2023–24 Yiddish Book Center Fellows

Every fall, the Yiddish Book Center welcomes a select group of recent college graduates who spend the following year working as full-time staff members, gaining valuable professional experience in Yiddish language and Jewish cultural work through the Center's Fellowship Program. 

What attracts people to the Yiddish Book Center Fellowship Program? What do fellows do during their time at the Center? Read about the backgrounds of our current fellows and learn about the projects they're working on:  

Claire Breger-Belsky completed their MFA in literary translation at the University of Iowa, where they translated primarily poetry and drama from Yiddish and Spanish. They are especially interested in writing by women, queer and trans voices in literature, and the literary and cultural intersections between Yiddish and Spanish. A poet who likes writing in the margins between genres, Claire has a BA in theater and performance studies from Stanford University, where they wrote their undergraduate thesis on Yiddish theatre and spent most of their time stage managing various plays.

Harriett and Seymour Shapiro Fellow, Maya González, born and raised in San Diego, CA, is a graduate of the University of California Santa Cruz who studied history, Jewish studies, and film. She recently earned an MA in History with a certificate in Public History from the University of Massachusetts Amherst, where she worked as the Librarian at the Institute of Holocaust, Genocide, and Memory Studies. Her love for books and Jewish history converged during her time as a student in the Steiner Summer Yiddish Program. As a bibliography fellow, she is excited to be surrounded by the Center’s collections every day and support the new core exhibit.

Grisha Leyfer is a graduate of University of Massachusetts Amherst with a degree in linguistics and sustainable community development. He has studied Yiddish with YIVO, the Oxford School of Rare Jewish Languages, the Workers' Circle, and the Steiner Summer Program. He has been working with the Wexler Oral History Project since 2021. He is also a co-creator of Yiddish Wordle and plays accordion in the Mount Holyoke Klezmer Ensemble. Aside from Yiddish, he's especially interested in translation, lexicography, cross-cultural conceptions of death and funerals, and trains.

Richard S. Herman Endowed Senior Fellow, Caleb Sher holds an interdisciplinary humanities degree from the University of King's College, Halifax, as well as an MA with a certificate in Jewish studies from the Centre for Comparative Literature at the University of Toronto, where he received a Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) scholarship. Following his MA, Caleb began a degree in information studies; however, he left this program to pursue work in the Yiddish realm. Beyond his interest in and (rapidly) growing collection of Yiddish books—the material anchors of Yiddish's literary and cultural history—Caleb gets excited about public humanities, open access to knowledge, and good memes (especially in Yiddish).

Richard S. Herman was an accomplished attorney and a lifelong lover of books, known for his kindness and generosity. He was excited about the Yiddish Book Center’s educational programs and, in 2019, he left a bequest of $1 million to endow an annual fellowship in his name.   

Richard S. Herman Fellows:
Sophia Shoulson, 2019-20
Sasha Stern, 2020-21
Sarah Biskowitz, 2021-22
Charlotte Apter, 2022-23
Caleb Sher, 2023-24