Yiddish: A Global Culture
FAIN: GI-271419-20
Yiddish Book Center (Amherst, MA 01002-3375)
David Mazower (Project Director: January 2020 to present)
Implementation of a permanent exhibition of Yiddish language and culture from the late nineteenth century to the present.
The year 2020 will be the Yiddish Book Center’s fortieth anniversary. To mark the occasion, we are creating the world’s first permanent exhibit to explore the extraordinary range of literature, theater and music created in Yiddish since the late 19th century. Yiddish: A Global Culture will illuminate this vibrant and cosmopolitan world through a rich mix of photographs, historic objects and the Center’s unparalleled collections of Yiddish books. Most Jewish museums treat Yiddish culture as a marginal phenomenon. By contrast, our exhibition will place it at the heart of the modern Jewish story - a sophisticated, transnational culture that has continued reinventing itself into the present day. We will show women as prominent creators and consumers of this culture, and the importance of migration and exile as formative experiences for both writers and readers. Using the vast resources of the Center’s physical holdings, as well as our digital collections of audio recordings, oral histories
Media Coverage
Yiddish Book Center Celebrates 150 Years of Modern Jewish Creativity (Media Coverage)
Publication: Fine Books & Collections
Date: 8/22/2023
Abstract: Short article outlining the (then) upcoming new core exhibition, "Yiddish: A Global Culture". Features quotes from Aaron Lansky (President), Susan Bronson (Executive Director), and David Mazower (Chief Curator). Also highlights centerpiece artifacts that will be on display, such as Peretz Hirschbein and Esther Schumiatcher's travel trunk, Guedale Tenenbaum's micrographic portrait of Chaim Zhitlowsky, and others.
URL: https://www.finebooksmagazine.com/news/yiddish-book-center-celebrates-150-years-modern-jewish-creativity
Con la Argentina como protagonista. La lengua de las comunidades judías ashkenazíes, objeto de una mega muestra en EEUU (Media Coverage)
Author(s): Cecilia Scalisi
Publication: La Nacion
Date: 8/22/2023
Abstract: Longer form article in the Argentinian daily newspaper La Nacion. Focuses on the role of the Argentinian Yiddish-speaking community in Yiddish history and how that is reflected in the exhibition "Yiddish: A Global Culture". The is based on an interview with chief curator, David Mazower. Among the artifacts highlighted: the fragment of granite wall from the former Argentine Israelite Mutual Association building in Buenos Aires, which was bombed on the 18th of July 1994.
URL: https://www.lanacion.com.ar/conversaciones-de-domingo/la-argentina-protagonista-inauguraran-en-estados-unidos-la-mayor-muestra-sobre-el-idish-como-cultura-nid22082023/
25 years after opening, Yiddish Book Center overhauls its core exhibit for a wider audience (Media Coverage)
Author(s): Andrew Silow-Carroll
Publication: Jewish Telegraphic Agency
Date: 10/1/2023
Abstract: Long-form article about the (then) upcoming exhibition, "Yiddish: A Global Culture". In addition to speaking with chief curator David Mazower and Center president Aaron Lansky, as well as highlighting various artifacts from the exhibition, Carroll describes the Center's many other programs promoting and teaching Yiddish language and culture. He also situates the exhibition in the context of a wide-spread renewed interest in Yiddish among the Jewish and non-Jewish public.
URL: https://www.jta.org/2023/10/01/culture/25-years-after-opening-yiddish-book-center-overhauls-its-core-exhibit-for-a-wider-audience
"Yiddish: A Global Culture" - Telling the Story of a Jewish Counterculture (Review)
Author(s): Albert Stern
Publication: Berkshire Jewish Voice
Date: 10/11/2023
Abstract: Local newspaper reviews the exhibition "Yiddish: A Global Culture" a few days before it opened to the public. The focus of the article is on the ways the Yiddish culture functioned as a counter-culture.
URL: https://www.jewishberkshires.org/community-events/berkshire-jewish-voice/berkshire-jewish-voice-highlights/yiddish-a-global-culture
Yiddish reveals a language of Global Culture (Review)
Author(s): Kate Abbott
Publication: By the Way Berkshires
Date: 10/18/2023
Abstract: A review of the exhibition "Yiddish: A Global Culture". Abbott attended the opening, and includes remarks about the live musical and theatrical events of the day. She focuses on the stories of women highlighted in the exhibition, such as Blume Lempel and Chava Rosenfarb.
