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"This Is Me!": Discovering Yiddish Mexican Literature

Talia Margolis Chomstein, Yiddish activist based in Mexico City, describes how she discovered Yiddish Mexican literature and how it inspired her to be more involved in the Mexican Jewish community through Yiddish.

Yiddish Literature Excluded From Anthologies

Ted Steinberg, Distinguished Teaching Professor at SUNY Fredonia, expresses his frustration about the absence of Yiddish literature in anthologies of world literature, and affirms the necessity of keeping these texts alive by reading them.

"Trying to Eat a Steak With a Butterknife": A Criticism of Analyzing Yiddish Literature with Theory

Ken Frieden, B.G. Rudolph Professor of Judaic Studies at Syracuse University, recounts a bit of criticism directed at his book Classic Yiddish Fiction from a "nativist" Yiddishist, who alleged that the book's application of literary theory to Yiddish...

Yiddish LIterature as Part of Larger Western Tradition

Ted Steinberg, Distinguished Teaching Professor at SUNY Fredonia, speaks about his current project of getting Yiddish literature recognized as world literature and the connections to the great Yiddish writers and the Western Canon.

Yiddish Literature: It Is All Connected

Paul Buhle, author and social historian, describes aspects of Yiddish literature that fascinate him, such as its search for political progress.

Falling in Love with Yiddish through Literature

Childhood Yiddish speaker, Marilyn Cassotta, recalls how she fell in love with Yiddish through reading the greats of Yiddish literature. She describes the beauty and possibilities she found in the language through reading and how much it meant to her...

“There Are Some Younger People Who Are Creating Yiddish Literature”: A List

Barnett Zumoff, Yiddish translator and President Emeritus of the Workmen's Circle/Arbeiter Ring, on some of the people he sees as comprising the contemporary Yiddish literature scene.

What People Don't Know About Yiddish Literature

Marvin Zuckerman, retired English and Yiddish professor, discusses the great number of Yiddish writers and publications at the height of Yiddish literature.

It's Foreign but Not Foreign: Reading Classic Yiddish Literature

Renate Fairweather, Yiddish teacher based in Oklahoma City, describes the feeling of reading classic works of Yiddish literature.

"A Holy Mission": The Urgent Need to Translate Yiddish Literature

Rachel Rojanski, Professor of Judaic Studies at Brown University, reflects on the future of Yiddish and urges that the translation into Hebrew and English of the "treasure" that is Yiddish literature.

Sholem Aleichem's Gift: How My Grandfather Elevated Yiddish To A World Literature

Bel Kaufman, z"l, granddaughter of Yiddish writer Sholem Aleichem and author of award-winning novels, speaks to her grandfather's passion for the Yiddish language and explains how his commitment to writing in Yiddish helped elevate its status and sig...

Finding Unexpected Connections: Why People Should Read Yiddish Literature

Talia Margolis Chomstein – Yiddish activist based in Mexico City – explains why reading can give such insight and knowledge about a culture or a group of people. She specifically talks about what Mexicans can learn from reading Mexican Yiddish litera...

"Yiddish Literature was funded on the proceeds of the sales of Cowboy hats"

Michael Wex talks about how relatives of Yiddish Poet, Esther Shumiatcher, funded Yiddish Literature by the sale of cowboy hats. The true cowboy hats, Smith Built not Stetsons.

“I Recognized Something That Seemed Very Comfortable To Me”: Caraid O’Brien On Discovering Yiddish Culture Through A Love of Literature and Irish Culture

Caraid O'Brien—writer, performer, and director, including of Yiddish works—reflects on how she came to Yiddish through literature, and the parallels she immediately felt to the Irish culture she'd grown up with through her family.

Learning To Love Literature Through Yiddish

Marek Tuszewicki, a Yiddish teacher at Krakow JCC, talks about his love for literature kindled through the Yiddish language.

Translation and the Importance of Accessing Yiddish Literature

Sara Israel, former Yiddish Book Center fellow, discusses her work on translation and the importance of making Yiddish literature accessible.

Sholem Asch in Yiddish Literature

Emanuel Goldsmith

Emanuel Goldsmith

March 22, 1980

"Ineffable and Intangible": Yiddish Literature

Sean Sidky, 2011 Steiner Summer Program student, explains his love of the Yiddish language, particularly the literature of David Bergelson.

"A Slice of Life": Why I Love Yiddish Literature

Judith Klau, English teacher, explains why Yiddish literature means so much to her.