The National Yiddish Book Center in Amherst, Massachusetts, United States, on the campus of Hampshire College, is a cultural institution dedicated to the preservation of books in the Yiddish language. It is a member of Museums10 and is a non-profit institution, and its cultural programs are funded by memberships and grants.
The Center was founded in 1980 by Aaron Lansky. It claims to be the first organization of English-speaking American Jews ded...
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The National Yiddish Book Center in Amherst, Massachusetts, United States, on the campus of Hampshire College, is a cultural institution dedicated to the preservation of books in the Yiddish language. It is a member of Museums10 and is a non-profit institution, and its cultural programs are funded by memberships and grants.
The Center was founded in 1980 by Aaron Lansky. It claims to be the first organization of English-speaking American Jews dedicated to the preservation of Yiddish language and culture. Major Jewish organizations initially refused to fund or aid it, claiming that Yiddish was a dead language.
Lansky was a 23-year-old graduate student in 1980 when he took a leave of absence from McGill University and issued a public appeal for unwanted and discarded Yiddish books. At the time, scholars estimated there were 70,000 Yiddish books still extant and recoverable. Since then, the Book Center has gone on to recover a million volumes, with hundreds of additional books continuing...
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