Launched in March 2025 by Shtetl Berlin and initiated by Jake Schneider, our open mic series quickly drew international attention with a review in the Forverts/Forward and has already featured performances and presentations of songs, poetry, instrumental music, dance, fiction, theater, hip hop, performance art, painting, nonfiction, circus, food, and more as well as group activities such as Yiddish singalongs and crowd karaoke.

You can find out about the next dates (roughly once a month) by subscribing to the Shtetl Berlin email newsletter, following the series on Facebook, and/or following Shtetl Berlin on Instagram or Facebook.

The events are moderated in Yiddish, but the acts themselves are in a mixture of languages (often including English) and we welcome audience members who have never experienced a Yiddish-speaking space. All word-based art forms are provided in both Yiddish and English versions, using a combination of supertitles, readings, and translations to read along on smartphones. We translate Yiddish texts into English, but also other languages into Yiddish.

Our fresh format built on the success of previous events such as the Third Seder Zingeray at the 2024 Shtetl Berlin festival, a Shmues un Vayn open mic at a Yiddish.Berlin exhibition that August, the Midnight Cabaret at Yiddish Summer Weimar, and the UK’s Yiddish Open Mic Café. Since our first event, we have already inspired a similar open mic in Kraków. We hope these opportunities will encourage more Yiddish art to be created and performed around the world.

The first season of Nu? is sponsored by the Aktionsfonds gegen Antisemitismus of the Berliner Senat.

Guidelines for artists and performers

Length

We limit solo performances to 5 minutes maximum to make space for as many performers as possible. You’re welcome to perform again next time, and you should leave the audience wanting more!

There is a little more flexibility on length for group performances and prose readings. If you fall in one of those categories and can’t fit your act into five minutes, please email us at nuyiddish [at] gmail.com and we can discuss the possibility of a slightly longer act.

Language

If your work fits the theme (see below), you are welcome to perform in any language and also to speak any languages on stage. We have a very international audience so we recommend introducing your work in Yiddish or English. Most of us also speak German.

If you work in a word-based art form, please sign up in advance by the deadline so we can arrange for translations into English and/or Yiddish. If you can provide your own translation, even better. Just please send it to us a few days in advance so we can prepare our slides. The deadlines are publicized with each event announcement, which you can find by subscribing to the Shtetl Berlin email newsletter,[JS1]  following the series on Facebook, and/or following Shtetl Berlin on Instagram or Facebook.

Art forms

Surprise us! We’re especially excited by formats and art forms we haven’t featured yet – short films, podcasts, standup comedy, handicrafts, digital art… If you can present it on stage, we’d love to see it. If you have equipment or other needs beyond a stage, a projector, and a microphone, please contact us in advance: nuyiddish [at ] gmail.com.

Is my work “Yiddish enough” to participate?

We welcome performances and presentations in all art forms, as long as there is some tangible connection to Yiddish or Ashkenazi Jewish culture. There are various ways your art might be connected, so this is a bit hard to define in advance. We are always eager to present work created in or with the Yiddish language, but we will also consider translating relevant work into Yiddish for the event. We are also particularly interested in work drawing on Eastern European Jewish art forms, traditions, and styles.

If you are already an active member of Berlin’s Yiddish community, we want to see your art, whatever it is. If your work is inspired by aspects of Yiddish culture but is created in another language, that qualifies. Art forms that transcend language, such as instrumental music and dance, are also more than welcome if there is some cultural connection.

“But what about Ladino?”

If your work represents any other diasporic Jewish culture, we are very happy to have you on stage. We realize that there are no dedicated stages in Berlin for art from Sephardic, Judeo-Arabic, Bukharian, Juhuri, Cochin/Judeo-Malayalam, Judeo-Roman, Judeo-Persian, Romaniote, and other marginalized Jewish cultures – and we would be honored if you performed with us and helped connect our languages and communities. There are, however, other local spaces that regularly offer performances in Israeli Hebrew; our series is specifically focused on diasporic culture.

In addition, we would be very interested in artwork connected to other minoritized languages, which are generally underrepresented in Berlin and beyond.

Other questions?

If you want to perform and have more questions, send us an email to nuyiddish [at ] gmail.com.