-Jewish Values Initiative, a non-partisan think tank, in an open letter called the economic justification a “mere pretext.”
“To the best of our knowledge, the Jewish Community of Frankfurt was prepared to guarantee a minimum revenue” for the film festival, the letter said. By apparently giving in to “threats and antisemitic pressure,” it added, the cinema has capitulated “to the very forces seeking to drive Jews out of the public sphere.”
The post Frankfurt cinema declines to participate in Jewish film festival, spurring backlash appeared first on The Forward.
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Israeli, Serbian leaders denounce antisemitic statements at Belgrade protest
(JTA) — Israeli and Serbian officials are denouncing antisemitic comments made by demonstrators during a clash between Serbian students and police at a protest last week.
“Death to Vučić and all the Jews around him,” one protester said in a televised interview, referring to Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić. “Long live Serbia.”
The protest last Tuesday marked the latest flashpoint in a series of anti-government protests that have erupted across the country over the past year after 16 people died in an accident at a railway station in November 2024. Hundreds of students participated in the protest, which came as Serbian police searched the offices of the University of Belgrade as part of an investigation into the death of a female student. The school’s leadership claimed that the investigation was an “attack on the university” for its support for the student-led protest movement.
Serbia and Israel first established diplomatic relations in 1948, and Vučić told the Jerusalem Post last year that the country “will always appreciate, respect, and like the Jewish people and Israel.”
Nemanja Starović, the Serbian minister of European integration and the chair of Serbia’s delegation to the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance, called on the protest leaders to “unambiguously condemn these antisemitic incidents and to immediately remove all antisemitic messages and slogans from university premises.”
“On multiple occasions over the past months, we have warned about the widespread antisemitic ideology within the so-called blockade movement at universities in Serbia,” Starović wrote in a post on X. “Ignoring this dangerous threat has allowed it to escalate into open calls for murder, which now appear as a logical and inevitable outcome.”
The Israeli Foreign Ministry condemned the demonstrator’s comments in a post on X.
“Israel strongly condemns the reprehensible antisemitic calls made yesterday in Belgrade,” the post read. “Israel appreciates the Serbian government’s immediate condemnation of these calls and its firm and consistent stance in the fight against antisemitism.”
Efraim Zuroff, the director of the Israel Office and Eastern European Affairs for the Simon Wiesenthal Center in Jerusalem, also condemned the antisemitic rhetoric in a Times of Israel op-ed.
“One gets the impression that this is a politically motivated to harm President Aleksandar Vučić, who has close ties with the State of Israel, key Jewish organizations such as AIPAC and the Serbian Jewish community,” Zuroff wrote. “That is completely unacceptable! If these things are not stopped, they will end up in dangerous violence, and therefore cannot be ignored.”
The controversy over the protest comes as antisemitism has surged in Europe in recent years. Last September, Serbia arrested 11 individuals accused of perpetrating hate-motivated acts in France and Germany, including throwing green paint on the Holocaust Museum, several synagogues and a Jewish restaurant in Paris.
The post Israeli, Serbian leaders denounce antisemitic statements at Belgrade protest appeared first on The Forward.