Simcha Sunday seems to have all the bases covered this year.
For its 17th annual festival of everything Jewish, the Sonoma County JCC is reaching back to the Old Country (with a Yiddish theme), connecting to Israel (with Middle Eastern food from Amba), and also keeping it local and organic (with free ice cream from the Straus Family Creamery).
There might even be bonus points for anyone who uses “chazzer,” “hummus” and “mint chocolate chip” in the same sentence.
“We’re definitely infusing Simcha Sunday with Yiddishkeit,” said the JCC’s Karen Gould, director of the event, who expects this year’s festival to beat last year’s attendance of 500 — maybe by even 200 to 250 people.
Whatever the number, Gould said, “the bottom line is the positive impact that we see: more Jews in Sonoma County relinking to Judaism in some way, be it through a synagogue or the JCC or other Jewish programs that are offered in the community.”
The festival takes place Feb. 27 at the Santa Rosa Veterans Memorial Building, the second straight year it is being held indoors.
A $5 admission charge (free for kids 12 and younger) includes a full lineup of events. The Harmonia Schvesters, a local accordion and guitar duo, will entertain with Israeli and Yiddish tunes, and song leader Ben Kramarz is going to lead a PJ Library program for preschoolers by bringing children’s books to life.
Other event highlights include a free kids’ Yiddish program led by klezmer icon Gerry Tenney, a lot of Judaica by local artists, Jewish agencies offering information about themselves, much more than a bissel of food available for purchase — and, not to be overlooked, free 4-ounce scoops of Straus ice cream, made in West Marin.
But this year’s festival will go to the next level, Gould said, with breakout workshops run by KlezCalifornia. Featuring music and education, the workshops are divided into three sessions; each costs extra to attend.
Certainly the most intriguingly titled is “110 Yiddish Words the Average Puerto Rican New Yorker Knows and You Should Be Ashamed If You Don’t.” The session is being run by Harvey Varga of Oakland, a 60-year-old Brooklyn, N.Y., native who says Yiddish is his first language.
“My father never learned to speak English very well, but I started learning it from the TV,” Varga said. “As I started to learn it, though, my Yiddish started waning, and when my father saw that, he insisted we put an end to speaking English at home. So that was that, but my mom did speak English to me on the sly.”
Varga has taught Yiddish for 20 years, and he has taught this particular class twice before. He calls it “a combination of information, entertainment and identity” — but will he really be able to cram 110 words plus shtick into 90 minutes?
“I try to go as fast as I can,” he said. “But each time I’ve taught it before I’ve only gotten up to 80 or 90 words. But people stick around afterward to milk me for the rest of them.”
There won’t be too much sticking-around time on Feb. 27, for right after Varga’s workshop, the final session is set to begin. It’s a huge dance party, with acclaimed East Bay trio Veretski Pass playing Ukrainian-centric klezmer, and local dance teacher Bruce Bierman leading the proper steps.
This year’s event also will include a challah-baking contest — accompanied by a challah-tasting, of course.
Then again, attendees may already be filled up on the bagels, kugel and other foods the JCC will be selling, or the various Israeli offerings from Amba, a popular kosher-vegetarian restaurant in Oakland.
“The food was definitely a big hit last year,” Gould said. “And this year we’re going to have even more.”
Simcha Sunday runs from 12 to 5:30 p.m. Feb. 27 at the Veterans Memorial Building, 1351 Maple Ave., Santa Rosa. $5 admission, kids 12 and younger free. KlezCalifornia sessions cost extra. Tickets, schedule and more information: www.jccsoco.org, www.klezcalifornia.org or (707) 528-4222.