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The Yiddish Book Center

celebrates Yiddish literature and culture to advance a fuller understanding of Jewish history and identity.

People looking at exhibit

The Yiddish Book Center

presents Yiddish: A Global Culture, a groundbreaking exhibition that tells the story of modern Yiddish culture through books, objects, family heirlooms, photographs, music, videos, and more.

Musicians performing

The Yiddish Book Center

is a lebedike velt, a lively world where concerts, performances, films, and public programs draw visitors from near and far to experience Yiddish culture.

Person looking at an open book with boxes of books on table.

The Yiddish Book Center

recovers books around the globe and uses cutting-edge technology to share them free of charge with eager readers everywhere.

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The Yiddish Book Center

offers educational programs for learners of all ages and skill levels

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The Yiddish Book Center

trains Yiddish translators and, through our own publishing house, brings previously untranslated and unknown Yiddish treasures to English readers.

An oral history interview in process of being recorded

The Yiddish Book Center

records oral histories to capture the personal narratives of individuals connected to and influenced by Yiddish language and culture.

Discover A World of Yiddish Culture

אַנטפּלעקט אַ װעלט

Explore the Yiddish Book Center's programs and initiatives

Support our work

װערט אַ שטיצער

Support from our members and donors enables us to continue recovering and sharing Yiddish language and culture. Learn more about ways you can support our work.

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Explore the Steven Spielberg Digital Yiddish Library

זוכט אױס אונדזערע קאָלעקציעס

Search within the Steven Spielberg Digital Yiddish Library.

Or start by viewing popular search terms:

Quick links to commonly asked questions

שאלות־ותּשובֿות

Spotlight

פֿאָקוס

Weekly Reader: Yiddish Opera

Three pamphlets with black and white photos of singers in costume.

When we think about Yiddish music, we usually think about klezmer. And theater songs. And Hasidic nigunim. And cantorial performances and Borscht Belt staples. But opera? As Yiddish Book Center Fellow Dina Gorelik notes in her recent From the Vault piece, “In the early twentieth century . . . opera was a prominent part of mainstream culture . . . Yiddish speakers . . . had a number of ways to access opera, through fully staged productions in Italian and English, productions in Yiddish, and opera excerpts performed in concert.” Other types of Jewish music have received plenty of attention, so this week let’s explore the often overlooked but once prominent Yiddish opera scene.

Three pamphlets with black and white photos of singers in costume.

December 2024: Handpicked

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Each month we ask a member of our staff or a special friend to select favorite stories, books, interviews, or articles from our online collections. This month’s picks are by Eve Glazier, the project assistant for the Yiddish Book Center’s Wexler Oral History Project.

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Meet Our Donors

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Danny and Robin Greenspun, longtime supporters and the first donors of cryptocurrency to the Center, share their passion for the Yiddish Book Center

Black and white illustration of man wearing suit and tie and woman with dark hair and earrings