Past Events

2024

Thursday
Mar 28
7:00pm

in a dark blue night

Join YIVO for the album launch concert of in a dark blue night, a new album by Pulitzer Prize nominated composer Alex Weiser, comprising two song cycles that explore Jewish immigrant New York City.

read more
Wednesday
Mar 27
1:00pm

Yiddish and Hebrew Little Magazines in the Weimar Republic

Barbara Mann explores the publishing history of Yiddish and Hebrew little magazines, their content, physical features, and readership.

read more
Monday
Mar 25
1:00pm

Colonialism, Racism, and the Arab Israeli War of 1948

Historians Benny Morris and Jeffrey Herf discuss the international politics surrounding Israel’s establishment, the causes and nature of the war of 1948, and the controversies of how this history is understood in contemporary discourse.

read more
Thursday
Mar 21
7:00pm

Is Anything Okay? The History of Jews and Comedy in America

Celebrate the launch of our newest online course about Jewish comedy, which delves into the history of Jewish comedy and its development in the United States.

read more
Wednesday
Mar 20
7:30pm

An Original Klezmer Purimspiel

Join us in celebrating Purim this year with a dramatic and festive telling of the story of Esther, Mordechai, Haman, and King Ahasuerus, punctuated by thrilling performances of klezmer music.

read more
Tuesday
Mar 19
1:00pm

Reimagining the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict

Join YIVO for a discussion with Marwan Muasher, Vice President for Studies at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and former Jordanian foreign minister and deputy prime minister, about Muasher's views on “the day after” in Gaza.

read more
Monday
Mar 18
1:00pm

Jewish Songs and Dances for Piano: Joel Engel’s “Five Piano Pieces” Op. 19 (1923)

Join YIVO for a performance of Joel Engel’s Five Piano Pieces (1923): a collection of Jewish folksongs, dances, and Hasidic nigunim in virtuosic piano arrangements, performed by pianist Thomas Kotcheff.

read more
Class starts Mar 15 3:00pm-4:30pm

[SPR2024] Intermediate II Yiddish (Friday)

This weekly standard class enhances listening, speaking, writing, and reading skills. It is primarily for students who have completed Intermediate I Yiddish or equivalent coursework.

read more
Thursday
Mar 14
7:00pm

Wild Burning Rage and Song: Replies to Scottsboro

Join us for a concert-lecture exploring the Yiddish intelligentsia's response to the Scottsboro Trials, one of the most renowned miscarriages of justice in the history of American jurisprudence.

read more
Wednesday
Mar 13
7:00pm

Hasidism in Poland on the Eve of the Holocaust

Glenn Dynner examines the Hasidic revival in Poland on the eve of the Holocaust, disproving notions of late Hasidic decadence and decline and transforming our understanding of Polish Jewry during its final hour. A performance of Hasidic niggunim by Lorin Sklamberg will follow the presentation.

read more
Class starts Mar 13 9:30am-11:00am

[SPR2024] Advanced Readings in Yiddish Prose

In this class students will read, listen to, and discuss 20th century Yiddish short stories in a variety of forms and styles. It is appropriate for students at the higher intermediate and advanced levels.

read more
Monday
Mar 11
1:00pm

Jewish Reading Habits in the Russian Empire

In a discussion led by Eddy Portnoy, Nathan Cohen explores Jewish reading practices alongside the rise of Yiddish by delving into publishing policies of Yiddish books and newspapers, popular literary genres of the time, the development of Jewish public libraries, as well as personal reflections of reading experiences.

read more
Class starts Mar 7 6:30pm-8:00pm

[SPR2024] Beginner IV Yiddish (Thursday)

This weekly standard class develops listening, speaking, writing, and reading skills. It is primarily for students who have completed Beginner III Yiddish or equivalent coursework.

read more
Wednesday
Mar 6
7:00pm

Music, Gender, and Jewish Orthodoxy in North America

Join YIVO for a conversation with Jeremiah Lockwood and Jessica Roda in celebration of their new books that offer insights into the masculine and feminine art worlds of Hasidic and Litvish-Yeshivish Jews today. The program will conclude with performances from Cantor Yoel Kohn and actress Malky Goldman.

read more
Class starts Mar 6 6:00pm-7:30pm

[SPR2024] Continuing Conversational Yiddish for Heritage Learners

This weekly conversational class is for students who already have some experience speaking in Yiddish, can hold a basic conversation, and want to take their self-expression to the next level.

read more
Class starts Mar 6 4:00pm-5:30pm

[SPR2024] Beginner Conversational Yiddish for Heritage Learners

This weekly conversational class covers grammar, vocabulary, and conversational basics. It is for students with some basic familiarity with spoken Yiddish.

