Summer Program
June 21 – July 31, 2026
Language & Literature Classes
Language & Literature classes meet Monday through Friday, 9:50am-11:10am / 11:40am-1:00pm.
BEGINNER YIDDISH LANGUAGE
Perl Teitelbaum
This course is designed for beginners who already know the alefbeys. It will integrate listening, reading, speaking and writing. All language and grammar will be taught in context. Attention will be paid to phonetic rules, along with word and sentence stress, to aid comprehension and pronunciation.
MATERIALS FOR THE COURSE:
— Yiddish: An Introduction to the Language, Literature and Culture, Vol. 1 by Sheva Zucker
— Audio recordings which accompany volume 1 of the above textbook
— Answer key to volume 1 of the above textbook
— Additional materials will be available to students for download.
COURSE REQUIREMENTS:
— In class, students will listen, speak and read as a class as well as work in pairs and small groups. We will work with the above-mentioned textbook, song texts, and teacher-designed materials.
— Homework will include a combination of studying, doing grammar exercises, reading texts, and writing in preparation towards communicating in Yiddish. Assignments will be collected in class.
BEGINNER YIDDISH LITERATURE
Nokhem Lerner
In this course, students will build vocabulary and develop their reading, writing, and comprehension skills. They will be introduced to modern Yiddish culture and literature by reading and discussing texts from various genres: passages from school textbooks, songs, poetry, and short stories. Videos and recordings will supplement the class discussions.
MATERIALS FOR THE COURSE:
Course packet compiled by the instructor and additional class handouts. Students will have digital access to the course materials.
COURSE REQUIREMENTS:
Class attendance, preparation, and participation. Students must be prepared for class, complete all homework assignments on time, and make up missed work when absent.
INTERMEDIATE I YIDDISH LANGUAGE
Mikhl Yashinsky
“One can find in the Yiddish tongue and in the Yiddish spirit expressions of pious joy, lust for life, longing for the Messiah, patience, and deep appreciation of human individuality.” This course will provide a continued training in the art of speaking, reading, writing, and listening to the rich language that Nobel laureate Isaac Bashevis Singer celebrated with those words. Through engaging materials from the second volume of the modern multimedia textbook In eynem (of which the instructor is a co-author), including Yiddish songs, film clips, oral histories, and works of art, students will deepen their familiarity with the elementary rules of standard Yiddish grammar and the contours of Yiddish conversation and culture, as they experience for themselves the language’s “quiet humor and gratitude for every day of life” (Bashevis again). Studying the language in the midst of New York, where he and so many others lived, loved, and labored in Yiddish—and continue to today—will add special piquancy to our study.
Designed for students with a grounding in some of the foundational elements of Yiddish grammar (chiefly, those covered in the first volume of In eynem, which it would be useful to review).
MATERIALS FOR THE COURSE:
— Asya Vaisman Schulman, Jordan Brown, and Mikhl Yashinsky, In eynem: The New Yiddish Textbook (Yiddish Book Center, 2020), vol. 2, with included website of multimedia materials (Purchase)
DICTIONARIES:
—Solon Beinfeld and Harry Bochner, Comprehensive Yiddish-English Dictionary (verterbukh.org); Gitl Schaechter-Viswanath and Paul Glasser, Comprehensive English-Yiddish Dictionary (englishyiddishdictionary.com). (Students will have free digital access to both for the duration of the program.)
INTERMEDIATE I YIDDISH LITERATURE
Perl Teitelbaum
Students will be exposed to a variety of genres of modern Yiddish literature from different time periods and created in different places, organized along themes such as childhood, upbringing and schooling, struggle, Yiddish & Yidishkeyt in and beyond the East European context. The texts will be accompanied by audio to support reading skills. Class activities will include speaking, listening, and reading aloud (with advanced preparation), discussion, and role-play. Homework assignments will include reading and listening to audio of the texts and completing written assignments. All materials will be provided by the instructor and will be available on paper and online.
