Weekly Reader

September 17, 2023 - One of the most astounding stories of the Holocaust is that of the Oyneg Shabes archive, initiated by Emanuel Ringelblum to create a record of life in occupied Warsaw and the Warsaw Ghetto.

September 10, 2023 - In celebration of Hispanic Heritage Month and our Decade of Discovery theme, Yiddish Around the World, we're exploring the contributions of Spanish-speaking places to Yiddish.

September 3, 2023 - There is perhaps no more important event in the annals of modern Yiddish than the First Yiddish Language Conference. In honor of its 115th anniversary, we’re taking a look back at this seminal event.

August 20, 2023 - Melech Ravitch is best remembered as a cultural activist in Montreal’s Yiddish community. In honor of his forty-seventh yortsayt, let’s take a look at his rich legacy.

August 13, 2023 - For nearly thirty years, no Yiddish literary couple was as glamorous or well-traveled as Perets and Esther Shumiatcher-Hirshbeyn. In honor of Perets's seventy-fifth yortsayt this week, let's take a look at the couple's works.

August 6, 2023 - In honor of the victims of the "Night of the Murdered Poets," we're taking a look not just at their tragic deaths but also at their lives and work.

July 23, 2023 - Diving beneath the surface of this favorite summer getaway.

July 16, 2023 - Learn about a few overlooked Yiddish women writers below.

July 9, 2023 - In honor of Sholem Asch's sixty-third yortsayt, let’s take a closer look at his life and work.

July 2, 2023 - To get ready for Yidstock, our annual festival of new Yiddish music, here are selections from our collections about Yiddish music and its history.

June 18, 2023 - While Yiddish might be known as mame-loshn, or mother tongue, all the Yiddish-speaking or Yiddish-loving fathers deserve some recognition as well.

June 11, 2023 - Ever wonder what it means to go to school, in Yiddish? Explore items from our collections that highlight Yiddish pedagogy in all of its incarnations.

June 4, 2023 - What is the “South”? Well, it depends how far north you are. Explore items in our collection that speak to Yiddish in the South.

May 21, 2023 - Explore resources from our collection about Jacob Glatstein, one of the preeminent Yiddish poets and public intellectuals of the twentieth century.

May 14, 2023 - Items from our collection that highlight inspiring mother-daughter relationships in Yiddish literature.

May 7, 2023 - What does Yiddish have to do with the occult? Quite a bit. Yiddish-speaking Jews in Eastern Europe held spiritualist séances, consulted with psychic mediums, read their horoscopes in the Yiddish press, and consumed Yiddish occult literature.

April 23, 2023 - When it comes to Yiddish and Israel, there is some complicated history. Learn more about how Yiddish was treated during the country's early years, and the Yiddish revival of recent decades.

April 16, 2023 - For generations, Montreal has been home to a culturally rich Yiddish-speaking community. These items from our collections highlight the city's significant historical and cultural impact.

April 9, 2023 - For many of us, poetry isn’t part of the regular reading diet. In honor of National Poetry Month—and because reading poetry is always a good idea—we’re going to highlight some of the more poetic items in our collection.

April 2, 2023 - Holiday stories were a venerable tradition in Yiddish literature. To both celebrate and participate in this tradition, here are a few Passover-themed items from our collections.

March 19, 2023 - Yiddish literature featuring stories of springtime.

March 12, 2023 - Exploring the long history of the Forward as a Yiddish newspaper.

March 5, 2023 - An opportunity to celebrate the women, real and legendary, who helped bring us to where we are.

February 19, 2023 - Exploring Yiddish actors and playwrights' appreciation for Shakespeare.

February 12, 2023 - When Yiddish-speaking Jews immigrated to the United States in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, they encountered a country with its own history of racism against Black Americans.

February 5, 2023 - Themes of the environment and the natural world in Yiddish literature.

January 22, 2023 - Examining the Jewish art world and the dealers, collectors, critics, and artists who comprised it.

January 15, 2023 - Highlighting the unsung heroes (and occasional villains) of Yiddish culture, the publishers.

January 8, 2023 - With a new year comes a new Decade of Discovery theme, and for 2023 it’s Yiddish Around the World. To get us started, here are a few items from our archives highlighting Yiddish-speaking communities from all over the world.

January 1, 2023 - To help keep us all occupied on these long winter evenings, here are some favorite winter and new year's-themed items from our archives.

December 18, 2022 - Some of our favorite Hanukkah stories, songs, games, and food-related content that we’ve collected over the years.

December 11, 2022 - Taking a look at the most famous Yiddish literary trio, the Singer siblings.

December 4, 2022 - Celebrating Jewish Book Month and the women who contributed to the writing, production, and furtherance of Yiddish literature.

November 20, 2022 - Works by Yiddish-speaking European Jews that attempt to increase understanding of Native Americans amongst newly immigrated Jews.

November 13, 2022 - S. An-sky, born Shloyme Zaynvl Rapoport, was not just a playwright. He was an activist, the author of the Bund anthem Di shvue and an ethnographer.

November 6, 2022 - The Jewish experience in World Wars I and II was so traumatic that we often forget that Jews fought in those wars as well. In honor of Veterans Day, here are a few of their stories.

October 23, 2022 - Zalmen Reyzen and the Yiddish biographical dictionaries he pioneered.

