Yiddish Book Center

Click to Open a Culture

פֿרישע נײַעס

Now

Listen

New on The Shmooze: Shachar M. Pinsker on A Rich Brew: How Cafés Created Modern Jewish Culture

View

On Exhibit: Through the Yiddish Looking Glass: The Art of Yiddish Children's Literature

Read

Reb Yudl Shloboner or The Beautiful Minke

Read

Singer Estate and Yiddish Book Center Bring Isaac Bashevis Singer’s Yiddish Works Online

Yerushe Campaign

The Language of Story and Song

Read

Yiddish Illustrations: "From Chagall to Diego Rivera" A Personal Top Ten by David Mazower

Join & Support

Help Us Unearth Hidden Gems of Yiddish Literature

מכּוח

A Focus On American Jewish Heritage

We're featuring a range of media related to American Jewish heritage, culled from the Yiddish Book Center's collections—oral histories, articles from Pakn Treger, podcast interviews from The Shmooze, archival recordings, and finds from our vault. Watch, listen, read, and look for more posts throughout the month. 

Read

Everything Old Is New Again

Listen

Remnants: Photographs of the Lower East Side

View

American Jewish Farming Communities

אויסגעקליבן

Handpicked Lisa Newman

As the Yiddish Book Center's director of communications, Lisa Newman plays an integral role in helping to shape the lineup and coordinate the always lively four days of Yidstock: The Festival of New Yiddish Music. Here, she shares some of her favorite finds from the performers that appeared at this year's event.

How Klezmer Defined a Community

Hankus Netsky discusses his book Klezmer: Music and Community in Twentieth-Century Philadelphia, a portrait of the folk music and traditions of the city’s Jewish community. A musical ethnographer and teacher, Netsky is a founder of the Klezmer Conservatory Band.

From Hip Hop to Klezmer

In this video, recorded at the Yiddish Book Center in 2008, Josh Dolgin—known to fans around the world by his stage name, Socalled—gave the audience a peek at his creative process. He's since returned to the Center several times to take the stage at Yidstock, including in 2018.

Anthony Russell, Yiddish Opera Singer

Anthony Mordechai Tzvi Russell has always been a singer—since a young age, he sang along to opera records—but his journey to the Yiddish repertoire of the legendary Sidor Belarsky was a bit more circuitous. Learn about his artistic voyage from opera to Yiddish folk song in this oral history.

But is it Klezmer? Rock, Jazz, Punk, Hip-hop, and Techno Bring New Sounds to the Jewish Mix

Seth Rogovoy, Yidstock's artistic director and the author of The Essential Klezmer, writes that "klezmer has always spoken in the particular language and accent of its time and place." In this article, he explores the exciting fusion of the music with state-of-the-art hip-hop and funk.