INTERMEDIATE II YIDDISH LANGUAGE
Dovid Braun
This course is for those who have progressed beyond the lower intermediate level. Students will reexamine and deepen their familiarity with Yiddish pronunciation, spelling, vocabulary use and vocabulary building techniques, word order patterns, the Yiddish case system, romanization conventions (e.g., for bibliographic usage), and more. During the semester, students will transition from the beginner-intermediate textbook College Yiddish by Uriel Weinreich to the intermediate/advanced textbook Yiddish Two by Mordkhe Schaechter.
ייִדיש פֿאַרן העכערן מיטנדיקן ניװאָ
דוד בראַון
דער קורס איז פֿאַר אַזעלכע װאָס האָבן שוין פֿאַרענדיקט דעם נידעריקערן מיטנדיקן ניװאָ. אין איצטיקן קורס װעלן פֿאַרענעמען דעם אויבנאָן ענינים פֿון אַרויסרעד, אויסלייג, לעקסיק, װערטער־סדר, די בייגפֿאַלן, טראַנסליטעראַציע (למשל פֿאַר ביבליאָגראַפֿישע צװעקן) און נאָך. אין משך פֿון קורס װעט מען אַריבערגיין פֿון לערנביכל פֿאַר אָנהייבער־ און מיטנדיקע קורסן, קאַלעדזש־ייִדיש פֿון אוריאל װײַנרײַך, אויף דער מיטנדיקער־אַװאַנסירטער גראַמאַטיק ייִדיש צװיי פֿון מרדכי שעכטער.
MATERIALS FOR THE COURSE:
— Uriel Weinreich, College Yiddish
— Mordkhe Schaechter, Yiddish II
INTERMEDIATE II YIDDISH LITERATURE
Adi Mahalel
ליטעראַטור פֿאַר מיטנדיקע II
עדי מהלאל
אין דעם קורס וועלן מיר לייענען אַלערליי טעקסטן פֿון פֿאַרשידענע תּקופֿות און ערטער: פּראָזע, פּאָעזיע און ליטעראַרישע עסייען. יעדע וואָך וועט געווידמעט ווערן אַ געוויסער טעמע. מיר וועלן די טעמעס דיסקוטירן, באַטראַכטן, באַהאַנדלען דורך היימאַרבעט, שרײַבן װעגן זיי עסייען און נאָך.
די טעמעס לויט די וואָכן (טענטאַטיװ)
1טע וואָך: הײַנטצײַטיקע קינדער-ליטעראַטור פֿון דער חסידישער וועלט; 2טע וואָך: ייִדישע פּאָעזיע אין פֿינף אַקטן; 3טע וואָך: פּרצעס געשיכטעס א; וואָך 4: פּרצעס געשיכטעס ב; 5טע וואָך: פֿרויען־פּראָזע פֿון צפֿון־אַמעריקע; 6טע װאָך: די פּאָעזיע פֿון רבֿקה באַסמאַן א״אַ
לערנביכל פֿאַרן קורס: אויפֿן וועג: זיבן דערציילונגען פֿון י.־ל. פּרץ.
MATERIALS FOR THE COURSE:
— Afn veg: Zibn dertseylungen fun Y.-L. Perets/Pathways: Seven Stories by I. L. Peretz (New York: League for Yiddish, 2025), 102 pages, plus audio recordings, ISBN 978-1-878775-900-9.
ADVANCED YIDDISH LANGUAGE
Dovid Braun
Students in this course will concentrate on expansion of vocabulary, dialectal variation, and the conventions of standard and non-standard spelling systems that have been employed over the eras of written Modern Yiddish. They will focus on the structure and meaning of the Yiddish verb with its many prefixation possibilities and their resultant semantic effects. The textbook for the course will be Yiddish Two by Mordkhe Schaechter with supplements from pedagogical, journalistic, and literary sources.
