Dear Friend,
Education is one of the main themes of the Passover holiday. It is the essential element in preserving Jewish traditions—creating and re-creating Jewish identity in every generation.
At the core of our mission remains education, and in 2024, YIVO will continue to deepen its outreach to younger students. In 2023, YIVO began piloting our new Learning and Media Center, which provides hands-on instruction to high school and college students throughout the New York tri-state area.
YIVO’s expansion to address younger audiences began with the YIVO Bruce and Francesca Cernia Slovin Online Museum’s exhibition, Beba Epstein: The Extraordinary Life of an Ordinary Girl, which has been used throughout the United States and around the world. In 2023, the exhibition was translated into Lithuanian for use in Lithuanian classrooms.
YIVO is also in discussions with the Zuzanna Ginczanka High School in Warsaw about creating an exhibition for the YIVO Cernia Slovin Online Museum on the life of Ginczanka, a Polish-Jewish poet murdered during World War II.
More than 1,000 students, both national and international, take YIVO courses annually. YIVO’s new educational initiatives build upon our long-established offerings—the Uriel Weinreich Summer Program in Yiddish Language, Literature, and Culture; year-round language courses; and the YIVO-Bard Winter Program on Ashkenazi Civilization—engaging students from their teens to their 80s.
Instruct and learn! That is the obligation Passover teaches. Please consider becoming a member today and joining us in continuing to provide stimulating educational initiatives.
Thank you for your consideration.
Sincerely,
Jonathan Brent
Executive Director & CEO