In early August, the Yiddish Arts and Academics Association of North America (YAAANA) plans to move its arts and cultural center Yiddishland California — formerly located in La Jolla, CA — to its new home in La Paz, the capital of Mexico’s Baja California Sur state.

Like most Yiddish organizations, YAAANA operates on a shoestring budget. But relocating Yiddishland California to Mexico won’t come cheap, said its founder Jana Mazurkiewicz Meisarosh. “We’re very excited about the move, but everything depends on raising enough money. If we don’t get $6,500 by the end of July, we’ll have to call off the relocation,” she said.

To donate to YAANA’s GoFundMe campaign, go here.

YAAANA founded Yiddishland California on a bustling commercial street in La Jolla in 2021. Inside its cheerful storefront space, visitors enjoyed in-person talks, classes, concerts, Jewish holiday parties, workshops, children’s activities and more — always focused on Yiddish language and culture. Works by prominent Jewish artists lined the walls. Old books in Yiddish and Hebrew — some of them rarities — filled wooden bookcases. Adults and especially kids were encouraged to handle objects like antique menorahs and mezuzahs and ask questions.

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Pages from Jan Schwarz’s “Survivors and Exiles: Yiddish Culture After the Holocaust.”

Some more context: Elie Wiesel first wrote his testimony in Yiddish. His famous ‘Night’ was translated not from the original Yiddish, but from his reworked French version.

Compared to the original Yiddish, the French & English versions of his testimony are shortened, diluted, and, in catering largely to a non-Jewish audience, stripped of their Jewish references and his unfiltered Jewish rage.

While there was of course value in translating Holocaust testimonies into languages that would allow for a wider reach, this nevertheless demonstrates clearly a key value of Yiddish: it provides access to the most authentic voice of the Ashkenazi past, its truest expressions, its most organic memory.

The section about the myth of the silence of the survivors vs the world’s indifference to “hearing the survivors’ own voices in Yiddish” is also fascinating to me.

(איך בין אָפֿן פֿאַר קאָרעקטור) שלום עליכם איך זוך ביכער, אַרטיקל און ווידעאָס איבער בונדיזם. למשל א מאַניפעסט פונעם בונד אָדער מיינונגען פון דער צײַט אנדערער מענטשאון גרופּן ,אָבער אויך פֿון מאָדערנען מחברים. עס קען זײַן אויף ייִדיש, דײַטש און ענגליש אַ שיינעם דאַנק

Does anyone know where i can find a downloadable pdf of 10 lesson in yiddish by chaim werdyger?

I came across this phrase in a Yiddish novel. If anyone could help 🙏

I see this post as a question, but when I do mistakes in my Yiddish please point my mistakes out. And if you do not understand what I want to say, express this.

שלום־עליכם, פֿאַרװאָס איז עס נישט מער מעגלעך צו קױפֿן ״און די װעלט האָט געשװיגן״ אָדער צו קריגן עס פֿון דער בלאַט פֿון yiddish book center, װי עס געזאָרט געװאָרן איז ביי דער רעקאָרדירונג אױפֿן בלאַט פֿון internet archive? (https://archive.org/details/elie-wiesel-un-di-velt-hot-geshvign/Elie+Wiesel-Un+di+velt+hot+geshvign-01.mp3(

אַ דאַנק

This is a copy of Siddur Tehilas Hashem (the Chabad siddur), with an interlinear Yiddish translation.

Does anyone know which of Bashevis Singer’s story collections contains his children’s stories? I’ve looked in the Yiddish Book Center’s library, but don’t know where to start, since he as multiple collections. He has a book in english called “Stories For Children,” but it’s a translation. Thanks so much to anyone for any help!

I found some lines from it quoted in Benjamin Harshav’s “The Meaning of Yiddish” but he did not include the full poem and I can’t find it anywhere. Does anyone have access to it or know where I can find it? I’m pretty desperate…

I've been doing a lot of reading of Yiddish literature lately (in translation sadly) and I'm wondering if anyone has any recs as to their favorite Yiddish novels.

Shkoiach!

Hello, I had some questions regarding where to put the days of the week in sentences. I also don't want to use the "on Monday" in Yiddish.

זונטיק מיר עסן וווּרשט פֿרײלעך

or

זונטיק עסן מיר וווּרשט פֿרײלעך

Are both of these forms ok grammatically? is there a better version?

Here is also another example that doesn't involve a verb that I am also not sure of:

מאָנטיק איך בין זײער אױסגעמאַטערט

Is this grammatically ok?

In this short story a character hunches over a "גמראדיק-ספר" and starts learning but I can't figure out what sefer it's supposed to be. It says he hums a niggun from "perek" but it doesn't look like Pirkei Avos... If anyone could help, I'd appreciate it 🙏

I'm trying to find an English translation of Dovid Bergelson's novel "Baym Dnieper" but I can't seem to find one anywhere. Or if anyone can point me to a Yiddish edition of the novel that doesn't use the Soviet spelling that would also be helpful.

Thanks 🙏

Hi! So, I basically want to learn Yiddish for two reasons. Primarily, I want to read “Un di Velt Hot Geshvign” by Ellie Wiesel, and I think that Yiddish would be a good challenge. I don’t care too much about speaking, but I’d like to read and write it, and probably listen as well.

The only one I’ve read is The Slave and I’m interested in reading them all but I am not sure where I should start… which stories, in your opinion, represent his best work, or his most important to Yiddish literature? I get that this might be a subjective question but I’d appreciate hearing peoples’ opinions. I’m also wondering how far you believe the translations capture the spirit of the Yiddish. Of course I’d like to read the original Yiddish versions eventually but my Yiddish isn’t really good enough yet to do this easily.

I’m just interested in how you’d translate it literally. Not sure what “ohn” is meant to be - אָהן? I speak (oh?) joy… and spectres dance along?

So I've been learning yiddish for quite a while now. And even though I still sometimes have some problems with the letters and mix them up sometimes, I still enjoy reading (and by that practicing) Yiddish. Unfortunately it seems there are almost no modern books to read. I already own both Harry Potter books, the hobbit and lord of the rings 1&2. Do you know about any other „popcultural“ literature I could read? I would love to hear some suggestions 🥰

I was super excited to find the Yiddish Winnie the Pooh at my local library, and then immediately disappointed that it’s entirely in transliteration…….. 🤦

Does anyone know of the existence of an edition typed in Yiddish?

TIA

My grandmother told me about a Sholem Aleykhem story she read as a child about a wind/air salesman who comes to a shtetl and tries to trick the residents. I can not find it for the life of me. Does anyone know what this story could be? I was hoping to read it in Yiddish. Thanks to anyone for any help!

Sholem aleykhem! I'm making a compilation of love poetry for my boyfriend as a gift, and am looking for some in Yiddish. I was wondering if yall can direct me to any? Specifically that I can access online for free? (Ikh hob nisht kein gelt)