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Yiddish literature

I.J. Singer's dispatches for the Yiddish Forward are collected in “Viaggi in America” (“Travels in America”), which was recently published in a new Italian translation .(Giuntina; Wikimedia Commons via JTA)
Italy is having a Yiddish moment, fueled by translation of I.J. Singer’s writings
By Simone Somekh
'Yiddish is alive and well — even in Italy,' says publisher of unprecedented Italian version of 'Travels in America,' a collection of novelist's dispatches for the 'Forverts'
Illustrative: Issa Kassissieh, 47, who has dressed up as Santa Claus for 18 years, waves to the people during his annual tour of the Old City of Jerusalem, December 18, 2025. (AP/Leo Correa)
December 23, 2025, 8:30 pm
How the Yiddish-speaking Jews of Europe had themselves a merry little Nittel Nacht
A new book explores how, contrary to popular belief, Christmas was a festive time for Jewish men, who took time off from Torah study to play cards and games
By Renee Ghert-Zand
Michael Bennett Lewis's scenic design for 'The Great Dictionary of the Yiddish Language' features images of the chamber opera's two real-life protagonists: legendary YIVO head Max Weinreich, left, and the linguist Yudel Mark. (Courtesy YIVO via JTA)
September 21, 2025, 6:01 am
At NY’s YIVO, a legendary unfinished Yiddish dictionary gets the last word — as opera
Premiering this week, ‘The Great Dictionary of the Yiddish Language’ tells the true story of Holocaust survivors and émigré scholars in NYC racing to salvage a civilization
By Andrew Silow-Carroll
Aaron Lansky speaks at a Yiddish Book Center gala, May 4, 2025. (Susan Magnano/Magnanimous Pictures via JTA)
June 11, 2025, 3:36 am
Aaron Lansky built a home for 1.5 million Yiddish books. Now he’s handing over the keys
While under no illusions that the 1,000-year-old language will be revived outside the Haredi community, the outgoing Yiddish Book Center founder sees it offering new windows into Jewish culture
By Andrew Silow-Carroll
Chaim Grade’s 'Sons and Daughters' was originally serialized in the 1960s and '70s, in New York–based Yiddish newspapers. (YIVO; Alfred. A. Knopf via JTA)
April 7, 2025, 1:16 am
How Yiddish writer Chaim Grade’s last novel was rescued and wrestled into print
The editors discuss how a previously lost decades-old manuscript was found and pieced together. It’s being called ‘probably the last great Yiddish novel’
By Andrew Silow-Carroll
Illustrative: Leaders of the New York-based YIVO open crates of salvaged YIVO treasures from Europe, photographed in New Jersey, 1947. (Courtesy of the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research)
March 21, 2025, 4:17 pm
Dirty jokes and sacred texts: YIVO marks 100 years of preserving Yiddish culture
Artifacts from 1,000 years of Ashkenazi Jewish life including literary transcripts, Herzl’s diary, everyday notes and children’s scrawls connect prewar Jews with generations to come
By Cathryn J. Prince
Chaim Grade and his wife Inna Hecker Grade, shown in the United States in 1978. The two met in Moscow in 1945. (YIVO Institute for Jewish Research via JTA)
February 26, 2023, 2:17 am
Writer Chaim Grade’s archive digitized: A Yiddish treasure with a dramatic backstory
YIVO Institute and National Library of Israel make renowned author’s papers available online after they were locked away by his widow for decades, inaccessible to researchers
By Andrew Silow-Carroll
This is an October 10, 1978 photo of Nobel-winning author Isaac Bashevis Singer at home in his Miami Beach apartment. (AP Photo/Kathy Willens)
June 9, 2022, 4:18 am
Long-dead author Isaac Bashevis Singer wanted you to see these unearthed essays
‘Old Truths and New Cliches’ is made up almost entirely of works previously unpublished in English, handpicked by the Nobel laureate and edited by scholar David Stromberg