URL: https://btwberkshires.com/arts/writing/global-yiddish/
Is the world’s first Yiddish museum in Amherst? (Media Coverage)
Author(s): Aaron Simon Gross
Publication: The Berkshire Eagle
Date: 10/18/2023
Abstract: Local news article detailing the new exhibition, "Yiddish: A Global Culture", with a focus on how the exhibition was first conceptualized by chief curator David Mazower in conjunction with Center executives Aaron Lansky and Susan Bronson.
URL: https://www.berkshireeagle.com/arts_and_culture/berkshirelandscapes/yiddish-a-global-culture-yiddish-book-center-david-mazower/article_688b64c4-686c-11ee-970c-7be28901c99d.html
Yiddish, Global and Local: Two Exhibitions on a Vibrant Jewish Language (Review)
Author(s): Lou Cove
Publication: The CANVAS Compendium: Dispatches from the New Jewish Renaissance
Date: 1/24/2024
Abstract: Brief review of the exhibition "Yiddish: A Global Culture" by former Center vice-president, Lou Cove. The post brings together Cove's impressions of the exhibition with his memories of working with the Center and discovering the ongoing Yiddish cultural renaissance .
URL: https://bycanvas.org/2024/01/24/yiddish-global-and-local-two-exhibitions-on-a-vibrant-jewish-language/
See 6 Highlights From a New Show on the Global Footprint of Yiddish Culture—From Avant-Garde Puppets to Cubist Book Covers (Media Coverage)
Author(s): Richard Whiddington
Publication: Artnet
Date: 10/18/2023
Abstract: Blog post on the art market website Artnet highlighting the exhibition "Yiddish: A Global Culture", through six significant items on display: 1) Martin Haake's Yiddishland mural, 2) Guedale Tenenbaum’s micrograph portrait of Yiddish activist Chaim Zhitlowsky, 3) Zuni Maud and Yosl Cutler’s puppet heads, 4) Writer Chava Rosenfarb’s typewriter, 5) Novelist Sholem Asch’s medicine ball, and 6) A luxury edition of Monish by I. L. Peretz, illustrated by Pinchas Shaar.
URL: https://news.artnet.com/art-world/yiddish-book-center-global-culture-exhibition-2329535
At Amherst’s Yiddish Book Center, a new exhibition speaks volumes about Yiddishas ‘a global culture’ (Media Coverage)
Author(s): A.Z. Madonna
Publication: Boston Globe
Date: 10/20/2023
Abstract: News article covering the exhibition "Yiddish: A Global Culture" and its opening day celebrations, featuring visuals of the Center and many artifacts from the new exhibition. Based on interviews with chief curator David Mazower and Center president Aaron Lansky. The article also includes a brief history of the Center and an overview of the Center's other programs and activities.
URL: https://www.bostonglobe.com/2023/10/20/arts/amhersts-yiddish-book-center-new-exhibition-speaks-volumes-about-yiddish-global-culture/
Magnificent permanent exhibit opens at Amherst’s Yiddish Book Center (Review)
Author(s): Jennifer Stern
Publication: Forward
Date: 10/25/2023
Abstract: Review of the exhibition "Yiddish: A Global Culture", in which the author focuses on sections concerning translation of world literature into Yiddish (with a particular focus on the translation of Black American literature into Yiddish), as well as notable artifacts like the Yiddish-language linotype (once owned by the Forward) and the replica of writer I.L. Peretz's salon.
URL: https://forward.com/forverts-in-english/566867/permanent-exhibit-amherst-yiddish-book-center/
An exhibit to kvell over: Expansive new Amherst exhibit looks at the global impact of Yiddish (Review)
Author(s): Steve Pfarrer
Publication: Daily Hampshire Gazette
Date: 10/27/2023
Abstract: Local news article covering the exhibition "Yiddish: A Global Culture". Pfarrer highlights a number of artifacts and displays in the exhibition, and quotes chief curator David Mazower throughout.
