Letter from the Director

Dear Friends,

Take a moment to open vilnacollections.yivo.org on your smartphone or computer. You will find The Edward Blank YIVO Vilna Online Collections that comprise the YIVO archive and library looted by the Nazis during World War II. Some of it came to YIVO in NYC after the War; the rest remained in Lithuania and was discovered in 1991. With our Lithuanian partners YIVO is digitizing 1.3 million pages of documents and 12,200 books that include rabbinical texts, diaries, letters, communal records, literary manuscripts, photographs, Yiddish theater, eye-witness accounts of pogroms and the Holocaust, and much more.

The Vilna Collections project website unites our treasures in Lithuania with those in NYC for the first time since 1941. In the search bar, type in some individual, place, book or event you may wish to examine. Though images are daily being added onto the website, you will shortly find entries with attachments of “digitized files.” Open a file and you will be able to explore the lost world of East European and Russian Jewry in ways never before possible—as will anyone else around the globe. $700,000 is still needed to complete this project, but launching this website now helps us realize its historic importance for all who seek the meaning of who we are as a people.

Jonathan Brent
Executive Director

YIVO Visits London

In October 2018, YIVO officially opened the YIVO UK Office. To mark the occasion Jonathan Brent (Executive Director and CEO) and Shelly Freeman (Chief of Staff) traveled to London and, together with William Pimlott (Operations Director of the YIVO London office), met with a range of organizations and academic institutions to discuss collaboration and joint projects. JW3 (Jewish Community Centre London) and YIVO will hold a joint event in Fall 2019. Ongoing discussions are taking place with the University College London and the Pears Institute about future activities. Lord Glasman’s appointment to the YIVO UK Board was also secured during the trip.

For more information about YIVO UK visit yivoinstitute.uk.

YIVO Executive Director Attends in Antisemitism Conference in Moscow

Delegation of French Clergyman and Academics Visit YIVO

In November 2018, YIVO hosted a delegation of 20 clergymen and academics traveling from France to New York to visit key Jewish institutions in Manhattan. The delegation was led by Catholic priest Father Patrick Desbois—who has devoted his life to researching the Holocaust, fighting antisemitism, and furthering relations between Catholics and Jews—and by the Archbishop of Paris, the Most Reverend Michel Aupetit.

Irene Pletka, YIVO Honoree, Announces $1 Million Gift at the YIVO Gala

YIVO Library A Founding Partner of the Universal Yiddish Library Project

The YIVO Library (along with the Yiddish Book Center, the New York Public Library, and the National Library of Israel) is a founding partner of the Universal Yiddish Library, a consortium of major libraries with the largest collections of Yiddish books. The goal is to create an all-inclusive catalog of Yiddish publications and online access to digitized Yiddish books via links to the websites of all participating partners. The first stage of the project, the creation of the catalog, is already underway. The project includes the Yiddish books digitized for the Edward Blank YIVO Vilna Online Collections project.

The Door Slams Shut: Jews and Immigration in the Face of American Reaction

[ON VIEW AT YIVO THROUGH SPRING 2019]

For Jewish immigrants on the road between 1881 and 1924, the United States was by far the most popular destination. But after WWI, an anti-immigration movement took hold in America and in 1921 and 1924, severe restrictions were placed on immigration to the country, leaving Jews with few options. American Jews were upset and reactions in the Yiddish press were furious. In this exhibition, see a selection of the dozens of sharp cartoons that took aim at these immigration quotas.

» Explore the exhibit at: yivo.org/The-Door-Slams-Shut.

Spring Classes

MONDAYS, 6:00PM-8:00PM | Class starts Feb 25
Intermediate Yiddish
» Instructor: Paula Teitelbaum | This course is for students who are comfortable with the alef-beys and basic conversation, and will enhance skills in speaking, reading, writing, and listening.

WEDNESDAYS, 6:00PM-8:00PM | Class starts February 27
Jewish Opera: Literature, Folklore, and Historical Themes of Jewish Experience on the Opera Stage
» Instructor: Dr. Neil W. Levin | Through examinations of operas, study of libretti, and little-known and often rare recordings, this course will explore Jewishly-based operas and consider how the medium provides artistic expression of Jewish culture.

WEDNESDAYS, 6:00PM-8:00PM | Class starts Feb 27
Beginner II Yiddish
» Instructor: Dr. Sheva Zucker | This course is a continuation of Beginner Yiddish, for students who are still new to the Yiddish language or would like a review. It covers elementary grammar, holidays, stories, and songs. Knowledge of the alphabet is required. The course will begin with chapter 5 of Yiddish: an Introduction to the Language, Literature, and Culture, by Sheva Zucker.

