During the last 30 years Yiddish has made a comeback after the loss of millions of Yiddish speakers, writers and performers in the Holocaust. This Library Guide was originally created to support the three-day Yiddish Live 'n Learn workshop, "A Bisl Yiddish" at Gann Academy. It also provides a collection of resources for those interested in exploring the world of Yiddish language, literature and performing arts. There is now an overwhelming number of resources for everything to do with Yiddish freely available on the Web; a sign of the revival of Yiddish and the global interest in its linguistic and cultural legacy.
The compelling and often humorous story of how Adam Lansky rescued over a million Yiddish books, saved a rich and diverse body of Yiddish literature, and created the Yiddish Book Center in Amherst, Massachusetts, which continues to collect Yiddish books from all over the world.
Recommended Reading
Outwitting History: the Amazing Adventures of a Man Who Rescued a Million Yiddish Books by Aaron Lansky (Algonquin Books, 2004)
Words on Fire by Dovid Katz (Basic Books, 2004)
Yiddish theater poster advertising the play, Bay ṭaṭe mames ṭish. 1938. From the collections of the Dorot Jewish Division, The New York Public Library.
Created by Sarah Feldman, Librarian, Gann Academy. sfeldman@gannacademy.org