ייִדיש פֿאַרן אַװאַנסירטן ניװאָ
דוד בראַון
דורך דעם קורס װעט דער לערנער פֿאַרברייטערן זײַן װאָקאַבולאַר און זײַן באַקאַנטשאַפֿט מיט די ייִדישע דיאַלעקטן װי אויך מיט די פֿירונגען פֿון ייִדישער אָרטאָגראַפֿיע דורך די פֿאַרשיידענע תּקופֿות פֿון געשריבענעם מאָדערנעם ייִדיש. ס'װעט געשטעלט װערן אַ טראָפּ אויף פֿאַרשטיין דעם ייִדישן װערב מיט די סעמאַנטישע עפֿעקטן װאָס קאָנװערבן און די אַנדערע װערבאַלע פּרעפֿיקסן האָבן אויף אים. דאָס לערנבוך פֿאַרן קורס װעט זײַן מרדכי שעכטערס ייִדיש צװיי. דעם לערנער װעלן צוגעשטעלט װערן צוגאָב־מאַטעריאַלן פֿון פּעדאַגאָגישע, פּובליציסטישע און ליטעראַרישע מקורים.
MATERIALS FOR THE COURSE:
— Mordkhe Schaechter, Yiddish II
— Additional materials will be made available by the instructor.
ADVANCED YIDDISH LITERATURE
Adi Mahalel
ליטעראַטור פֿאַר אַװאַנסירטע
עדי מהלאל
אין דעם קורס וועלן מיר לייענען בעלעטריסטישע װערק און ליטעראַרישע עסייען פֿון פֿאַרשידענע תּקופֿות און ערטער. יעדע וואָך וועט געווידמעט ווערן אַ געוויסער טעמע אָדער געוויסע מחברים. מיר וועלן די טעמעס דיסקוטירן, באַטראַכטן, באַהאַנדלען דורך היימאַרבעט, שרײַבן װעגן זיי עסייען און געבן קורצע אָפּהאַנדלונגען.
די טעמעס לויט די װאָכן (טענטאַטיװ)
1טע וואָך: ליטעראַטור פֿון דער חסידישער וועלט – ר' נחמנס מעשׂיות; 2טע װאָך: דער וווּנדער פֿון שונד – דיק, שמר; 3טע וואָך: שלום־עליכם – מאָנאָלאָגן, אײַזנבאַן־געשיכטעס; 4טע וואָך: חוה ראָזענפֿאַרבס מאָנטרעאָלער געשיכטעס; 5טע וואָך: בלומע לעמפּעלס מײַסטערדיקע פּראָזע; 6טע וואָך: חנן אַיאַלטיס קורצע דערציילונגען
History & Culture Seminars
HISTORY OF YIDDISH CULTURE
Cecile Kuznitz
Mondays & Wednesdays | 3:15pm-4:35pm
Class will be conducted in English, with some readings available in Yiddish. The instructor will provide all course materials.
This class will provide a historical overview of the role of Yiddish in Jewish life and the rich culture produced in the language. Topics will include the sociolinguistic basis of Jewish languages; medieval popular literature for a primarily female audience; the importance of Yiddish in the spread of the Haskalah (Jewish Enlightenment); the language’s role in secular Jewish identity and modern Jewish political movements; and the flourishing of modern Yiddish literature and theater and their intersection with European modernism. We will end the semester by considering the contemporary state of Yiddish culture.
WHO'S LISTENING? DIALOGUES AND DIFFERENCES IN YIDDISH LITERATURE
Anita Norich
Tuesdays & Thursdays | 3:15pm-4:35pm
Class will be conducted in English, with some readings available in Yiddish. The instructor will provide all course materials.
