Yiddish Book Center

Immerse yourself in a lebedike velt, a living world, of fascinating exhibitions about Yiddish culture.

Ruth Behar

Born in Cuba to Ashkenazi and Sephardic Jewish parents, Ruth is now an Anthropology professor.

Yiddish Writers

Learn about the lives and works of selected Yiddish authors.

Dovid Bergelson דוד בערגעלסאָן

1884-1952
Rachel Korn רחל קאָרן

1898-1982
Kadya Molodowsky קאַדיע מאָלאָדאָווסקי

1894--1975
Mani Leib מאַני לייב

1883-1953
I. J. Schwartz י. י. שוואַרץ

1885 – 1971

Leyke Post Carrey, Boston's Yiddish Diva

by Hankus Netsky

A gifted actress and storyteller, Leyke would launch into a nineteenth-century Yiddish folk song and, within seconds, have her late twentieth-century audience in stitches.

Leyke's early life

Singer Leyke Carrey's journey from Zhitomir, Ukraine to the stage of Boston's Grand Opera.
Boston Yiddish Radio days
Leyke Post Carey sings "Vus zhe geyst di ketsele"

A popular folk song otherwise known as “Yikhes,” about the unseemly side of the Eastern European Jewish heritage.
Leyke Post Carey sings "Yiddish Redt Zikh Azoy Sheyn"

Everything sound best - if you say it in Yiddish!
Listen to "Purim" by Leyke Post Carey

A swinging song about one of the happiest Jewish holidays by Boston’s legendary Yiddish theatre composer, Rueben Ossofsky (heard here on piano).

The Badkhones of Yosif Frydman

By Hankus Netsky and Joshua Schwartz
Bringing Yiddish folk poetry and song back to life

Discovering and reviving Frydman's lost music
Excerpt from Frydman's "Eretz Yizroel"
Hear a clip of Joshua Schwartz singing Yosif Frydman's "badkhones"

Joshua Schwartz chants a portion of Yosif Frydman’s badkhones.

Spring Cultural Encounter Weekend

Letting Jews Be Jews

Join us on April 16-18, 2010 for this exploration of the different ways cinema has depicted Jews -- from the silent era of the 1920s to contemporary films. Led by Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times and NPR Morning Edition film critic.

of the largest and fastest-growing Jewish cultural organization in America.