A Burns Supper with a Yiddish twist
On Sunday (25th January – Burns Night 2026) in Edinburgh Hebrew Congregation (EHC), the diverse Jewish community of Scotland’s capital city came together to celebrate the life and works of the country’s national poet, Robert Burns.
Around 100 people were treated to fantastic food and entertainment, including poetry and musical recitals. This was a traditional Burns Supper with a Jewish – and particularly Yiddish – twist.
The evening was a cross-communal celebration involving Edinburgh Jewish Culture Centre (EJCC); EHC; Sukkat Shalom, the Edinburgh Liberal Jewish Community; the Edinburgh Jewish Literary Society; and The University of Edinburgh’s Jewish Society (EJSOC).
Proceedings began with a welcome (and time warning) from David Ian Neville, Chairman of the Burns Supper, who also compèred the Supper. Handwashing and Hamotzi was led by EHC’s Rabbi Rose and Fiona Brodie read The Selkirk Grace, before the soup course of the kosher menu was served.
Brodie Watson-Massey piped in the specially made vegetarian haggis then Fiona Brodie again took the stage to read a Burns-inspired Scots-Yiddish hybrid address to the meal named The Address to the Fress. Andrea Torres, Chair of Sukkat Shalom, toasted the haggis both in English and her native Spanish, before everyone tucked into the traditional haggis, neeps and tatties.
Following the main course, guests were treated to ‘The First Interlude’, which saw Ella Lambert, EJCC member and former President of EJSOC, sing Burns’s Ae Fond Kiss; and Howard Brodie sing Burns’s lyrics for Charlie is My Darlin’ and Ye Jacobites By Name, accompanied on the piano by the exceptional musician Phil Alexander.
Cloutie dumpling and custard was served for dessert before David Neville gave ‘A Toast to Robert Burns’ and Rabbi Rose led bensching.
After the meal, three of the most famous elements of a Burns Supper were delivered with aplomb by members of the community: Michael Elam performed a stirring rendition of Burns’s epic poem Tam O’Shanter, Benjamin Birns gave a good-humoured ‘Toast to the Lassies’, and Maya Young gave a spirited ‘Reply to the Toast to the Lassies’.
The evening concluded with Rabbi Mark Solomon of Sukkat Shalom singing some of Burns’s finest songs, all accompanied by Phil Alexander on the piano: Rantin’ Rovin’ Robin, A Man’s a Man for a’ That, Scots and Yiddish renditions of The Deil’s Awa’ wi’ th’ Exciseman and My Love is Like a Red, Red Rose, followed by Ye Banks and Braes.
In a traditional finale, everyone present joined arm in arm to sing Auld Lang Syne, a fitting end to a memorable event that brought Edinburgh’s diverse Jewish community closer together.