FAQ

Since this time last year, news from the Middle East has only gotten worse. There is little to say that hasn’t been said, but we want to acknowledge that many in our community and around the world are filled with grief.

As much as we would like the Sof-Vokh to be a respite, we recognise that for some of you the situation has had a very personal impact that can’t be left at the door. During our time at Hillscourt we won’t necessarily know if the person sitting at the next table or drinking a coffee nearby holds the same opinions as we do, nor what their personal experience may be. Even inside the Organising Group there is a wide range of opinions. We do not expect or want this diversity to change: it is an important part of contemporary Yiddish life and indeed the history of Yiddishkeit.

Once again, the Sof-Vokh organising group has discussed at length how to respond to this issue in order to maintain sholem-bayes (harmony, domestic tranquillity) which is always an important focus – now more than ever in our small and diverse Yiddish community. The Sof-Vokh is here to sustain and build this community, not to splinter it. It goes without saying that we do not want anyone to feel anxious or distressed during the Sof-Vokh, or to have serious disputes breaking out. Last year’s efforts were broadly successful but we know there were mixed reactions to the way we handled this.

As a result, we want to make clear that we don’t want to ban certain subjects or views. In order for that to be possible we need everybody’s collaboration. Simply put, we are asking you to do your best to avoid conflict. Whether you are talking to a friend with whom you agree or speaking with someone new, please always be sensitive to and respectful of the views of others, taking the opportunity to listen and learn rather than to persuade. If you feel that you must discuss contemporary politics, please do so in a way that gives others the opportunity to opt out. Please respect that many attendees from across the political spectrum might struggle to navigate these questions in a language they are still learning.

If someone acts in a way that upsets you, please do what you can to respond in a de-escalatory way, and let us know so that we can keep abreast of how people are doing. As always, alongside the organising group, we will have a small group of helpers at hand whom anyone can approach if they are feeling uncomfortable or anxious. Further information will be available closer to the time.

This is a very precious community and we are all responsible for its wellbeing. For our part, we’ll try as well as we can to manage the Sof-Vokh’s cultural programme to match these expectations and hope that group and private discussions can stick to these lines as best as possible. The Sof-Vokh is a relatively new offering and it may take us some time as a community to strike the right balance. Please continue to give us and each other the benefit of the doubt as we work through this together.

All Sof-Vokh attendees will be staying at Hillscourt’s hotel rooms, which are in a redesigned Victorian schoolhouse, located directly adjacent to the conference centre where all the activities take place. For descriptions and pictures of each of the available room types, please click here.

The prices below cover your entire Sof-Vokh experience, including accommodation, all meals (two dinners, two breakfasts, and two lunches) and all activities. All the rooms come with free WiFi, combination safes, tea and coffee facilities, a hairdryer and showers. There are no baths. Your room will also have a TV – albeit without any Yiddish channels. We recommend bringing a Yiddish book instead or joining us at the film screening.

All prices listed are per guest, not per room. All rooms are first come, first served.

The Sof-Vokh will be held at Hillscourt, Rose Hill, Rednal, Birmingham, B45 8RS, England. We recommend arriving at Hillscourt between 3 and 5pm on the Friday. Your room will be available for check-in from 3pm onwards. On the Sunday, the Sof-Vokh will finish at 2pm after having lunch and a group photo.

National Express offers cheap coaches (less than £10 per ticket) multiple times per hour between London and Birmingham. The journey lasts 2.5–3 hours. While it is not exactly the lap of luxury, hopefully the price makes up for it. The closest major station is Birmingham New Street. From there, you can take a 20-minute, £4 cross-city train with the West Midlands Railway to Longbridge Train Station, which is 2 miles from the venue.

It is also possible to travel from Longbridge Station to Hillscourt by bus with a short walk on either side. From Longbridge, walk about 500 metres to Longbridge Technology Park (Stop Ld), which is on Bristol Road South across the street from Sarah Kelly’s Flower Room. Take the 20A bus towards Rednal (cost £2.40) and ride eight stops to Rednal Island. From there, it is a 15 minute walk to Hillscourt. You can plan your bus journey here on the website of National Express Bus, including detailed walking directions to and from the bus stops.

Those arriving by train from continental Europe can take the Eurostar to St Pancras International and then walk to the adjacent London Kings Cross. From there, there are several trains every hour to Birmingham New Street, which take 1 hour 20 minutes to 2 hours. You can look up train times and book tickets here.

Participants can also arrange to share taxis and rides to and from Longbridge Station on Friday and Sunday. Hillscourt’s recommended taxi service is Round About Cars. Once attendance is confirmed, attendees will be added to a Sof-Vokh WhatsApp group in order to coordinate with other participants.

The Sof-Vokh is open to Yiddish speakers of all levels. So as to ensure you can spend the whole weekend in Yiddish, we would advise reaching at least a low intermediate level before you attend a Sof-Vokh. For less confident speakers, we have a dedicated “Gvald!” group that meets during the weekend to offer mutual support.

We truly do make an effort not to switch into English or other languages, except when asking each other vocabulary words or when speaking with the staff at Hillscourt. You will find that fully immersing yourself, if only for 48 hours, will have a real lasting impact on your language skills. We know that language immersion can feel like jumping off the deep end – but when you find yourself swimming in mame-loshn, you will thank yourself for taking the plunge.

This isn’t a marathon or an exam and does not require any special preparation. But if you would like to acclimate yourself to conversation, you can try to find a Yiddish-speaking friend or acquaintance to practice speaking with on a casual basis, or look for an online shmueskrayz. We’re all on different levels and no one will judge you if you make a mistake. If you are unsure whether you have the requisite level, please send us an email and we can discuss whether the Sof-Vokh is for you.

Unfortunately Hillscourt does not have a kosher kitchen and the catered meals are not prepared under rabbinical supervision. However, all meals will be vegetarian or vegan. By request, we are also able to organise kosher food sourced from Central Deli in Birmingham. None of Central Deli’s food is prepared on site; all items are packaged and sourced with a reliable hekhsher. We can accommodate allergies and other dietary needs by request.

The Yiddish Sof-Vokh is a secular gathering that welcomes Yiddish-speakers of all religious or non-religious backgrounds, including secular Jews, religious Jews of various persuasions, and non-Jews. Jewish tradition and practice are central to Yiddish culture, and marking Shabes is very important to some of us, so the weekend includes a Friday night Shabes dinner with candle lighting, kiddush and challah. We also hold a havdole ceremony on Saturday evening and sing some Shabes and post-Shabes songs. However, we do not have any other organised prayers as part of the schedule; in the past, participants have arranged this amongst themselves when they have wanted this.

That being said, shoymer Shabes visitors are very welcome and encouraged to attend. We generally arrive before sundown on Friday and leave Hillscourt on Sunday. Participating in the programme on Friday night and Saturday will not require you personally to write, handle money, or use electricity, although other Jewish participants will likely be involved in these malokhes. Some of the activities feature slide projections and/or electrified instruments. In regard to “carrying”, please also note that the activities are located in a separate building adjacent to the hotel. Hillscourt does not have an eruv but is a single self-contained compound on private property. The bedrooms use electronic room keys and contain bathroom lights which are movement sensitive.

A few of the bedrooms at Hillscourt are on the ground floor and accessible to wheelchair users and other attendees with limited mobility. Please see the drop-down options above for descriptions and photos of these options and be sure to request one of these rooms when you book should you require.

There is also ramped access to all public areas, and toilet facilities for people with mobility difficulties in all areas of the centre. All programmed events will be in the conference centre, which is in very close proximity to the accommodation and dining block, along a path accessible to wheelchairs. The conference centre also has a lift.

We recommend that participants with limited mobility arrive by car or taxi as the nearest bus stop is a decent walk away. The taxi company TC Cars offers wheelchair-accessible cars, and many participants arrange sharing rides in the lead-up to each Sof-Vokh.

We are always delighted to welcome children to the Sof-Vokh. In our second year, we introduced dedicated children’s programming, and we are now aiming to integrate child-friendly activities into the entire programme, as well as highlighting which sessions during each time slot are most suitable for both parents and children. If you are interested in attending the Sof-Vokh with your children, please contact us at svbookings@yiddishcafe.com so we can discuss your family’s specific needs. You can also read our safeguarding policy here.

Once again, we are pleased to be able to offer bursaries in order to make the UK Sof-Vokh affordable to those who would otherwise find it difficult to attend. We are unlikely to have the same level of funding available as last year so may not be able to meet all requests in full. As a guide, we are likely to be offering bursaries of up to £150 but we will consider each application individually. Please find the bursary application form here.

We encourage participants to offer to lead a session as part of the Sof-Vokh programme in Yiddish. Please let us know if you would like to offer a talk, a workshop, a zingeray etc., and give us the title and a short description. There is limited space and the Programme Committee will finalise the programme and keep everyone informed. For inquiries about offering a session, please contact svcomms@yiddishcafe.com. Alternatively, please let us know when booking if you would like to offer a contribution and we will contact you.

We hope you don’t need to cancel but we understand that plans change and we cannot always predict the future. Payment will be refunded for cancellations made until one month before the Sof-Vokh. To cancel your registration to the Sof-Vokh, email us at svbookings@yiddishcafe.com. Unfortunately the booking fee cannot be refunded. Payments will not be refunded for cancellations made after 20th May.

The Yiddish Café Trust is a charity whose sole purpose is to support Yiddish language in the UK. It is entirely run on a voluntary basis, and its income is mostly from tickets for events aided by occasional grants to help with new projects, and donations towards our bursary fund. We would greatly appreciate donations towards our bursary funds, which help younger adults and those with limited means participate fully in the Sof-Vokh. Please donate here – thank you for any support you feel able to offer.