read more
Class starts Mar 5 6:30pm-8:00pm

[SPR2024] The Jewish Lower East Side

Through the prism of New York’s Lower East Side, Elissa Sampson examines the historical interactions seen in Jewish urban immigration, United States industrialization, and processes of social and geographical mobility.

read more
Class starts Mar 5 5:30pm-7:00pm

[SPR2024] Globetrotting Yiddish Writers: Exploring the Work of Perets Hirshbeyn and H.-D. Nomberg

Abraham Lichtenbaum explores the work of Yiddish writers Perets Hirshbeyn and H.-D. Nomberg, who sought to capture their era and a picture of life across the Americas and Israel in their writing.

read more
Class starts Mar 4 6:00pm-7:30pm

[SPR2024] Beginner III Yiddish (Monday)

This weekly standard class develops listening, speaking, writing, and reading skills. It is primarily for students who have completed Beginner II Yiddish or equivalent coursework.

read more
Class starts Mar 3 6:00pm-7:30pm

[SPR2024] Intensive Intermediate I&II Yiddish

This twice-weekly intensive class enhances listening, speaking, writing, and reading skills. It is primarily for students who have completed Intensive Beginner III&IV Yiddish or equivalent coursework.

read more
Class starts Mar 3 1:00pm-2:30pm

[SPR2024] New York Jewish Radicalism: Political and Artistic Experiments

M. Syd Rosen explores what it means to be a Jewish radical and whether Jewish culture radicalized New York — or if it was New York that radicalized Jewish culture.

read more
Class starts Mar 3 12:00pm-1:30pm

[SPR2024] 'Erets-Yisroel' as a Region of “Yiddishland”: Travels of Yiddish Writers to Palestine 1907-1937

Yaad Biran examines key Yiddish writers who visited Palestine to understand their ideological points of view, appreciate the literary aspects of their writings, and attempt to recreate their vision of “Yidishland.”

read more
Class starts Mar 3 11:00am-12:30pm

[SPR2024] Psychics and the Occult in Modern Jewish Culture

Samuel Glauber examines Jewish engagement with modern occultism, with a focus on eastern European Jewry and its diaspora.

read more
Thursday
Feb 29
1:00pm

Firebird

Alissa Valles, in conversation with Jonathan Brent, discusses her translations of rediscovered Polish writer Zuzanna Ginczanka’s sole published book and uncollected poems.

read more
Wednesday
Feb 28
1:00pm

East European Jewish Women in Their Quest for a Dowry in the First Half of the Twentieth Century

Aleksandra Jakubczak illuminates the link between the changing economy and Jewish courtship and marriage in Eastern Europe.

read more
Class starts Feb 27 6:30pm-8:00pm

[SPR2024] Beginner III Yiddish (In-person)

This weekly standard class develops listening, speaking, writing, and reading skills. It is primarily for students who have completed Beginner II Yiddish or equivalent coursework.

read more
Class starts Feb 27 6:00pm-7:30pm

[SPR2024] Beginner II Yiddish (In-person)

This weekly standard class develops listening, speaking, writing, and reading skills. It is primarily for students who have completed Beginner I Yiddish or equivalent coursework.

read more
Class starts Feb 26 6:30pm-8:00pm

[SPR2024] Advanced I Yiddish

This weekly standard class enhances listening, speaking, writing, and reading skills. It is primarily for students who have completed Intermediate IV Yiddish or equivalent coursework.

read more
Monday
Feb 26
1:00pm

Hamas and the Origins of Islamic Antisemitism

Historians Matthias Küntzel and Jeffrey Herf discuss the origins of Hamas, the history of Islamic antisemitism, and Islamic antisemitism's causal significance in the war of 1947-1948.

read more
Class starts Feb 26 11:00am-12:30pm

[SPR2024] Intermediate IV Yiddish (Monday)

This weekly standard class enhances listening, speaking, writing, and reading skills. It is primarily for students who have completed Intermediate III Yiddish or equivalent coursework.

read more
Class starts Feb 26 11:00am-12:30pm

[SPR2024] Intermediate III Yiddish

This weekly standard class enhances listening, speaking, writing, and reading skills. It is primarily for students who have completed Intermediate II Yiddish or equivalent coursework.

read more
Class starts Feb 25 4:00pm-5:30pm

[SPR2024] Intermediate I Yiddish (Sunday)

This weekly standard class enhances listening, speaking, writing, and reading skills. It is primarily for students who have completed Beginner IV Yiddish or equivalent coursework.

