The kheyder curriculum remained essentially the same from the sixteenth century until the Second World War. In these small rooms (kheyder means "room") every Jewish boy - and sometimes girls - learned how to read the Hebrew Bible.

Children learned the Bible by laboriously translating each Hebrew word into Yiddish. This process, known as taytshn, infused the Yiddish language with countless biblical quotes, jokes and allusions. As a result, every Yiddish speaker relies on centuries of biblical interpretation to communicate. Equally important, modern Yiddish writers and readers acquired their literary language, rich in moral teaching and symbolism, in kheyder.

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  Title: Lublin, Poland 1924. 'Giving a hint.'

  Description: Children learning Hebrew by sounding out the words in prayer books.

  Credits: Alter Kacyzne. Image courtesy of the YIVO Archives.

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  Title: Cheder, possibly Lodz,' ca. 1935–38

  Description: Behind them is a chart for learning the Hebrew vowels

  Credits: Mara Vishniac Kohn, courtesy the International Center of Photography

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  Title: A girl's kheyder

  Description: Laskerev, Poland. (Laskarzew, Lublin province). In some communities, girls would learn how to read and write Yiddish.

  Credits: Alter Kacyzne Image courtesy of the YIVO Archives.

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  Title: Dlugoisodlo, Poland (Bialystok province), 1928.

  Description: Generations come, generations go: Leyzer Segal with his kheyder and his ailing father.

  Credits: Alter Kacyzne Image courtesy of the YIVO Archives.

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  Title: Przysucha, Poland.

  Description: Getsele, the 'melamed' (traditional teacher) with his students, around a table in the kheyder.

  Credits: L. Dnedecki Image courtesy of the YIVO Archives