URL: https://www.gazettenet.com/Yiddish-Book-Center-opens-major-new-exhibit-celebrating-Yiddish-culture-s-global-reach-52615413
A Trip to Yiddishland (Review)
Author(s): Rokhl Kafrissen
Publication: Tablet Magazine
Date: 12/28/2023
Abstract: Kafrissen begins her review by drawing a comparison between the Center's new exhibition, "Yiddish: A Global Culture", and the core exhibition of the POLIN museum in Warsaw, Poland. She pays particular attention to the ways in which the Center's exhibition expands the picture of Yiddish culture beyond the classic (male) authors of Yiddish literature, to include women's voices and representation from diverse corners of the Yiddish world.
URL: https://www.tabletmag.com/sections/community/articles/trip-to-yiddishland-book-center
The Daily Heller: Preserving a Moderne Language in Word, Picture and Design (Media Coverage)
Author(s): Steven Heller
Publication: Print
Date: 1/23/2024
Abstract: Noted design columnist Steven Heller interviews chief curator David Mazower about the Yiddish Book Center and its new exhibition, "Yiddish: A Global Culture". The exhibition is discussed and many artifacts are featured visually, though the conversation more broadly covers the history of the Center and the role of print culture and design history in Yiddish.
URL: https://www.printmag.com/daily-heller/the-daily-heller-preserving-a-modernistic-language/
Associated Products
Yiddish: A Global Culture (Exhibition)Title: Yiddish: A Global Culture
Curator: David Mazower
Curator: Madeleine Cohen
Curator: Caraid O'Brien
Abstract: Yiddish: A Global Culture, now on view, is our groundbreaking permanent exhibition. Global in scope, yet deeply personal, it tells the extraordinary story of modern Yiddish culture through hundreds of rare objects, family heirlooms, photographs, music, and videos. It is a rich and revelatory account that places Yiddish at the heart of the modern Jewish story.
The exhibition displays artifacts from the Center’s collections or on special loan, all shown in public for the first time. Highlights include a 60-foot color mural of global “Yiddishland” by illustrator Martin Haake; an enormous hand-drawn 1945 micrographic portrait of Yiddish activist Chaim Zhitlowsky, composed of thousands of miniature letters from his selected texts, created in Buenos Aires by immigrant textile worker Guedale Tenenbaum; a well-worn leather medicine ball, used by the popular Yiddish novelist Sholem Asch when he relocated to the United States in the 1940s; and vintage clothes and a leather steamer trunk from the 1920s that were used by the celebrated Yiddish literary couple Peretz Hirshbein and Esther Shumiatcher on their decade-long travels around the world.
Visitors can also explore a re-creation of the turn-of-the-century Warsaw apartment of writer I. L. Peretz, whose legendary salon stood at the forefront of Yiddish modernism in the 1900s and 1910s. The period reproduction features books, profiles of writers and artists in Peretz’s circle, a soundscape of voices from the salon, a re-creation of Peretz’s desk, and wallpaper based on original photographs.
Year: 2023
Primary URL:
https://www.yiddishbookcenter.org/visit/permanent-exhibition-yiddish-global-culturePrimary URL Description: This is the Yiddish Book Center's website.
SNEAK PREVIEW | Yiddish: A Global Culture, the Center’s new core exhibit, with Mindl Cohen and David Mazower (Public Lecture or Presentation)Title: SNEAK PREVIEW | Yiddish: A Global Culture, the Center’s new core exhibit, with Mindl Cohen and David Mazower
Abstract: Yiddish Book Center curators Mindl Cohen and David Mazower offer a sneak preview of Yiddish: A Global Culture, the Center’s new core exhibit scheduled to open October 15, 2023. This ambitious new exhibit will let visitors experience the depth and breadth of Yiddish creativity in literature, theater, the press, music, and more. This pre-recorded presentation includes a look at some of the rare books, original artifacts, and newly commissioned artwork that will go on display and will be followed by a Q&A and some exciting new updates.
Author: Madelaine (Mindl) Cohen
Author: David Mazower
Date: 01/26/2023
Location: Yiddish Book Center (Amherst, MA) & broadcast online
Primary URL:
https://www.yiddishbookcenter.org/collections/archival-recordings/recorded-programs/ybcr-nybc-ybcr-1097/sneak-preview-yiddish-global-culture-centers-new-corePrimary URL Description: Links to the archived recording of the program on the Yiddish Book Center's website.
Secondary URL:
https://archive.org/details/nybc-ybcr-1097Secondary URL Description: Links to the full record of the event and recording on Internet Archive.
