Eli Benedict (IL/CA; Yiddish language, dance, Hasidic music)
is a Yiddish scholar, artist, and cultural curator.
Raised in a Hasidic community in Israel, he grew up immersed in Hasidic music, dance, and storytelling. Fluent in multiple dialects of Yiddish, Hebrew, and Aramaic, he began composing Yiddish poetry (gramen), performing, and choreographing for Hasidic theater at age 15.
Today, Eli is CEO of YUNG YiDiSH, the Yiddish Museum in Tel Aviv, and Program Director of the League for Yiddish. He rediscovered Yiddish as a vast cultural universe, deepening his connection to it through research and artistic practice.
A former researcher at University College London, Eli has conducted fieldwork and archival research on Yiddish language, music, dance, and tradition.
As an artist, he performs in theater and dance productions and teaches Hasidic and klezmer dance and nigunim. At Yiddish Summer Weimar, Eli invites participants to explore the rhythm, language, and soul of Jewish culture, experiencing its traditions as a vibrant, living art form.
>> YouTube: League for Yiddish
(Interviews)
>> YouTube: Various playlists
(Yiddish films, theater, klezmer & Hasidic music, nigunim, gramen, and more)
Photo: Tomer Appelbaum
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