Yiddish Book Center

Today is the 76th anniversary of the death of Pinkhes Kahanovitsh, better known by his pen name Der Nister (The Hidden One). Known for his surrealist short stories and his monumental family epic, The Family Mashber, he was one of the most significant Soviet Yiddish writers. Like many of his cohort, he was arrested in 1949 and sent to the Abez Camp, a GULAG in the far-north Russian Komi Republic. Among the other inmates there at the time were Shmuel Halkin, a Yiddish poet who had translated King Lear into Yiddish; Lina Prokofieva, a soprano and wife of the well-known Soviet composer; and Nikolay Punin, a prominent art scholar and husband of Russian poet Anna Akhmatova. Der Nister would die after just a year in the camp.

The book pictured here is Vidervuks (Regrowth) was published posthumously in 1969 by Sovetski Pisatel with cover design by Valeriy Lokshin. It is a collection of complex, often shocking, short stories about life before, during, and after the Holocaust.

Author Marcia Jo Zerivitz’s Jews of Florida tells the comprehensive history of Jews in the Sunshine State. Despite not being officially allowed to live in Florida until 1763, Jewish immigrants escaping expulsions and exclusions were among the earliest settlers, and Jews have been arriving ever since. Marcia will share some of their stories: Olympians, Nobel Prize winners, computer pioneers, educators, politicians, Yiddish writers, artists, and more. The book’s rich narrative—accompanied by 700 images, most rarely seen—is the result of three-plus decades of grassroots research.⁠

Learn more and register at the link in comments.

Author Marcia Jo Zerivitz’s Jews of Florida tells the comprehensive history of Jews in the Sunshine State. Despite not being officially allowed to live in Florida until 1763, Jewish immigrants escaping expulsions and exclusions were among the earliest settlers, and Jews have been arriving ever since. Marcia will share some of their stories: Olympians, Nobel Prize winners, computer pioneers, educators, politicians, Yiddish writers, artists, and more. The book’s rich narrative—accompanied by 700 images, most rarely seen—is the result of three-plus decades of grassroots research.

Learn more and register at the link in comments.

Support our effort to make newly translated Yiddish literature available as audiobooks. You’ll be able to listen to Desires, Celia Dropkin’s 1934 novel which wrestles with the internal and external conflicts of love, domesticity, and erotic life. Your contribution will help us bring newly translated Yiddish treasures such as these to life for the widest possible audience.

Learn how you can help at the link in comments.

Looking to brush up on your Yiddish? Try out one of our heymarbet (homework) sheets! In the most recent, you can practice your listening comprehension with an audio recording of Kadia Molodowsky reading an excerpt from one of her children's poems. Fill in the missing words, check your answers, and enjoy the warmth with which Molodowsky reads her poem.

Check it out at the link in comments!

One day, a young Arthur Horwitz, seeking to swipe a few bucks from his mother’s wallet, discovers an iconic Holocaust image of a terrified boy tucked inside. When he asks the identity of the boy, she insists it’s her little brother Meier, murdered by the Germans—even though Arthur knows it isn’t. Now Arthur is saddled with the responsibility of living two lives: his and the one little Meier never had. In this talk, Arthur will share how this discovery became a burden that shaped his life, family, and media career. His recent book, Dual Identities: Living in Meier’s Shadow, is an insightful look at the impact of intergenerational trauma and the path to coping, healing, reconciliation, and remembrance.

This talk will talk place in person at the Yiddish Book Center and on Zoom on Sunday, June 14, 2:00 p.m. Learn more and register at the link in comments.

Explore Jewish culture, identity, and immigration through the power of Yiddish literature. Apply by August 14 for the Yiddish Book Center's 2026-2027 cohort of the Between Two Worlds Public Libraries Program!

Forty selected libraries will receive books, funding, educational resources, and an expenses-paid training at the Yiddish Book Center in Amherst, Massachusetts.

This is a unique opportunity to bring rich cultural conversations to your community through the lens of Yiddish storytelling: https://bit.ly/4uK4Bs0