Yiddish: A Global Culture, with David Mazower and Lisa Newman (Public Lecture or Presentation)Title: Yiddish: A Global Culture, with David Mazower and Lisa Newman
Abstract: The Yiddish Book Center’s new permanent exhibition, Yiddish: A Global Culture, opens on October 15, 2023. Offering a rich, immersive journey into 150 years of modern Yiddish creativity, it will present treasures from the Center’s collection alongside newly donated artifacts and photographs. David Mazower, chief curator, and Lisa Newman, project director, will preview this ambitious new project and show selected highlights.
Author: David Mazower
Author: Lisa Newman
Date: 10/05/2023
Location: Yiddish Book Center (Amherst, MA) & broadcast online
Primary URL:
https://www.yiddishbookcenter.org/collections/archival-recordings/recorded-programs/ybcr-nybc-ybcr-1118/yiddish-global-culture-david-mazower-and-lisa-newmanPrimary URL Description: Links to the archived recording on the Yiddish Book Center's website.
Secondary URL:
https://archive.org/details/nybc-ybcr-1118Secondary URL Description: Links to the full record of the event and recording on Internet Archive.
Yiddish: A Global Culture Q&A with David Mazower (Public Lecture or Presentation)Title: Yiddish: A Global Culture Q&A with David Mazower
Abstract: Occasioned by the opening of the Yiddish Book’s Center’s new core exhibition, Yiddish: A Global Culture, David Mazower, chief curator, offered a Q & A about the landmark exhibition. Yiddish: A Global Culture tells the diasporic story of modern Yiddish literature, theater, music, press, and politics through hundreds of objects, including rare books, artwork, photographs, sheet music, Yiddish typewriters, memorabilia, and more. Global in scope yet deeply personal—with many prized heirlooms donated by families over the past 40 years—the exhibition tells the stories of both the creators and the consumers of Yiddish culture.
Author: David Mazower
Date: 10/15/2023
Location: Yiddish Book Center (Amherst, MA)
Primary URL:
https://www.yiddishbookcenter.org/collections/archival-recordings/recorded-programs/ybcr-nybc-ybcr-1119/yiddish-global-culture-q-david-mazowerPrimary URL Description: Links to the archived recording of the event on the Yiddish Book Center's website.
Secondary URL:
https://archive.org/details/nybc-ybcr-1119Secondary URL Description: Links to the full record of the event and recording on the Internet Archive.
VIRTUAL TALK | Yiddish Theater as a Cultural Lifeline during the Holocaust, with Debra Caplan | Thursday, December 7 @ 7 p.m. ET (Public Lecture or Presentation)Title: VIRTUAL TALK | Yiddish Theater as a Cultural Lifeline during the Holocaust, with Debra Caplan | Thursday, December 7 @ 7 p.m. ET
Abstract: On the eve of World War II, Poland was the epicenter of the global Yiddish theater scene. Yiddish theater continued to be performed during the war years in ghettos and concentration camps and then, in the war’s immediate aftermath, in displaced persons camps. Professor Debra Caplan will explore how Yiddish theater offered a cultural lifeline and psychological escape hatch for Jews during the Holocaust, as well as how plays and performances helped survivors to find community and rebuild their lives in the DP camps.
Author: Debra Caplan
Author: Sebastian Schulman
Date: 12/07/2023
Location: Broadcast online
Primary URL:
https://www.yiddishbookcenter.org/collections/archival-recordings/recorded-programs/ybcr-nybc-ybcr-1146/virtual-talk-yiddish-theater-cultural-lifeline-duringPrimary URL Description: Links to the archived recording on the Yiddish Book Center's website.
Secondary URL:
https://archive.org/details/nybc-ybcr-1146Secondary URL Description: Links to the full record of the event and recording on the Internet Archive.
David Mazower on Yiddish: A Global Culture (Radio/Audio Broadcast or Recording)Title: David Mazower on Yiddish: A Global Culture
Director: Lisa Newman
Producer: Elizabeth Cardaropoli
Abstract: The Shmooze sat down with chief curator and writer David Mazower for the first in a series of conversations about the Yiddish Book Center’s landmark permanent exhibition, which opens on October 15, 2023. In describing what visitors will encounter when they view this massive exhibition, David notes, “We’ve created a bright, colorful space full of powerful stories and wonderful objects that make you think but also touch the heart and soul; I want people to see this exhibition and feel inspired, surprised, moved, informed, and entertained.”
