Classic Yiddish Short Stories
with Prof. Josh Lambert
5 sessions at 6 p.m. ET
July 2 - 30
All classes will be recorded and sent to registrants.
No Yiddish language knowledge is required for this class, which will be taught entirely in English and English translation.
“If stories weren't told or books weren't written, man would live like the beasts, only for the day.” –Isaac Bashevis Singer
There is something particularly magical about stories written in Yiddish — they capture bygone Jewish worlds and tackle some of the weightiest themes in Jewish life through the centuries.
And they are particularly potent in the short story format, the classic condensed tale that when done well bottles up all of the power of a thousand-page novel into a few pages.
Study works by some of the Yiddish greats in this new My Jewish Learning course led by Josh Lambert, a distinguished professor at Wellesley College and the former academic director of the Yiddish Book Center.
You will cover a range of writers, from titans like Bashevis Singer and I.L. Peretz to lesser-known masters like Blume Lempel and Yosef Opatoshu. Prof. Lambert will provide story texts and illuminate parts of their biographies that are refracted in their work.
Plus, if you sign up by June 23, you are automatically entered to win copies of the two books below! We'll announce three lucky winners at our first class session.
"How Yiddish Changed America and How America Changed Yiddish"
"A Treasury of Yiddish Stories"
There are no refunds for this course.
About Your Teacher
Josh Lambert is the Sophia Moses Robison Professor of Jewish Studies and English, and the director of the Jewish Studies Program, at Wellesley College. His most recent book is The “Literary Mafia: Jews, Publishing, and Postwar American Literature” (2022). He is formerly the academic director of the Yiddish Book Center and researches the ways in which Jews and Jewishness played important and understudied roles in the development of U.S. culture.
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About My Jewish Learning
My Jewish Learning is the internet's leading pluralistic Jewish education resource. We offer thousands of articles, videos, live classes and other resources to help you navigate all aspects of Judaism and Jewish life — from Jewish ritual and practice to texts to history and culture.
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