read more
Class starts Feb 25 2:00pm-3:30pm

[SPR2024] Intermediate IV Yiddish (Sunday)

This weekly standard class enhances listening, speaking, writing, and reading skills. It is primarily for students who have completed Intermediate III Yiddish or equivalent coursework.

read more
Class starts Feb 25 12:00pm-1:30pm

[SPR2024] Beginner II Yiddish (Sunday)

This weekly standard class develops listening, speaking, writing, and reading skills. It is primarily for students who have completed Beginner I Yiddish or equivalent coursework.

read more
Sunday
Feb 25
11:00am

2024 Summer Program Information Session - Advanced Levels

Are you thinking of returning to the Summer Program to continue your advanced studies? Join Summer Program faculty and staff for a brief information session about YIVO’s advanced levels.

read more
Class starts Feb 25 10:00am-11:30am

[SPR2024] Beginner IV Yiddish (Sunday)

This weekly standard class develops listening, speaking, writing, and reading skills. It is primarily for students who have completed Beginner III Yiddish or equivalent coursework.

read more
Class starts Feb 25 10:00am-11:30am

[SPR2024] Intermediate II Yiddish (Sunday)

This weekly standard class enhances listening, speaking, writing, and reading skills. It is primarily for students who have completed Intermediate I Yiddish or equivalent coursework.

read more
Class starts Feb 25 10:00am-11:30am

[SPR2024] Beginner I Yiddish (Sunday)

This weekly standard class covers the alef-beys and grammar, vocabulary, and conversational basics. It is for those who are new to the Yiddish language or would like a review.

read more
Class starts Feb 22 6:30pm-8:00pm

[SPR2024] Beginner I Yiddish (Thursday)

This weekly standard class covers the alef-beys and grammar, vocabulary, and conversational basics. It is for those who are new to the Yiddish language or would like a review.

read more
Class starts Feb 22 6:00pm-7:30pm

[SPR2024] Intensive Beginner I&II Yiddish

This twice-weekly intensive class covers the alef-beys and grammar, vocabulary, and conversational basics. It is for students who are new to the Yiddish language or would like a review.

read more
Class starts Feb 22 6:00pm-7:30pm

[SPR2024] Intensive Intermediate III&IV Yiddish

This twice-weekly intensive class enhances listening, speaking, writing, and reading skills. It is primarily for students who have completed Intensive Intermediate I&II Yiddish or equivalent coursework.

read more
Class starts Feb 22 12:00pm-1:30pm

[SPR2024] Intensive Advanced III&IV Yiddish

This twice-weekly intensive class further enhances listening, speaking, writing, and reading skills. It is primarily for students who have completed Intensive Advanced I&II Yiddish or equivalent coursework.

read more
Class starts Feb 22 11:00am-12:30pm

[SPR2024] Intensive Beginner III&IV Yiddish

This twice-weekly intensive class enhances listening, speaking, writing, and reading skills. It is primarily for students who have completed Intensive Beginner I&II Yiddish or equivalent coursework.

read more
Class starts Feb 21 6:30pm-8:00pm

[SPR2024] Beginner I Yiddish (In-person)

This weekly standard class covers the alef-beys and grammar, vocabulary, and conversational basics. It is for those who are new to the Yiddish language or would like a review.

read more
Class starts Feb 21 6:00pm-7:30pm

[SPR2024] Beginner II Yiddish (Wednesday)

This weekly standard class develops listening, speaking, writing, and reading skills. It is primarily for students who have completed Beginner I Yiddish or equivalent coursework.

read more
Wednesday
Feb 21
1:00pm

The Reality of Myth for Yiddish Writers in Weimar Germany

Marc Caplan examines the historical significance and legendary allure of Weimar culture by considering three of its most significant Yiddish writers: Moyshe Kulbak, Dovid Bergelson, and Der Nister.

read more
Class starts Feb 21 9:00am-10:30am

[SPR2024] Intensive Advanced V&VI Yiddish

This twice-weekly intensive class further enhances listening, speaking, writing, and reading skills. It is primarily for students who have completed Intensive Advanced III&IV Yiddish or equivalent coursework.

read more
Class starts Feb 20 6:00pm-7:30pm

[SPR2024] Advanced Topics in Yiddish Literature & Grammar: Autobiographical Writing in Yiddish

This twice-weekly intensive class enhances listening, speaking, writing, and reading skills. It is primarily for students who have completed Intensive Advanced V&VI Yiddish or equivalent coursework.

read more
Class starts Feb 20 3:00pm-4:30pm

[SPR2024] Intermediate I Yiddish (Tuesday)

