yiddish book center

The name Woody Guthrie conjures images of Dust Bowl families from the 1930s fleeing their wind-ravaged farms, along with those famous lyrics 'This land is your land, this land is my land / From California to the New York Island.' Woody’s horizons extended far beyond the dusty Oklahoma hills of his youth. When his wanderings and ramblings brought him to New York City, in the 1940s, he was introduced—both personally and professionally—into a vibrant Jewish culture that he wholeheartedly embraced. That culture in turn deeply influenced his life and his music. The film, 'Dust Bowls and Jewish Souls,' presents a whole new side of Woody Guthrie.The film will be screened at the Yiddish Book Center in Amherst, MA on Sunday. Following the screening, award-winning director and producer Steven Pressman will join us for a live Q&A to discuss the film, Guthrie's enduring legacy, and the remarkable Jewish influences that shaped his work.

On Sunday, May 3 at 2 p.m., renowned scholar and curator Barbara Kirshenblatt-Gimblett will explore what it means to put Yiddish on display in The Yiddish Book Center’s 2026 Melinda Rosenblatt Lecture. Barbara Kirshenblatt-Gimblett is University Professor Emerita and Professor Emerita of Performance Studies at New York University and Ronald S. Lauder Chief Curator of the Core Exhibition at POLIN Museum of the History of Polish Jews, in Warsaw and she joins us now.

“Yiddish: A Global Culture” at the Yiddish Book Center in Amherst, Massachusetts is the first ever museum exhibition to showcase the extraordinary vibrancy and breadth of modern Yiddish culture - its literature, theater, art, music, journalism, politics - from the mid-nineteenth century to the present day.David Mazower, Chief Curator and writer of the exhibition and catalog, joins us along with the center’s Director of Publishing and Public Programs, Lisa Newman. They will be at The Bookstore in Lenox December 14 at 4 p.m. to present a conversation and book signing.

The Klezmatics, Eleanor Reissa, Joanne Borts, and Michael Winograd are among the internationally acclaimed performers taking the stage at Yidstock: The Festival of New Yiddish Music, returning to the Yiddish Book Center in Amherst, Massachusetts, this Thursday through Sunday.

“Yiddish: A Global Culture” is an acclaimed and original permanent exhibition at The Yiddish Book Center in Amherst, Massachusetts. It opened in Fall of 2023. The exhibition features hundreds of rare objects, family heirlooms, photographs, music, and videos that illuminate the expansive story of modern Yiddish cultural reach.Lisa Newman is director of publishing and public programs at The Yiddish Book Center. David Mazower is the center’s research bibliographer and editorial director - and is the chief curator and writer of “Yiddish: A Global Culture.”

Yidstock: The Festival of New Yiddish Music is back. Now in its twelfth year, Yidstock brings the best in klezmer and new Yiddish music to the Yiddish Book Center in Amherst, Massachusetts.

Aaron Lansky - an awarding-winning preservationist and author - who founded the Yiddish Book Center, announced his plans to retire earlier this year, after a career of fighting to save and preserve Yiddish literature and more.WAMC talked with the mensch himself about his over-40-year effort to save millions of books and create a home for them - and Yiddish culture itself – all in western Massachusetts.

Now in its eleventh year, Yidstock brings the best in klezmer and new Yiddish music to the Yiddish Book Center in Amherst, Massachusetts.From July 13 to 16, this four-day festival will include musicians and performers at the forefront of the Yiddish music scene. In addition to seven concerts, the lineup also includes four workshops, eleven talks, and one special film screening, all in celebration of Yiddish music, language, and culture.

Yidstock: The Festival of New Yiddish Music is back in person this summer, bringing the best in klezmer and new Yiddish music to the stage at the Yiddish Book Center in Amherst, Massachusetts.Yidstock features concerts, discussions, and readings and takes place at the Yiddish Book Center from July 7–10, 2022. Yidstock Artistic Director Seth Rogovoy, author of "The Essential Klezmer: A Music Lover's Guide to Jewish Roots and Soul Music" is here to tell us more along with Lisa Newman – Yiddish Book Center’s Director of Publishing and Public Programs.

This year’s virtual Yidstock: The Festival of New Yiddish Music features a dozen artists from around the globe performing Yiddish songs of social justice.…