Introduction to Yiddish Language and Culture

Stories of Exile Reading Groups for Public Libraries

Yiddish was at one time the international language of Ashkenazic Jews (the Jews of Central and Eastern Europe and their descendants). It is a hybrid of Hebrew and medieval German and was spoken by 11 million people in the world before WWII. Today the estimated number of Yiddish speakers has dropped to 600,000. Yiddish has a rich culture of literature, theater, and music. Learn about the fascinating history of the Yiddish language and culture with Rabbi Levi Mentz.

About Rabbi Levi Mentz

Rabbi Levi and Chaish Mentz founded Congregation Beth Israel, North Georgia's first and only full service synagogue, in August 2016. Rabbi Mentz is a fluent Yiddish speaker.

This program is part of the "Stories of Exile" series sponsored by the Yiddish Book Center. The Yiddish Book Center’s “Stories of Exile” Reading Groups for Public Libraries is a reading and discussion program to engage teens and adults in thinking about experiences of displacement, migration, and diaspora. Using Yiddish literature as a portal, the program will feature works in translation that explore narratives which grapple with questions of homelands, journeys, identity, and belonging. Accompanying the reading groups will be informational lectures on subjects relating to the reading discussions.

The Yiddish Book Center’s “Stories of Exile” Reading Groups for Public Libraries is made possible by a gift from Sharon Karmazin.

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