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May God Avenge Their Blood: a Holocaust Memoir Triptych presents three memoirs by the Yiddish writer Rachmil Bryks (1912-1974). Taken together, the triptych brings the reader on a wide-ranging journey from Hasidic life in a Polish shtetl before the Holocaust to the chaos of the early days of World War II and then to the horrors of […]

Itzik and the Golden Peacock: Itzik 120 Years of Itzik Manger

Itzik Manger portrait by Arthur Kolnik A celebration of the famous Yiddish Bard on his 120th Birthday. An international ensemble of Yiddish performers and experts delightfully reveal why Itzik Manger (1901 - 1969) is such an enduring inspiration. Join Mike Burstyn, Shura Lipovsky, Dr. Helen Beer, Ruth Levin, Mendy Cahan, Binyumen Schaechter, Gitl Schaechter Viswanath, Shane Baker, Miri Koral, among others, for […]

From Hassid to Hollywood

Get the inside scoop on the upcoming Yiddish horror film The Chosen One It's much easier to shave your beard than to shed who you are. LOok out! Award-winning screenwriter and now filmmaker Elazar Fine and his lead actors Luzer Twersky (Felix & Meira) and Malky Goldman (Unorthodox) are on the hotseat about making their […]

“Today My Best Poem’s A Child” with Prof. Goldie Morgentaler

Goldie Morgentaler and Chava Rosenfarb - A Daughter Tackles Her Mother's Giant Legacy How does a young girl respond when she's recruited to help translate her mother's landmark work from Yiddish? What is it like to delve into the intimacies of your mother's words and life, some of which are harrowing? When does an obligation […]

The Astonishing History (and Future) of Yiddish In Universities

Last of the Winter Talk Series with Dr. Kalman Weiser (Don't forget Daylight Savings begins in Canada & the US!) The third of three of the Winter Talk Series Prof. Kalman Weiser, York University 11 AM PACIFIC, 2 PM EASTERN, SUNDAY 3/13/22 CALIFORNIA INSTITUTE FOR YIDDISH CULTURE AND LANGUAGE (CIYCL), DER NISTER LOS ANGELES and […]

To Light Our Way: Yiddish song and poetry of resistance and resilience

THURS | APRIL 28 | 7:30 PM | VIRTUAL | FREE Celebrate the most heroic forms of resistance against destruction: mentshlekhkayt, maintaining one’s humanity; and sheferishkayt, creativity   A selection of miraculously preserved words and music written in Yiddish during the Holocaust brought to life by Cantor Sharon Bernstein and Miri Koral, with special guest appearances by Mike Burstyn […]

HINDCAST/FORECAST: How the YIVO Vilna Digitization Project Helps Us Grasp Our Present and Future

No less than miracles, fierce dedication, and surprising ingenuity led to the gathering, safeguarding, and ultimately making widely accessible a most precious collection of Jewish manuscripts and books. In January 2022, the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research completed the Edward Blank YIVO Vilna Online Collections project, a 7-year initiative to digitize the materials YIVO had […]

Animation Sings New Life into Once Popular Yiddish Songs

 Presented by Jane Peppler Musician, composer, singer, translator Jane Peppler has been researching brilliant but forgotten Yiddish theater songs for more than a decade. How, then, to get people to listen to these obscure but marvellous songs, when most people have heard - and loved - only the same 20 Yiddish songs over and over again? Animation was […]

Yom Hashoah 80th Anniversary

Warsaw Ghetto Uprising TO WITNESS, CONSOLE and LAMENT: A World Premier Dramatic Reading of Yitshak Katzenelson’s epic powerful work about the Warsaw Ghetto - Song of the Massacred Jewish People (1943-44) דאָס ליד פֿונעם אויסגעהרגעטן ייִדישן פֿאָלק In English and Yiddish With Special Guest Appearance by Mike Burstyn Directed by Jeremy Aluma In-person at the HMLA Yitshak Katzenelson […]

Yizkor Bikher/ Memorial Books – Untapped Treasure of the Last Collected Memories of a Vanished Civilization

Sunday April 14, 2024 11 AM Pacific; 2 PM Eastern Free Online Event - Registration Required Yizkor Bikher/ Memorial Books – Untapped Treasure of the Last Collected Memories of a Vanished Civilization יזכּור ביכער נישט־אויסגעניצטער אוצר פֿון די לעצטע קאָלעקטיװע זיכרונות פֿון אַ פֿאַרשװוּנדענער ציװיליזאַציע Presented by ELIYANA ADLER, Ph.D What began as pamphlets of names immediately after […]