There is always that question of what the shtetl Jews who populate the stories of writers like Sholom Aleichem might think about a transgender folk-punk band named Schmekel, which will be appearing October 29 at the Nehirim Queer Shabbaton, at the JCC in Manhattan.
Bands like Schmekel, which uses Yiddish as an alternative culture to help bulk up their Jewish identities, are part of a phenomenon dubbed “Queer Yiddishkeit,” by Rutgers University scholar Jeffrey Shandler, in which queerness is juxtaposed with elements of Yiddish in order to upend the status quo.
While the state of the Jewish status quo is always in some sort of hysterical flux, evidence would seem to indicate that it’s come a long way, baby, when transgender masters of folk-punk-snark, Schmekel, play a show at an American Jewish community center.
Read More: @ haaretz.com
You might also like: