The ''Broderzinger'' () or Broder singers, from

Brody Brody (, ; ; ; ) is a city in Zolochiv Raion, Lviv Oblast, Zolochiv Raion, Lviv Oblast, western Ukraine. It is located in the valley of the upper Styr, Styr River, approximately northeast of the oblast capital, Lviv. Brody hosts the administrati ...

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

, were

Jew Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, religion, and community are highly inte ...

ish itinerant performers in Austrian Galicia,

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

, and

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

, professional or semiprofessional songwriters and performers, who from at least the early 19th century sang and danced, often in comic disguises, and who performed short

one-act play A one-act play is a play that has only one act, as distinct from plays that occur over several acts. One-act plays may consist of one or more scenes. The 20-40 minute play has emerged as a popular subgenre of the one-act play, especially in writi ...

s.https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/judaica/ejud_0002_0019_0_19780.html Jewish virtual library They were often '' badchonim'' (traditional wedding entertainers) and meshorerim (singers in cantors' choirs). They were among the first to publicly perform

Yiddish Yiddish, historically Judeo-German, is a West Germanic language historically spoken by Ashkenazi Jews. It originated in 9th-century Central Europe, and provided the nascent Ashkenazi community with a vernacular based on High German fused with ...

-language songs outside of

Purim Purim (; , ) is a Jewish holidays, Jewish holiday that commemorates the saving of the Jews, Jewish people from Genocide, annihilation at the hands of an official of the Achaemenid Empire named Haman, as it is recounted in the Book of Esther (u ...

plays and wedding parties, and were an important precursor to

Yiddish theatre Yiddish theatre consists of plays written and performed primarily by Jews in Yiddish, the language of the Ashkenazi Jewish community. The range of Yiddish theatre is broad: operetta, musical comedy, and satire, satiric or nostalgic revues; melodr ...

. They erected miniature stages and entertained customers in taverns, wine cellars, and restaurant gardens.Zalmen Zylbercweig, ''Leksikon fun Yidishn teater'', Book one, pp. 216-217 The first written records of the Broder singers are the remarks of Jews passing through Brody, which was a trading center on a major route of travel ("a stopping point on the travels of Russian Jewish merchants to and from the Leipzig fair."). These records are generally disapproving of the singing of songs when no religious occasion called for music. Later the term Broder Singer was applied to performers who had no connection with Brody. Among the most famous Broder singers were Berl Margulis - better known as

Berl Broder Berl Broder (1817–1868), born Berl Margulis, was a Ukraine, Ukrainian Jew born in Pidkamin, Podkamen,https://archive.org/details/nybc207372 Dray doyres̀: lider fun Berl Broder (Margulies), feliṭonen fun Yom Hatsyoni (Yitsḥaḳ Margulies), poe ...

(1815–1868) - and Moyshe Prizament and his son

Shloyme Prizament Shloyme Prizament (1889–1973) (also Shlomo or Szlojme Prizament or Szlomo Prizment), Jewish composer, actor in the Yiddish theater, and ''badkhn'', son of Moyshe Prizament (a famous badkhn known as Moyshe Hibiner / Hibnever). Early years Born i ...

. Some of Berl Broder's original songs, along with the works of his son and grandson who continued the tradition of secular Yiddish writing, can be found in his grandson Ber Margulies' boo
Dray doyres̀ lider fun Berl Broder (Margulies), feliṭonen fun Yom Hatsyoni (YitsḥaḳMargulies), poemen un lider fun Ber Margulies (1957)
(free online download from the Yiddish Book Center).

References

External links

translated accounts in the

Yizkor book Yizkor books (, plural: , ''Yizkor-bikher'') are memorial books commemorating a Jewish community destroyed during the Holocaust. The books are published by former residents or ''landsmanshaft'' societies as remembrances of homes, people and ways o ...

. Jewish singers Yiddish culture in Poland Yiddish culture in Romania Yiddish culture in Russia Yiddish culture in Ukraine Yiddish theatre Yiddish words and phrases Brody Itinerant living {{Yiddish-stub