The Underworld in Yiddish Literature

Tuition: $200 | YIVO members: $150**

This is a live, online course held on Zoom. Enrollment will be capped at about 25 students. All course details (Zoom link, syllabus, handouts, recordings of class sessions, etc.) will be posted to Canvas. Students will be granted access to the class on Canvas after registering for the class here on the YIVO website. This class will be conducted in Yiddish, and any readings will be in Yiddish.

Instructor: Avrom (Abraham) Lichtenbaum

Every language has its thieves' cant, and all the world's literatures have writers that have depicted the underworld. In this course we will examine literary works that reflect this theme within Yiddish-speaking Jewish life, as well as folklore collections that have preserved the songs and phrases associated with that world.

די אונטערװעלט אין דער ייִדישער ליטעראַטור

יעדע שפּראַך האָט איר גנבֿים־לשון און אין אַלע ליטעראַטורן האָבן שרײַבערס אָפּגעשפּיגלט די אונטערװעלט. מיר װעלן אין דעם קורס באַהאַנדלען ליטעראַרישע װערק װאָס שפּיגלען אָפּ אָט די טעמאַטיק אינעם ייִדישן לעבן און  פֿאָלקלאָר־זאַמלונגען װאָס האָבן אויפֿגעהיט לידער און אויסדרוקן פֿון אָט דער װעלט.

Yiddish Level:
This course is for intermediate students. It is appropriate for those who have taken the equivalent of level Giml or above in the YIVO Summer Program. It is also appropriate for those who completed Intermediate II Yiddish, Intensive Intermediate I&II Yiddish, or above in fall 2021.

Course Materials:
Students will read selections by: Fishl Bimko, Joseph Opatoshu, Leyb Malakh, Sholem Aleichem, Urke Nakhalnik, and Pinkhes Graubard. The instructor will provide all course materials digitally throughout the class on Canvas.

תּלמידים װעלן לייענען פֿראַגמענטן פֿון
פֿ. בימקאָ: גנבֿים (פֿראַגמענטן און גלאָסאַר)
י. אָפּאַטאָשו: אונטערװעלט
ל. מלאך:  אָפּפֿאַל
שלום־עליכם: מאָשקעלע גנבֿ
אורקע נאַכאַלניק: מײַן לעבנסװעג
פּנחס גראַובאַרד: געזאַנגען פֿון תּהום (אין זאַמלבוך: בײַ אונדז ייִדן)

Avrom Lichtenbaum was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, received his education on Yiddish, Jewish history, Hebrew and pedagogy in Israel and Argentina, and taught at primary and high schools. He served as the principal of “Sholem-Aleikhem-Mitlshul” for 25 years.

Now he is executive director of the Argentinian YIVO (“Yidisher Visnshaftlekher Institut”), and teaches Yiddish at YIVO, Argentinian universities, at the summer courses of YIVO New York and New York University. He taught in Warsaw, Hamburg and for the past 25 years at the summer course in Vilnius. 3 years ago, he started teaching Yiddish literature for the “Arbeter Ring” online, and is regularly invited for lectures on the Yiddish language, literature and Jewish topics in Argentina and Latin America (Mexico, Chile, Uruguay, Brazil). He is mainly interested in the bookshelf of Yiddish writers (Yiddish and Yiddishkeyt), Jewish humor and the historical processes that are reflected in modern Yiddish literature. At the Yiddish workshops in Weimar, he will focus on where language, literature and history are to be found in the works of Mendele Moykher-Sforim, Sholem Aleikhem, Perets and Sholem Ash.

**Become a member today, starting at $54 for one year, and pay the member price for classes! You’ll save on tuition for this course and more on future classes and public programs tickets.