'Erets-Yisroel' as a Region of “Yiddishland”: Travels of Yiddish Writers to Palestine 1907-1937

Tuition: $480 | YIVO members: $375**
Students: $240 (Must register with valid university email address)

This is a live, online course held weekly on Zoom. Enrollment will be capped at about 15 students. All course details (Zoom link, syllabus, handouts, assignments, 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.

Instructor: Yaad Biran

Who should take this course?
This course, conducted in Yiddish, is designed for upper-intermediate and advanced Yiddish students, such as those who took Intermediate II Yiddish, Intermediate III Yiddish (Sunday or Monday), Intermediate IV Yiddish, Intensive Intermediate I&II Yiddish, Intensive Intermediate III&IV Yiddish, Intensive Advanced I&II Yiddish, or Intensive Advanced III&IV Yiddish in the Fall 2023 semester, and all higher level classes.

Course Description:
During the early 20th century, a set of influential Yiddish writers, from Sholem Asch to Yehoyesh, produced literature about their travels to Palestine and their impressions of the new Hebrew Yishuv developing there. Reflecting the changing Jewish geography of the time, these writers redefined the bounds of “Yiddishland” in their travelogues, stories, and poetry. Across many styles, differing backgrounds, and ideologies, these writers collectively expressed the view that the Yishuv was becoming, in one way or another, an important part of the broader Jewish world beyond Eastern Europe.

In this course, we will read some of the key Yiddish writers who visited Palestine, understand their varying ideological points of view, appreciate the literary aspects of their writings, and try to recreate their vision of “Yiddishland.”

For a full list of the writers to be discussed this semester, see the Yiddish course description below, which lists the topic of each lecture.

ארץ־ישׂראל ווי אַ ראַיאָן פֿון „ייִדישלאַנד“: נסיעות פֿון ייִדישע שרײַבער קיין פּאַלעסטינע אין די יאָרן 1937-1907

1. אַ טאַלאַנט צו ארץ-ישׂראל: שלום אַשס נסיעות קיין פּאַלעסטינע (1907 און 1914)
2. אַ לוסטרײַזע: לייענער און שרײַבער פֿון הײַנט פֿאָרן קיין ארץ-ישׂראל (1911)
3. פֿון ניו-יאָרק ביז רחובֿות און צוריק: יהואשעס נישט באַשערטע עליה (1914)
4. די ערשטע העברעיִשע שטאָט: תּל-אָבֿיבֿ דורך די אויגן פֿון ייִדישע שרײַבער
5. דער מזרח וואַכט אויף: פּרץ הירשביין און אסתּר שומיאַטשער אין ארץ-ישׂראל (1927)
6. קאַפּיטאַליסטן און אַרבעטער: לייב מלאכס יאָר אין ארץ-ישׂראל (1934)
7. אין די שאָטנס פֿון גלבוע: שלום אַש, ה. לייוויק און די חלוצים אין עמק־חרוד
8. דער שטומער אַרבעטער: יוסף אָפּאַטאָשוס נאָוועלע פֿון ארץ-ישׂראל (1934)
9. אַ לעבעדיקע נאַציאָנאַלע גאַלעריע: שרײַבן וועגן ירושלים און דעם אַלטן ייִשובֿ
10. פֿאָרט אַ ייִד קיין ארץ-ישׂראל: פּאַראָדיע, סאַטירע און הומאָר בײַם טונקעלן (1931)

Is knowledge of the Yiddish alphabet required?
Yes, knowledge of the Yiddish alphabet is required.

Course Materials:
The specific chapters to be read will be uploaded to Canvas before the relevant lecture. If you wish to broaden your knowledge by consulting some of the full texts in advance, following are links to some of them:

— שלום אַש, די ערשטע נסיעה
— יהואש, פֿון ניו־יאָרק ביז רחובֿות און צוריק: טייל 1, טייל 2, טייל 3
— פּרץ הירשביין, ארץ־ישׂראל
— אסתּר שומיאַטשער, אין שעהען פֿון ליבשאַפֿט
— יוסף אָפּאַטאָשו, צווישן ימען און לענדער
— לייב מלאך, פּאַלעסטינע־רעפּאָרטאַזשן
— שלום אַש, דאָס געזאַנג פֿון טאָל

Dr. Yaad Biran received his Ph.D. in Yiddish literature at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. He teaches Yiddish language and culture at Beth Shalom Aleichem in Tel Aviv, at Haifa University and in the Tel Aviv summer course. He is a writer and a translator, the author of a short stories book "Laughing with Lizards" (Hebrew) and the writer of "Esther's Cabaret," a contemporary Yiddish Cabaret in Tel Aviv. He also guides Yiddish tours in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem.

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