This weekly standard class enhances listening, speaking, writing, and reading skills. It is primarily for students who have completed Beginner IV Yiddish or equivalent coursework.

read more
Class starts Feb 20 11:00am-12:30pm

[SPR2024] Beginner III Yiddish (Tuesday)

This weekly standard class develops listening, speaking, writing, and reading skills. It is primarily for students who have completed Beginner II Yiddish or equivalent coursework.

read more
Class starts Feb 19 4:30pm-6:00pm

[SPR2024] Intermediate I Yiddish (Monday)

This weekly standard class enhances listening, speaking, writing, and reading skills. It is primarily for students who have completed Beginner IV Yiddish or equivalent coursework.

read more
Thursday
Feb 15
7:30pm

A Scrolls-Based Reading of Jewish Text, Voice and Exile

Ilana Webster-Kogen will consider ethnographic material from across North African ritual, proposing a reading of exile that centers mystical and postcolonial thought, Jewish-Muslim intimacies, and the power of giving voice to text.

read more
Class starts Feb 14 1:00pm-2:50pm

[SPR2024] Beginner I Reading Yiddish

This weekly reading class covers grammar and how to read Yiddish texts with the help of a dictionary. It is for students new to Yiddish, especially those interested in obtaining reading proficiency for academic or archival research.

read more
Monday
Feb 12
1:00pm

Horizons Blossom, Borders Vanish: Anarchism and Yiddish Literature

Anna Elena Torres, in conversation with Amelia Glaser, discusses her newly published book examining Yiddish poetry to offer an original literary study of the Jewish anarchist movement.

read more
Sunday
Feb 11
12:00pm

Community Read: "Ven ikh bin Roytshild"

Join YIVO and the International Association of Yiddish Clubs for a "community read" of Sholem Aleichem's “Ven ikh bin Roytshild,” led by Dr. Raphael (Refoyl) Finkel.

read more
Friday
Feb 2
10:00am

2024 Summer Program Information Session

Have you always wanted to study Yiddish at YIVO’s Summer Program? Are you wondering what it would be like to take the program online or in person? Join faculty and staff of YIVO's Summer Program for a brief information session.

read more
Wednesday
Jan 31
1:00pm

2024 Summer Program Information Session

Have you always wanted to study Yiddish at YIVO’s Summer Program? Are you wondering what it would be like to take the program online or in person? Join faculty and staff of YIVO's Summer Program for a brief information session.

read more
Monday
Jan 29
7:00pm

What Do We Know? Exploring the Human Experience through Jewish Texts and Music

Join us for a concert centered on exploring the human experience through Jewish texts and music.

read more
Wednesday
Jan 24
7:00pm

Shotns/Shadows: A New Album from the Fortunoff Archive

Join YIVO for a performance of the Yale Fortunoff Video Archive for Holocaust Testimonies' newest album, Shotns/Shadows, based on poems and songs from interviews with Holocaust survivors recorded by the Fortunoff Archive.

read more
Tuesday
Jan 23
6:00pm

2024 Summer Program Information Session

Have you always wanted to study Yiddish at YIVO’s Summer Program? Are you wondering what it would be like to take the program online or in person? Join faculty and staff of YIVO's Summer Program for a brief information session.

read more
Thursday
Jan 18
7:30pm

“Thousands of Stories to Tell”: Broadway Musicals, New York City, and the Making of Jewish Americans

Incorporating showtunes, lesser-known songs, storytelling, and scholarship, this cabaret invites audience members to consider the historical narratives of musicals in addition to enjoying the pleasure they provide.

read more
Class starts Jan 16 6:00pm-7:30pm

[WY2024] Shmerke Kaczerginski: Partisan Poet and Collector of Holocaust Songs

Malena Chinski examines Shmerke Kaczerginski’s postwar life and work, from Vilna through Lodz and Paris to Buenos Aires, and his research and song collecting activities throughout this period.

read more
Sunday
Jan 14
10:00am

A Medium for the Masses: The Yiddish Press and the Shaping of American Jewish Culture

Look back on more than 150 years of the Yiddish press in the United States, examining its role as a vehicle of acculturation, a forum for political and ideological debates, and a seedbed for the growth of a mass culture among Jews worldwide.

read more
Class starts Jan 10 2:00pm-3:30pm

[WY2024] The Classicists as Intellectuals, Critics, and Ideologues of their Times

Abraham Lichtenbaum explores the modernizing project of classical Yiddish writers Mendel Moykher-Sforim, I.L. Peretz, and Sholem Aleichem.

