Yiddish: Special Events
For those who are ready for a challenge, we offer a series of lectures -- in Yiddish -- on a wide variety of historical, academic, and cultural topics. The lecture series draws on local experts as well as guest speakers from around the country.
Past lectures & special events have included:
Poetry Reading with Sholem Berger
Zackary Sholem Berger read from his book of poetry in English and Yiddish, One Nation Taken Out of Another (Apprentice House, 2014) - a joyride on a bassackward hybrid with an American brain, Yiddish heart, and all sorts of wandering limbs grafted onto the whole. It's midrash, whimsy, and polyglot extravagance. The evening was in Yiddish and a smattering of English. Books will be for sale.
Yiddish in the Digital Age
The discussion will look at the intersection of Yiddish and today's technologies that make the language and culture accessible to students and enthusiasts alike. The 2 speakers are pioneers in the field of Yiddishist Digital Humanism and will show examples of their work on the web to illustrate their points. The talk will primarily be in English. This lecture was presented by Eitan Kensky and Saul Noam Zaritt. Eitan Kensky is chairman of the board of In geveb: A Journal of Yiddish Studies web magazine in Yiddish and English and one of the site's founders. He works at the Yiddish Book Center as Director of Collections Initiatives, received his PhD from Harvard University, and considers himself an accidental digital humanist. Saul Noam Zaritt is an assistant professor of Yiddish Literature in the departments of Comparative Literature and Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations. He is also the founding editor of In geveb: A Journal of Yiddish Studies. He received his PhD from the Jewish Theological Seminary in Jewish Literature.
Talk with Lisa Leff - The Archive Thief: The Man Who Salvaged French Jewish History in the Wake of the Holocaust
Lisa Leff's investigative research into the life and work of Zosa Szajkowski, the Jewish historian and YIVO archivist, casts a complex and multidimensional perspective on his illegal transport of tens of thousands of documents from Europe to the United States between 1940 and 1961. Leff’s exploration of the historical and sociological elements of the time, as well as the nature of archiving itself, forces the audience to move away from the traditional bifurcated paradigm of archival rescue or theft, to see the events in the nuanced context of changing times.
Beyle: The Artist & Her Legacy Film Screening & Director Talk-Back
A free film screening of BEYLE: The Artist and Her Legacy, a documentary about Yiddish activist and artist Beyle Schaechter-Gottesman, from the Yiddish Book Center's Wexler Oral History Project. The screening will be accompanied by a reception and talk-back with director Christa Whitney.
Trip to the Museum of Science in Yiddish!
Join fellow Yiddish speakers and students for an outing to the Museum of Science in Yiddish.
Trip to the Zoo in Yiddish!
Join fellow Yiddish speakers and students for a trip to the Franklin Park Zoo in Yiddish.
Yiddish Bowling
Yiddish speakers and students of all levels are invited to go bowling together at Flatbread Pizza in Davis Square/Somerville, to practice speaking Yiddish in an informal and fun setting.
Cafe Yiddishkayt
The début of Café Yiddishkayt, a new Boston-area Jewish culture cabaret inspired by the international Jewish cultural cabaret scenes of years past.