Sample Sources
The sources below are those contained in our three curated collections—covering themes of Passover, Gender Roles, and Holocaust Resistance. They represent a fraction of the thousands of sources that will be available when the full site launches in 2024.
Kitsur shene luḥot ha-berit (Abridged Two Tablets of the Covenant)
There are a few Torah scholars who are rich in knowledge and whose mental grasp is abundant, while others do not possess an intellectual grasp akin to theirs, for everyone possesses mental grasp in…
The State of Yiddish Children’s Literature
In the past there were no children among Jews, only “little Jews without beards,” so neither was there any children’s literature. Boys in the traditional heder used to read Ḥumesh [The Pentateuch]…
The Affirmation of the Diaspora
We all recognize the tragic aspects of the Diaspora and we cannot hope to achieve in the Diaspora as full and complete national-cultural development as is possible for a nation living in its own…
To the Readers of Literarishe monatsshriften
Literature cannot survive, cannot develop freely and expansively, if it depends on an underdeveloped reader, if it satisfies the spiritual-aesthetic needs only of those who have no access to the…
The Great Dictionary of the Yiddish Language
The Great Dictionary of the Yiddish Language has been assembled on the basis of inclusiveness—that is to say, as a dictionary which attempts to record and include all the words of the Yiddish language…
A Treasury of Yiddish Stories
Modern Yiddish literature focuses upon the shtetl during its last tremor of self-awareness, the historical moment when it is still coherent and self-contained but already…
Tradition and Revolt in Yiddish Poetry
As Yiddish poetry grew more modern, even modernistic, as it grew freer in rhythm, subtler in tonality, more artful and sophisticated in imagery, it also grew more Jewish—I was almost going to say more…
Di yugend Editorial Statement
With this number, Di yugend passes into new hands—the hands of its writers.
It is no secret that Yiddish writers, especially young Yiddish writers—and most of the contributors to this monthly journal…
Colophon: Tefilah le-Moshe (Prayer of Moses)
I set the Yiddish letters with my own hands.
Elle, daughter of the respected rabbi Moses from Holland.
I am not more than nine years old.
Among six children I am the only daughter.
Therefore, if you…
The Four Classes
The Yiddish language is our mother tongue. But is it the language of education, by means of which we can best understand each other? Does anyone even make the suggestion that…
A Few Remarks Regarding the Education of Women
So, is it not an injustice for girls to be so neglected that the refined feelings which are God’s gift to all mankind are often destroyed in them? But if you speak to Jewish parents they will tell you…
Yudl and Yehudis
Yehudis:
Yidele—a question. Hear me out.
And please don’t interrupt and start to shout.
Yidele:
I’m not exactly in the mood, my dear,
But go ahead and…