Exhibits

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

Isaac Bashevis Singer and his Artists

This unique exhibit features more than 80 paintings, drawings, and photographs created by 17 different artists for Isaac Bashevis Singer's (1902-1991) prolific legacy of books and stories. Exhibited artists include Larry Rivers, Maurice Sendak, Raphael Soyer, Roman Vishniac, William Pene Du Bois, Ira Moskowitz, Eric Carle, Leonard Everrett Fisher, Antonio Frasconi, Nonny Hogrogian, Yuri Shulevitz, Irene Lieblich, and Margot Zemach. This exhibit is on loan from the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion Museum, New York.

Isaac Bashevis Singer and his Artists is on display in the Yiddish Book Center's Brechner Gallery October 16, 2011 - February 15, 2012. 

View a slide show featuring works from this exhibit.

A velt mit veltelekh: The Worlds of Yiddish Culture

A velt mit veltelekh: The Worlds of Yiddish Culture explores the many facets of modern Yiddish language, literature, and culture.

Drawing on the Center’s own collection of one million Yiddish books, the main display, Unquiet Pages, examines the fascinating contents of Yiddish novels, plays, poetry, memoirs, and reportage.  In another gallery, “Sholem-bayes: The American Jewish Home” takes a lively look at how the Jewish home has been depicted in literature and related mediums. The Kinder-vinkl introduces visitors to the origins, sounds, appearance and uses of the Yiddish language. A Yiddish print shop presents traditional printing equipment on which Yiddish newspapers and other common materials were produced.

Unquiet Pages was made possible through a generous grant by the David Berg Foundation.

Former Book Center intern founds The Joseph Achron Society

Discover the Joseph Achron Society, which was founded by former Steiner intern and musician Sam Zerin. The organization's mission is to raise awareness of and interest in the music of Joseph Achron, who was perhaps the most talented, prolific, and original composer to come out of the St. Petersburg Society for Jewish Folk Music.

Bringing a Yizkor Book to Life

The Discovery Project celebrates the 100th birthday of Jean Korim Shultz, the last remaining sibling of nine children born to the Korim family in Dabeik, Lithuania at the turn of the century.  Read about Jean's life, hear stories and songs, and learn about the Yizkor book that's being compiled by her niece, Harriet Jerusha Korim.

Unquiet Pages

Drawing on the Center’s own collection of one million Yiddish books, the main display, “Unquiet Pages,” examines the fascinating contents of Yiddish novels, plays, poetry, memoirs, and reportage.

Visit the online version of the Unquiet Pages exhibit.

A Living Connection: Photographs from the An-sky Expeditions, 1912-1914

This exhibition in the Book Center's main repository explores the groundbreaking work of S. An-sky, who, at the turn of the twentieth century, launched the Jewish Ethnographic Expeditions, traveling throughout what is now Ukraine to collect materials about Jewish cultural life.  Photographs are from the Museum of the History of Religion, St. Petersburg, Russia.

 

Mama Loshn: Inspired by Yiddish

Artist's statement: I am interested in making connections between disparate cultures. Using the Yiddish language, literature, and folklore as a springboard, I have found commonalities between Eastern European Jews, Ancient Egyptians and Chinese Healers. From the first handprints, to alphabet and language, ideas about death and higher powers, healing the body, and games and rituals, distinct civilizations came up with similar explorations and solutions to life’s challenges. - Debra Olin www.debraolin.com
 

Prints by Debra Olin. On display at the Yiddish Book Center.

Monsters and Miracles: A Journey Through Jewish Picture Books (closed)

A collaboration with The Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art of Amherst, MA and the Skirball Cultural Center of Los Angeles, CA, this ambitious exhibition was on view at the Yiddish Book Center and The Carle from October 15, 2010 - January 23, 2011.

Esn! Jews and Food in America (closed)

 

Esn! Jews and Food in America was on exhibit at the Yiddish Book Center from May 2010 - January 2011)

The exhibition explores the American Jewish experience through food-related artifacts – signs, menus, ads, and packaging – and reflects the Jewish American search for a balance between acculturation and identity.  Items are from the collection of Rabbi Michael Strassfeld.

 


Ruth Behar

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