October 16, 2022 - The combined sense of beginning and ending that happens after Sukkos has been amply expressed in literature and art by Yiddish-speaking Jews.

October 9, 2022 - The Yiddish women writers who fought for their social, cultural, and economic freedom.

October 2, 2022 - This week we're taking a a break from the purely thematic and instead sharing a few of the items that have jumped out at us for reasons all their own.

September 18, 2022 - Selections from our archive to get the High Holiday juices flowing.

September 11, 2022 - If you’re thinking of brushing up on your Yiddish skills and need a little extra motivation, here are some great back-to-school resources to help you reach the next level of mame-loshn.

September 4, 2022 - Yente Serdatsky was once known to tens of thousands of readers. Translators and Yiddish scholars have taken a new interest in Serdatsky, and her work is gaining recognition once again.

August 21, 2022 - Champions of Yiddish have been on a mission to tell the world about the many treasures that Yiddish holds, locked up in a language only a few still speak.

August 14, 2022 - The history of Jewish farms and farmers goes back to biblical times and continues to this day.

August 7, 2022 - The cities and towns of Eastern Europe feature prominently in Yiddish literature and culture.

July 24, 2022 - Few experiences are so thoroughly American, and so thoroughly Jewish, as summer camp.

July 17, 2022 - Podcasts and audiobooks to add to your summer road trip playlists.

July 10, 2022 - Ida Maze is not a household name among Yiddish writers, but perhaps she should be.

July 3, 2022 - Learn about the fruitful artistic relationships between women within Yiddish culture.

June 19, 2022 - Today we’re taking a look at one of the most notable locations of Eastern European Jewish life: the city of Lublin.

June 12, 2022 - In keeping with this year’s Decade of Discovery theme, “Women in Yiddish,” we’re taking a moment to celebrate some of those women writers and chroniclers whose efforts give us a precise—and priceless—view into the past.

May 22, 2022 - A moment to reflect on the Yiddish writers who fill our shelves, and the world they and their books created.

May 15, 2022 - During the era of Jewish mass emigration from Eastern Europe, in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, Yiddish-speaking communities popped up around the globe.

May 8, 2022 - We say that our collections here at the Yiddish Book Center are chock-a-block with mother-centric material.

May 1, 2022 - Paying tribute to the generations of Jewish Americans who helped form the fabric of American history, culture, and society.

April 17, 2022 — In the spirit of birthday celebration, we thought we’d take a look at some Yiddish writers whose births fall this month. Don’t forget to make a wish!

April 10, 2022 - So while the upcoming holiday may leave you missing challah and bagels, there are plenty of tasty dishes to look forward to.

April 3, 2022 - Put on your favorite klezmer album while you enjoy the warmer weather and delve a bit deeper into the story of this fabulous genre.

March 20, 2022 - Appreciating Ukraine’s artistic legacy—including, of course, its Jewish artists.

March 13, 2022 - Born in Perieaslav, a town near Kyiv, Sholem Aleichem spent some of his formative years in the city now falling under Russian bombardment, and is honored by a statue right in the middle of town.

March 3, 2022 - At this moment, with Ukraine under attack and its people and their Jewish president fighting for their very survival, we remember our shared history and highlight some of the enduring creations of Yiddish-speaking Jews in Ukraine.

February 27, 2022 - A few women’s experiences across the spectrum of Yiddish, from a childhood in Poland to political activism in the United States.

February 20, 2022 - If the winter doldrums have got you down, take the opportunity to curl up in a comfy sweater and slippers and read something good. We’ve got a few suggestions.

February 13, 2022 - As much as the work of translation is essential, however, it often goes unacknowledged and unappreciated. Here are a few pieces that help to rectify that.

February 6, 2022 - What was it like to be a woman writer in Yiddish? There’s no better way to learn about these writers than by reading the works themselves—particularly the memoirs.

January 23, 2022 - Like all writers, Yiddish authors needed editors and publishers to help them reach their readers. Those people are usually less well remembered, which is why this week we’re focusing on the behind-the-scenes of Yiddish literature.

January 16, 2022 - In honor of Martin Luther King Jr. Day, revisiting themes of Yiddish and social justice.

January 9, 2022 - This year's Decade of Discovery theme is women in Yiddish. Here's an appetizer of what is to come.

December 26, 2021 - When you’re dealing with the whole of Yiddish literature and culture, putting together a best-of list just seems ridiculous. So, in lieu of “best,” here are five of the quirkiest items we’ve culled from our website.

December 19, 2021 - Travel stories to transport you elsewhere.

December 12, 2021 - But once upon a time, not so long ago, beating boredom didn’t mean turning on a show, it meant going to see one. For Yiddish-speaking Jews, the theater was the ultimate entertainment.

December 5, 2021 - If a little bit of oil can last eight days, then maybe some Hanukkah-related reading can last all year.

November 21, 2021 - Nothing gives you an appetite for some good, old-fashioned Ashkenazi cuisine quite like a day in the archives.

November 14, 2021 - They showed that literary activity was not for an elite group, but for everyone.

November 7, 2021 - Happy birthday to Yiddish writer Sholem Asch

October 24, 2021 - Its writers spoke of the Old Country and the New, the country and the city, Litvaks and Galitsiyaners, the home and the street.

A range of Yiddish poetry

Food-themed content