Who is being addressed in Yiddish literature? How are characters’ conversations presented? How are readers invited in to eavesdrop, comment, argue, or agree? What are the arguments that appear again and again? This class will examine these and other questions in a wide-ranging selection of Yiddish works including short stories by di klasiker (the classic writers of modern Yiddish literature)—Sh.Y. Abramovitch (Mendele Moykher Sforim), Sholem Aleichem, and Y.L. Peretz—alongside less well-known works by Chana Blankshteyn, Blume Lempel, I.J. Singer; as well as poetry by Anna Margolin, Kadya Molodovsky, Yankev Glatshteyn.
YIDDISH THEATER: THEORY, HISTORY, AND PRACTICE
Shane Baker
Tuesdays & Thursdays | 3:15pm-4:35pm
Open to all Yiddish levels. Class discussion will be conducted in Yiddish with English as needed. The instructor will provide all course materials.
Join Shane Baker, translator of the Yiddish Waiting for Godot and producer of "Bashevis’s Demons," for a rounded course of study in Yiddish theater. The sessions will include lectures in the history of Yiddish theater and discussions of approaches to it, combined with scene study based on classic Yiddish theater texts. With a combined approach to the history, theory, and practice of Yiddish theater, students can broaden their horizons: theater historians can better understand Yiddish theater by trying their hand at actual performance, and performers will better understand performance methods by understanding those who have gone before them. The class will conclude with the performance of a selected text at the Summer Program's siem (graduation ceremony).
די טעמעס לויט די װאָכן (טענטאַטיװ)
לערנט זיך מיט שיין בייקערן, איבערזעצער פֿונעם ייִדישן וואַרטן אויף גאָדאָ און פּראָדוצענט פֿון „באַשעוויסעס שדים“. דער פֿילזײַטיקער קורס װעט באַשטיין פֿון לעקציעס װעגן דער געשיכטע פֿון ייִדישן טעאַטער און דיסקוסיעס וועגן די צוגענג דערצו, ווי אויך פֿון אַנאַליז און פֿון אַרבעט איבער קלאַסישע טעקסטן פֿון ייִדישן טעאַטער. פֿון די פֿאַרשיידנדיקע צוגענג וועלן קענען געניסן אַלערליי לערנערס און פֿאַרברייטערן זייער קענטשאַפֿט: דורך שפּילן טעאַטער וועט דער היסטאָריקער בעסער פֿאַרשטיין דעם ייִדישן טעאַטער און דורך לערנען זיך געשיכטע וועלן אַרטיסטן בעסער פֿאַרשטיין דעם אייגענעם צוגאַנג צום שפּילן. דער קורס וועט זיך ענדיקן מיטן אויסשפּילן אַן אויסצוג פֿון אַ קלאַסישן טעקסט ווי אַ טייל פֿונעם סיום־הזמן.
Electives
VOS HEYST ESN YIDISHLEKH? (WHAT IS JEWISH EATING?)
Eve Jochnowitz
Mondays| 4:50pm-5:50pm | June 29; July 6, 20, 27
Conducted in Yiddish with English as needed. Open to all levels.
“Hobn mir nit gevolt esn man in der midber, muzn mir atsind esn tsibeles.” A familiar Yiddish saying rues that “Because we didn’t want to eat manna in the wilderness, we now have to eat onions.” The very moment that the Children of Israel became the Jewish people is centered on the argument of what constitutes Jewish food and Jewish eating in the contexts of need, memory, place, and distinctiveness. We will follow Yiddish cuisine by pulling on these threads and examining four Yiddish recipes that shook the world.
This course, conducted largely in Yiddish but accessible to all levels, will explore what it means to eat Jewishly in the Ashkenazi Universe.
A YIDDISH PICKLING WORKSHOP FOR SUMMER ABUNDANCE
Jeffrey Yoskowitz
Monday, July 13 | 4:50pm-5:50pm
Conducted in English.