THURSDAYS, 6:00PM-8:00PM | Class starts March 6
A friling zingeray: Springtime Yiddish Singing Circle
» Instructor: Lorin Sklamberg | Enjoy a heymish springtime singing circle surveying Yiddish folk, theater and art songs drawn from over 30 years of collecting, including hitherto unpublished material recorded by the legendary folklorist Ruth Rubin (as presented on YIVO’s Ruth Rubin Legacy online exhibition).

Can't take a class in person? Explore Jewish history and culture and access our unique collection of archival materials from the comfort of home with YIVO’s Shine Online Educational Series.

Learn more and apply at summerprogram.yivo.org.

June 24 – August 2, 2019

Our six-week intensive program, featuring five levels of language study, history and culture seminars, shmues (conversation) classes, a theater workshop, tours of the Lower East Side and Hasidic Borough Park, a translation workshop, lectures by visiting scholars, Yiddish theater and music performances, and more.

If six weeks isn’t enough, we are now offering additional programs to expand your Yiddish learning:

Refresher Course | June 17 -21, 2019
Instructor: Dovid Braun

Workshop on Teaching Yiddish | August 5 – 9, 2019
Instructors: Miriam Trinh and Eliezer Niborski

International and Financial Applicants Apply by: February 28*
General Applicants Apply by: April 2

*Financial aid is available for international and domestic students.

2019 YIVO-Bard Winter Program on Ashkenazi Civilization

Held annually in January since 2012, the YIVO-Bard Winter Program invites students to delve into Ashkenazi Jewish life and culture covering its thousand-year history in Eastern Europe and across the diaspora. Over 150 students attended the 2019 Winter Program, which was the largest to date and featured ten courses taught by leading scholars and artists, including Christoph Dieckmann, one of the world’s leading experts on the history of the Lithuanian Holocaust, Ken Krimstein, New Yorker cartoonist and author of The Three Escapes of Hannah Arendt, political theorist Michael Walzer, literary critics Anita Norich and Ilan Stavans, and many more.

Exclusively for YIVO | June 18-30, 2019

A once in a lifetime journey of historical and cultural discovery.

Join YIVO for an exclusive Study Tour to Lithuania and Poland, led by world-renowned historian and author, Dr. Samuel Kassow. Reconnect with your own heritage and examine the remarkable thousand-year history of our people in Eastern Europe.

“The trip was a life-defining experience for me and has allowed me to not only understand where I come from, but who I am.” — Past YIVO Tour Participant

This tour is chaired by Irene Pletka, Vice-Chair of the YIVO Board of Directors.

For more information, visit yivo.org/StudyTour2019.

Essence of Yiddish Theater 

(JULY 7) “The Essence,” created by Allen Lewis Rickman, Yelena Shmulenson, and Steve Sterner, is a theatrical introduction to Yiddish language and Yiddish theater. This performance featured anecdotal and historical material in English, along with music and scenes from the best of Yiddish theater (with supertitle translation).

Adam Michnik Discusses Antisemitism in 20th Century Poland

(SEPTEMBER 6) Polish-Jewish relations have once again become an important topic. In this sold-out talk, historian Adam Michnik offered his interpretation of the history of antisemitism—and efforts to resist it—in twentieth-century Poland.

In Dialogue: Polish Jewish Relations Programs 1 & 2

(OCTOBER 4) The first In Dialogue series event, Polish Jewish Relations in the Pre-Modern Period, focused on the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and the period of the partitions. It was presented by Magda Teter and Brian Porter-Szucs. (NOVEMBER 15) The second event, Polish Jewish Relations during the Interwar Period, focused on Polish and Jewish society and culture, contested questions about Polish Jewish relations of the interwar period, the ideological transformations in the aftermath of WWI, and the eve of WWII. It was presented by Samuel Kassow and Paul Brykczynski. The series, jointly organized by Fordham University, Columbia University, and YIVO, will continue in the spring of 2019.

Ruth Rubin’s Legacy of Yiddish Song

(DECEMBER 23) To officially launch YIVO’s newest online exhibit, The Ruth Rubin Legacy: Archive of Yiddish Folksongs, YIVO hosted a celebratory evening featuring performances by renowned musicians including: Michael Alpert (Scotland/USA), Itzik Gottesman (NY), Daniel Kahn (Berlin/USA), Sasha Lurje (Riga/ Berlin), Ethel Raim (NY), Lorin Sklamberg (NY). The sold-out concert celebrated the lifelong work and contribution of Rubin and was written about in the Wall Street Journal, among other media outlets.

» Explore the exhibit, including over 1,900 Yiddish song recordings, at: exhibitions.yivo.org/RuthRubin.

YIVO gratefully acknowledges the individuals, foundations, corporations, and government agencies who supported us in 2018. In addition, we extend our gratitude to all YIVO members, each of whom is critical to our success.

Visit our website to see YIVO's 2018 supporters.

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