Date: 09/21/2023
Primary URL:
https://www.yiddishbookcenter.org/david-mazower-yiddish-global-culturePrimary URL Description: Links to the podcast episode on the Yiddish Book Center's website.
Access Model: Open access
Format: Web
Kristen Morgenstern’s Zine: Irena Klepfisz: The Life of the Fighter (Radio/Audio Broadcast or Recording)Title: Kristen Morgenstern’s Zine: Irena Klepfisz: The Life of the Fighter
Director: Lisa Newman
Producer: Elizabeth Cardaropoli
Abstract: On The Shmooze, Kristen Morgenstern, a senior studying history and theater at Middlebury College, tells the story behind her zine Irena Klepfisz: The Life of the Fighter. The zine was selected for inclusion in the Yiddish Book Center’s core exhibition, Yiddish: A Global Culture.
Date: 11/21/2023
Primary URL:
https://www.yiddishbookcenter.org/kristen-morgenstern-s-zine-irena-klepfisz-life-fighterPrimary URL Description: Links to the podcast recording on the Yiddish Book Center's website.
Access Model: Open access
Format: Web
Telling the Story of Yiddish Theater (Radio/Audio Broadcast or Recording)Title: Telling the Story of Yiddish Theater
Director: Lisa Newman
Producer: Elizabeth Cardaropoli
Abstract: David Mazower, chief curator of the Yiddish Book Center’s core exhibition, Yiddish: A Global Culture, and Caraid O’Brien, co-curator of the exhibition’s theater section, chat with The Shmooze about all things Yiddish theater. You’ll hear how they gathered rare artifacts and stories about the actors, the audiences, and the contemporary Yiddish theater scene.
Date: 01/14/2024
Primary URL:
https://yiddishbookcenter.org/telling-story-yiddish-theaterPrimary URL Description: Links to the podcast recording on the Yiddish Book Center's website.
Access Model: Open access
Format: Web
A Worker’s Yiddish Library on View (Radio/Audio Broadcast or Recording)Title: A Worker’s Yiddish Library on View
Director: Lisa Newman
Producer: Elizabeth Cardaropoli
Abstract: Marvin Zuckerman and Ruby Elliot Zuckerman join The Shmooze to talk about their family’s story, which is featured in the Yiddish Book Center’s new core exhibition, Yiddish: A Global Culture. As Marvin shares, “In our one-bedroom apartment in the Bronx we had world literature—Georg Brandes, Maupassant, Marx, Darwin, Jack London, Tolstoy—all in Yiddish.” Marvin and his granddaughter Ruby share the experience of traveling together from the West Coast to be part of the exhibition’s opening and to see their family’s “Worker’s Library” on view.
Date: 01/25/2024
Primary URL:
https://www.yiddishbookcenter.org/worker-s-yiddish-library-view-0Primary URL Description: Links to the podcast recording on the Yiddish Book Center's website.
Access Model: Open access
Format: Web
Inside the Peretz Salon: The Engine Room of Modern Yiddish Culture, with David Mazower (Public Lecture or Presentation)Title: Inside the Peretz Salon: The Engine Room of Modern Yiddish Culture, with David Mazower
Abstract: How did a small apartment in turn-of-the-century Warsaw—the home of writer Y. L. Peretz—come to be the most formative space in modern Yiddish cultural history? That question was the starting point for our re-creation of Peretz’s Salon—one of the most popular displays in our new core exhibition, Yiddish: A Global Culture.
Chief curator and writer David Mazower will give a virtual tour that explores the unique alchemy that occurred in this domestic space and discusses the challenge of reconstructing it. What was it about Peretz’s personality, ideas, and influence that drew hundreds of young women and men to him at the start of their careers—and how did they go on to transform modern Jewish culture
Author: David Mazower
Author: Lisa Newman
Date: 02/08/2024
Location: Yiddish Book Center (Amherst, MA) & broadcast online
Primary URL:
https://www.yiddishbookcenter.org/collections/archival-recordings/recorded-programs/ybcr-nybc-ybcr-1170/talk-inside-peretz-salon-engine-room-modern-yiddishPrimary URL Description: This link leads to the archived recording of the even on the Center's website.
Secondary URL:
https://archive.org/details/nybc-ybcr-1170Secondary URL Description: This link leads to the full record of the event on the Internet Archive.