You’re invited to join YIVO for a pickling workshop with shtetl pickle master Jeffrey Yoskowitz, Gefilte Manifesto co-author and Gefilteria co-founder. Jeffrey apprenticed as a pickler at Adamah Farm over 15 years ago and has been pickling and fermenting his way around the world ever since. Together we’ll learn how to make sauerkraut and pickle a variety of vegetables using Old World techniques and discuss why lacto-fermentation is the only way to make a sour pickle worthy of the Jewish delicatessen. Moreover, Jeffrey will discuss the importance of pickling in Yiddish cuisine and culture. You'll leave with your own jar to bring home.
ADVANCED YIDDISH SEMINAR
Tuesdays | 4:50pm-5:50pm | June 23, 30 (Jonathan Boyarin); July 7, 14 (Ofer Dynes); July 21, 28 (Anita Norich)
Conducted in Yiddish. For students at the Advanced level.
In this advanced Yiddish seminar, three leading scholars of contemporary Yiddish studies will present and discuss texts they are actively working on in their research. Students will be introduced to these texts and gain insight into the process of researching and analyzing Yiddish literary material. All texts will be provided in the Yiddish original.
פּראָפֿ' יונתן באָיאַרין
די װעלט דערצײלט
איבער די צװיי לעקציעס װעלן מיר לייענען און פֿאָרלייענען אַ צאָל אויסצוגן פֿון מרדכי ליפּסאָנס זאַמלונג אַנעקדאָטן װעגן אַנשי־שם בײַ ייִדן, די װעלט דערציילט (1928). אַזוי װעלן מיר זיך באַקענען מיט באַקאַנטע רבנים און אַנדערע אין זייער לעבעדיקער געשטאַלט. פּעדאַגאָגיש װעט געלייגט װערן דער טראָפּ אויף לשון־קודש־שטאַמיקע װערטער.
Di Velt Dertseylt
Over the course of two sessions, we will read selections from Di velt dertseylt, Mordkhe Lipson’s collection of anecdotes about celebrated Jewish personalities. We will acquaint ourselves with renowned rabbis and other Jews of note, getting to know them as they were when they lived. Pedagogically, we will focus on words derived from loshn-koydesh.
פּראָפֿ' עופֿר דינעס
צפֿנת־פּענח: די ייִדישע ליטעראַטור אונטער צענזור
אין צאַרישן רוסלאַנד, אין גאַליציע אונטער דער האַבסבורגישער מאַכט, אין די צײַטן פֿון סטאַליניזם און מעקאַרטיִיִזם, האָט זיך די ייִדישע ליטעראַטור אויסקריסטאַליזירט און אויפֿגעבליט אונטער צענזור. ווי אַזוי האָבן ייִדישע שרײַבער געשריבן וועגן דעם וואָס מע טאָר װעגן דעם נישט שרײַבן? וואָס זײַנען געווען די קאָדן? וואָס פֿאַר אַ תּשר״ק־לשון האָבן זיי געניצט?
מיר וועלן דיסקוטירן אַ ליטעראַרישן אָפּקלײַב פֿון פאַרשיידענע מחברים – יוסף פּערל, שלום־עליכם, רחל קאָרן און דוד האָפֿשטיין – לייענענדיק צווישן די שורות, און רעדן וועגן דער השפּעה פֿון דער צענזור אויף דער געשיכטע פֿון דער ייִדישער קולטור און פֿון ייִדיש בכלל.
Decoding Texts: Yiddish Literature Under Censorship
In Tsarist Russia, in Galicia under Hapsburg rule, and in the days of Stalinism and McCarthyism, Yiddish literature developed and flourished under censorship. How did Yiddish writers write about that which could not be written about? What sort of coded language did they use? Reading between the lines, we will discuss selected literary texts from various writers–Joesph Perl, Sholem Aleichem, Rokhl Korn, and Dovid Hofshteyn–and consider the influence of censorship on the history of Yiddish culture and of Yiddish in general.
