Esther Gottesmann (USA; voice, Yiddish language)

Esther Gottesman is a teacher from Brooklyn, New York. A native Yiddish-speaker, Esther hails from a family of prominent Yiddishists: she is the granddaughter of the singer-songwriter, poet and artist Beyle Schaechter-Gottesman (of blessed memory) and the daughter of Yiddish scholar Itzik Gottesman, who runs the blog Yiddish Song of the Week. As a third-grade teacher in Brooklyn, Esther has spent the last 12 years working with children and has organized Yiddish children’s programs at numerous festivals, including Yiddish New York, the Ashkenaz Festival, Klezkanada and the American Jewish social organization The Workmen's Circle.

Photo: Alita Morales