By Yaakov Schwartz
'Fiddler on the Roof' director Norman Jewison (right) on set in 1970 with Chaim Topol, who played Tevye. (Courtesy of Zeitgeist Films)
April 29, 2022, 11:05 am
Documentary takes film lovers behind the scenes of making ‘Fiddler on the Roof’
‘Fiddler’s Journey to the Big Screen’ breaks down the movie magic of a beloved 50-year-old musical, and shows how the film brought gentile director Norman Jewison closer to Judaism
By Renee Ghert-Zand
Yiddish actor Hy Wolfe runs CYCO, the Yiddish Book Center in Long Island City, Queens. (Julia Gergely/ JTA)
April 4, 2022, 5:00 am
A Yiddish book center in Queens lives on, just like the language it celebrates
After a foundation funding the Central Yiddish Cultural Organization since 1956 halted its donations, the institution was in peril – until a couple of good Samaritans stepped in
By julia GERGELY
'God knows that if I as a teenager had access to this, it would have been inordinately helpful and beneficial to me in my journey. I may have even come out 20 years ago, or 30 years ago,' Rosen said. (Courtesy Rosen and Branfman/ via JTA)
January 29, 2022, 4:30 am
Ex-Hasid comes out as trans while translating kids’ book on sexuality into Yiddish
Lili Rosen consulted and acted in productions such as ‘Unorthodox.’ She says that if she’d had access to a guide like ‘You Be You,’ she may have transitioned decades ago
By Shira Hanau
A program cover from a 1920s Yiddish Press Ball in Warsaw is shown before and after conservation treatment. It and thousands of other posters can be seen as part of the Edward Blank YIVO Vilna Online Collections project. (YIVO/ via JTA)
January 13, 2022, 4:04 am
From reverent to raunchy, YIVO’s vast archives of Yiddish life are reunited online
After surviving decades hidden from Nazi and Soviet forces and years more of litigation over ownership, a priceless trove is now accessible to researchers and the public
By Andrew Silow-Carroll
Pammy Brenner and David Frisch got engaged this weekend at the YIVO Institute of Jewish Research in the Center for Jewish History on 15 W. 16th St. (Courtesy/ via JTA)
December 22, 2021, 12:45 pm
Man proposes to fiancée in NY Yiddish library
Pammy Brenner spent countless hours in the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research during her studies, and David Frisch knew it would be the perfect place to get engaged
By julia GERGELY
The cover of Curt Leviant's translation of 'Moshkeleh the Thief.' (The Jewish Publication Society/ via JTA) and author Sholem Aleichem circa 1907. (Public domain)
October 15, 2021, 2:43 am
‘Fiddler’ meets ‘Sopranos’: Gritty Sholem Aleichem novel in English for 1st time
Long forgotten and not included in the Yiddish author’s canon, ‘Moshkele the Thief’ paints a rare picture of the seedier side of Old Country life
By Penny Schwartz
Nobel Prize-winning author Isaac Bashevis Singer, in his Miami Beach apartment, October 10, 1978. (AP Photo/Kathy Willens)
June 5, 2021, 7:29 am
1952 prayer by Bashevis Singer found scrawled on rent slip in unpublished trove
Unseen collection comes out next spring; writer and scholar David Stromberg discusses the Nobel laureate’s religious ambivalence, and why his liturgical Hebrew plea resonates today
By Yaakov Schwartz
Illustrative: In the 1950s, during the heyday of this Catskills bungalow colony, 10 women shared the single kitchen. (Courtesy Paula Goldberg via JTA)
April 20, 2021, 5:48 am
Meet the 27-year-old amplifying the sounds of the Borscht Belt
‘Borscht Beat’ radio host Aaron Bendich recalls the heyday of the Jewish vacationland in upstate New York — and gives notes on six of his favorite songs, too
By Andrew Silow-Carroll
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