פּראָפֿ' אַניטאַ נאָריך
די שפּראַך־מלחמות
די מאָדערנע געשיכטע פֿון ייִדיש איז אָפֿט אויך אַ געשיכטע פֿון שפּראַך־מלחמות. מיר װעלן אַרומרעדן עטלעכע פֿון די װיכטיקסטע שפּראַך־קאָנטראָװערסיעס אין דער געשיכטע פֿון ייִדיש: די דעבאַטעס אַרום אָרטאָגראַפֿיע, שפּראַכרײנקייט, ייִדיש אין באַציִונג צו העברעיִש און אַנדערע שפּראַכן.
פּסעװדאָנימען
אין דער דיסקוסיע װעלן מיר באַטראַכטן די ראָלע פֿון פּסעװדאָנימען אין דער ייִדישער ליטעראַטור און קולטור. װי אַזוי און פֿאַר װאָס האָבן שרײַבערס אויסגעקליבן זיך צו דרוקן אונטער אַנדערע נעמען?
The Language Wars
The modern history of Yiddish is often also a history of conflict over language. We will discuss several of the most important language controversies in the history of Yiddish: the debates surrounding orthography, language purity, and the relationship of Yiddish to Hebrew and to other languages.
Pseudonyms
In this discussion, we will consider the role of pseudonyms in Yiddish literature and culture. Why and how did writers choose to publish under other names?
THE YIDDISH PRESS: AN OVERVIEW
Eddy Portnoy
Wednesdays | 4:50pm-5:50pm | June 24; July 1, 8
Conducted in English.
The Yiddish press was the first form of modern media culture in the Yiddish language. As a vehicle that brought news of all kinds, political ideologies, literature and criticism, articles on science and history, and a wide variety of other matters to Jews in many locales, it had no equal as a mass culture phenomenon. From its inception in the mid-19th century to its decline in the mid 20th, it was essentially the only form of media for most Yiddish-speaking Jews and functioned as a massive communal conversation unlike anything that had existed previously. This course will provide a brief history of the Yiddish press; insight into its variety and contents; and guidance in the ways it can function as a resource for academic and other research.
1. Introduction: a brief history of the Yiddish Press from 1862 to 1939
2. Variations on a theme: the wide variety of Yiddish publications
3. The Yiddish press as a resource for history, literature, and other areas of study
RESEARCH WITH THE YIVO COLLECTIONS
Tom Tearney
Wednesdays | 4:50pm-5:50pm | July 15, 22, 29
Conducted in English.
Archival Research at the YIVO Institute
This session will cover how to effectively navigate the YIVO Archives and Library. We will discuss the scope of the collections; optimizing catalog searches; accessing digitized materials for remote research; and the types of research assistance YIVO offers.
Online Tools for Yiddish Research
This session will introduce useful research tools, resources, and reference sources. The emphasis will be on sources that complement and help to contextualize materials found in the YIVO Archives.
Case Studies in YIVO Archives Research
This session will use actual inquiries from YIVO patrons to discuss the research process. Participants will be invited to submit their own research questions to be addressed during the session.
A WORLD OF YIDDISH SONG
Lorin Sklamberg and Eléonore Biezunski
Wednesdays | 3:15pm-4:35pm | June 26; July 10, 17, 24
Conducted in English.
Join Lorin Sklamberg and Eléonore Biezunski of YIVO’s renowned Sound Archive to be immersed in the world of Yiddish song. In addition to traditional material from the collections of folklorist Ruth Rubin and from YIVO’s newly digitized Yiddish Folksong Project of the 1970s, the class will explore the rhymes of Jewish folk bards, the ecstasy of Hasidic chant, intimate love poetry, European cabaret, and contemporary hymns of protest. Various songs of love and loss, work and struggle, the innocence of childhood, and spiritual joy will be illustrated by rare source recordings drawn from YIVO’s Max and Frieda Weinstein Archive of YIVO Sound Recordings. Song texts will be provided in Yiddish, transliteration, English translation, as well as musical notation when available.