COMPOSER | PIANIST | WRITER | EDUCATOR
Writings
Daniel Galay’s creative writing includes poetry, plays, articles, and children's literature in Hebrew, Yiddish and English.
The combination of various mediums—playwriting and poetry, alongside extensive musical activity and social engagement in the fields of Ashkenazi heritage and Yiddish language research—is unique to Daniel Galay. These seemingly disparate areas form a unified whole for him, making his work vibrant and dynamic. In a 2019 interview with the “Digital Yiddish Theatre Project,” he said: "My multimedia approach is a message in itself, reflecting the complicated relations we must contend with in today’s world."
Daniel Galay is the chairman of Leyvik House – the Association of Yiddish Writers and Journalists in Israel.
His play "The King of the Klezmers" was performed at the Romanian State Yiddish Theater (TES) in 2024 as part of the prestigious PHōNē project supported by the EU. His plays, poems, and texts for his compositions have been translated from Yiddish and Hebrew into English, Spanish, German, Polish, French, and Croatian. His literary work has been published by H. Leyvik, Olniansky, and Ofir publishing houses. His plays have been performed in the United States, Israel, and Romania and presented via Zoom with readers from the USA, Netherlands, Germany, Brazil, Argentina, and Israel. Galay has participated in festivals and in readings from his works in Croatia, France, Germany, and Israel.
Daniel Galay writes for the oldest Yiddish newspaper The Forverts, previously wrote for Letste Nayes, and was an editorial committee member for the literary journal Naye Vegn (1999-2005).
Galay's groundbreaking Yiddish Intonation theory has been presented through scholarly articles in Brill and in the Conference Proceedings Yiddish - 100 Years of a Jewish National Language Jerusalem-Kyiv, and in international conferences, the Workmen’s Circle courses, lectures, workshops at universities and in festivals. Galay prepared film actors in their Yiddish language pronunciation in such series as The Beauty Queen of Jerusalem.
He has recorded an online video series on Yiddish Intonation that can be found here:
Poetry
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Oyer-Siluetn (Ear-Silhouettes). Illustrated by Carlos A. Montanies, published by Hemshekh Dor Libhobers fun Yiddish, 1994.
Theater
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Shpatzir de Luxe (Promenade de Luxe). Plays in Yiddish, H. Leyvik Publishing, 2024.
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The King of the Klezmorim, TES and PHONE, 2024.
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The Muses are not Silent. Fourteen short plays. Yiddish. H. Leyvik publishing, 2021.
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A Tale with a Bundle. Four plays: A Tale with a Bundle, Dance in the Airport, Counterpoint Black and White, Abush and Zoshke, H. Leyvik Publishing, 2019.
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In Earnest, In Laughter, and In Between. Satire and cabaret plays. H. Leyvik Publishing, 2018.
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Three Plays: Two Weddings, Winter Rules Here, Concerns. Yiddish and Hebrew. H. Leyvik Publishing, 2017.
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Muscles [shririm]. Hebrew, Ophir Publishing, 1993.
Children’s Books
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A Story for Children about Two Barbers. Yiddish, illustrated by Melita Kraus. H. Leyvik Publishing, 2023.
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Pinkes Khelem. Seven original stories for children. Yiddish, illustrated by Wolf Bulba. Olniansky Tekst, Sweden, 2020.
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Mom, Am I Ashkenazi? Hebrew and Yiddish, H. Leyvik Publishing, 2002.
Essays
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The Ashkenazi Option. A collection of articles about politics, culture, and identities in Israel. Hebrew. 2022.
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Town Square – Before and After: 20 Years Since the Assassination of Yitzhak Rabin. Hebrew. 2015.
Academic Essays
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The Characteristics of Yiddish Intonation and Its Expression in Yiddish Folksongs. Co-authored with Racheli Galay. In Le yiddish, l'inconscient, les langues. Ed. Max Kohn and Raphael Koenig. Brill , 2024
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The Major Feature of Yiddish Intonation. In Jews and Slavs. Vol. 26. Ed. W. Moskovich. DUKH I LITERA, Jerusalem-Kyiv, 2020.
Himl un Erd, words and music by Daniel Galay, arranged and performed by Quartetouka, animation by Tal Krichli