read more
Class starts Jan 10 12:30pm-2:00pm

[WY2024] The New Yiddish Cinema: A Renaissance

Dr. Eric Goldman explores why Yiddish has resurfaced on the screen in Europe, North America, and Israel, what has drawn creative artists to making Yiddish-language work, and the themes that they have chosen for their works.

read more
Class starts Jan 10 12:00pm-1:15pm

[WP2024] Conquering the Space: Symbolic Topography of the Former Warsaw Ghetto

The former Warsaw Ghetto site is both a symbol and a place of history. Elżbieta Janicka outlines the history of the site, examines the narratives conveyed by its design, and considers how it relates to 21st century politics of Poland.

read more
Class starts Jan 10 10:45am-12:00pm

[WP2024] Two Visions: Stalingrad and the Human World

Through readings of Vasily Grossman's Stalingrad and the diary of Yitskhok Rudashevski, Jonathan Brent explores two different visions of victory over the anti-human Nazi ideology and violence.

read more
Class starts Jan 9 8:00pm-9:15pm

[WP2024] American Hasidism

Using books, Hasidic websites, social media, newspapers, and pashkeviln (“broadsides”), Nathaniel Deutsch examines the history of Hasidism in America, dating back to the massive waves of Jewish immigrants from Eastern Europe.

read more
Class starts Jan 9 6:30pm-8:00pm

[WP2024] The Final Draft – A Creative Writing Workshop

Irena Klepfisz focuses on creating a final draft – the process of completing a poem and understanding when we should stop working on it.

read more
Class starts Jan 9 4:00pm-5:15pm

[WP2024] Yiddish Culture in the Ghettos and Camps

Samuel Kassow explores Jewish reactions to Nazi persecution in poetry, song, and writing from the Warsaw, Lodz, and Vilna ghettos.

read more
Class starts Jan 9 2:30pm-3:45pm

[WP2024] The Jews of Argentina

Ilan Stavans explores the history and culture of the Jews of Argentina, from the immigration to the agricultural colonies at the end of the 19th century, to the terrorist attack against the AMIA (Asociación Mutual Israelita Argentina), and beyond.

read more
Class starts Jan 9 1:00pm-2:15pm

[WP2024] Jews and American Radicalism in the 20th Century

Tony Michels explores the long history of Jews and the American left from the late 19th century through the era of the New Left and beyond.

read more
Class starts Jan 9 12:00pm-1:15pm

[WP2024] Jews in Pop and Rock Music

Jonathan Karp examines the extraordinary role Jews played in the development of American popular music, particularly the Rock ‘n’ Roll and classic Rock eras of the ‘50s and ‘60s.

read more
Class starts Jan 9 10:45am-12:00pm

[WP2024] The Food Culture of Ashkenaz: On Two Sides of the Atlantic

Hasia Diner explores how foodways, including ingredients, dishes, and ideas about eating, functioned both before migration to the United States and afterwards.

read more
Class starts Jan 9 9:00am-10:15am

[WP2024] Masters of Yiddish Prose

Curt Leviant examines the works of seven major early 19th to mid-20th century Yiddish writers to illuminate the life and culture of Jews in Eastern Europe.

read more
Monday
Jan 8
1:00pm

Holocaust Distortion in Poland and Beyond

For the 2024 Winter Program Keynote Lecture, Jan Grabowski sheds light on the origins of the current political situation in Poland as well as its impact on Holocaust memory and Holocaust education in Poland, Europe, and beyond.

read more
Class starts Jan 7 12:30pm-2:00pm

[WY2024] “A Tale of a Bear with no Tail”: An Introduction to Children's Literature in Yiddish

Vicky Ash-Shifriss examines the world of Yiddish children's literature through the motif of bears and bear cubs.

read more
Thursday
Jan 4
7:00pm

Challenging the Theater of Memory: Yiddish Song beyond Kitsch and Stereotype

Yiddish musicians and researchers Isabel Frey and Benjy Fox-Rosen present a thought-provoking concert-lecture on Holocaust memory and cultural expectations. Followed by a Q&A with the performers, moderated by Samantha Cooper and Gordon Dale.

read more
Class starts Jan 3 4:00pm-5:30pm

[WY2024] The Recipe: A Yiddish Literary Genre

Eve Jochnowitz follows the development of the Yiddish recipe in written form with special attention to the tastes and culinary practices of the Yiddish world.

read more
Class starts Jan 3 10:30am-12:00pm

[WY2024] The Art of Yiddish Translation

Rose Waldman explores the task of a translator, how they make stylistic and connotative decisions, and the particular challenges of translating from Yiddish to English.

read more