Yiddish Book Center

Yiddish Book Center A nonprofit celebrating Yiddish language and culture. The Center is open to the public Sunday - Friday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
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The Yiddish Book Center is a nonprofit organization working to tell the whole Jewish story by rescuing, translating, and disseminating Yiddish books and presenting innovative educational programs that broaden understanding of modern Jewish identity. The Yiddish Book Center is home to permanent and visiting exhibits; two performance halls with a year-round schedule of educational programs, concerts

(including the annual Yidstock: The Festival of New Yiddish Music), films, and events; an English-language bookstore; and a million Yiddish books. Closed Shabbos (Saturday) and Jewish and legal holidays. For visitor safety guidelines, visit yiddishbookcenter.org/events-and-store/plan-your-visit-hours-and-directions.

05/29/2026

Eleanor Reissa invites you to Yidstock! See the full lineup and get your tickets at the link in comments.

Author Marcia Jo Zerivitz’s Jews of Florida tells the comprehensive history of Jews in the Sunshine State. Despite not b...
05/26/2026

Author Marcia Jo Zerivitz’s Jews of Florida tells the comprehensive history of Jews in the Sunshine State. Despite not being officially allowed to live in Florida until 1763, Jewish immigrants escaping expulsions and exclusions were among the earliest settlers, and Jews have been arriving ever since. Marcia will share some of their stories: Olympians, Nobel Prize winners, computer pioneers, educators, politicians, Yiddish writers, artists, and more. The book’s rich narrative—accompanied by 700 images, most rarely seen—is the result of three-plus decades of grassroots research.

Learn more and register at the link in comments.

Support our effort to make newly translated Yiddish literature available as audiobooks. You’ll be able to listen to Des...
05/24/2026

Support our effort to make newly translated Yiddish literature available as audiobooks. You’ll be able to listen to Desires, Celia Dropkin’s 1934 novel which wrestles with the internal and external conflicts of love, domesticity, and erotic life. Your contribution will help us bring newly translated Yiddish treasures such as these to life for the widest possible audience.

Learn how you can help at the link in comments.

Looking to brush up on your Yiddish? Try out one of our heymarbet (homework) sheets! In the most recent, you can practic...
05/22/2026

Looking to brush up on your Yiddish? Try out one of our heymarbet (homework) sheets! In the most recent, you can practice your listening comprehension with an audio recording of Kadia Molodowsky reading an excerpt from one of her children's poems. Fill in the missing words, check your answers, and enjoy the warmth with which Molodowsky reads her poem.

Check it out at the link in comments!

One day, a young Arthur Horwitz, seeking to swipe a few bucks from his mother’s wallet, discovers an iconic Holocaust im...
05/21/2026

One day, a young Arthur Horwitz, seeking to swipe a few bucks from his mother’s wallet, discovers an iconic Holocaust image of a terrified boy tucked inside. When he asks the identity of the boy, she insists it’s her little brother Meier, murdered by the Germans—even though Arthur knows it isn’t. Now Arthur is saddled with the responsibility of living two lives: his and the one little Meier never had. In this talk, Arthur will share how this discovery became a burden that shaped his life, family, and media career. His recent book, Dual Identities: Living in Meier’s Shadow, is an insightful look at the impact of intergenerational trauma and the path to coping, healing, reconciliation, and remembrance.

This talk will talk place in person at the Yiddish Book Center and on Zoom on Sunday, June 14, 2:00 p.m. Learn more and register at the link in comments.

05/20/2026

In this clip, acclaimed actor and former Screen Actors Guild president Ed Asner, z’’l (1929-2021), tells the story of how his “failed” bar mitzvah performance influenced his later career as an actor.

Among many roles, Asner acted in the Mary Tyler Moore Show, Up, and Elf. In his oral history interview with us, he discussed his Jewish identity, his upbringing with Yiddish-speaking parents, and his engagement with Jewish theater.

Ed Asner was interviewed by Christa Whitney on April 30, 2018, in Tarzana, California.

05/15/2026

Explore Jewish culture, identity, and immigration through the power of Yiddish literature. Apply by August 14 for the Yiddish Book Center's 2026-2027 cohort of the Between Two Worlds Public Libraries Program!

Forty selected libraries will receive books, funding, educational resources, and an expenses-paid training at the Yiddish Book Center in Amherst, Massachusetts.

This is a unique opportunity to bring rich cultural conversations to your community through the lens of Yiddish storytelling: https://bit.ly/4uK4Bs0

Life in America often inspired Yiddish-speaking immigrants to sing — whether about their gratitude or their complaints.I...
05/14/2026

Life in America often inspired Yiddish-speaking immigrants to sing — whether about their gratitude or their complaints.

In "Kolumbus, ikh hob tsu dir got nit" ("Columbus, I've got nothing against you"), the singer expresses her appreciation for a country that she likes just as much as good tzimmes and where "every yente is a missus" — a stark contrast to the greenhorn cousin in the iconic song "Grine Kuzine" who ends the song "Brenen zol kolumbus's medine!" ("Let Columbus's country burn!")

Whether humorous or sincere, complementary or critical, you can be sure that just about any perspective about America found its place in the prolific repertoire of the Yiddish theater.

These scores, and many others, are available to view and buy in our exhibition, Yiddish: A Global Culture.

1. Kolumbus, ikh hob tsu dir gor nit (Columbus, I've got nothing against you)
2. Men hoydet zikh in amerike (They swing in America)
3. Di goldene medine (the golden country)

Support our effort to make newly translated Yiddish literature available as audiobooks. You’ll be able to listen to the...
05/12/2026

Support our effort to make newly translated Yiddish literature available as audiobooks. You’ll be able to listen to the tales of Max Spitzkopf, the Yiddish Sherlock Holmes and passionate defender of his people. Your contribution will help us bring newly translated Yiddish treasures such as these to life for the widest possible audience.

Learn how you can help at the link in comments.

In honor of mother's day, we're sharing Ale mames zaynen sheyn — All Mothers Are Beautiful.Thank you to all the sheyne m...
05/10/2026

In honor of mother's day, we're sharing Ale mames zaynen sheyn — All Mothers Are Beautiful.

Thank you to all the sheyne mames for raising us, loving us, and guiding us!

Address

1021 West Street
Amherst, MA
01002

Opening Hours

Monday 10am - 4pm
Tuesday 10am - 4pm
Wednesday 10am - 4pm
Thursday 10am - 4pm
Friday 10am - 4pm
Sunday 10am - 4pm

Telephone

+14132564900

Website

https://www.yiddishbookcenter.org/social-media-policy

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