The Classicists as Intellectuals, Critics, and Ideologues of their Times

Class starts Jan 10 2:00pm-3:30pm

Tuition: $360 | YIVO members: $270**

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 accessible in Canvas. Students will be granted access to the class on Canvas after registering for the class here on the YIVO website.

Instructor: Abraham Lichtenbaum

The “apologetics of the shtetl” in modern Yiddish literature—the stereotype of Yiddish literary fixation on the Eastern European Jewish small town—often obscures the role of classical writers Mendele Moykher-Sforim, I.L. Peretz, and Sholem Aleichem in their struggle to modernize and improve Jewish life. Over the course of six sessions, we will analyze six works that are just a sampling of that literary product and demonstrate the authors’ approach which was positively received by the public perhaps to the same degree as their contributions to Yiddish language and literature.

Yiddish Level:
This course, conducted in Yiddish, is designed for advanced Yiddish students. It is suitable for advanced Yiddish students, such as those who took Intermediate IV Yiddish, Intensive Intermediate III&IV Yiddish, Intensive Advanced I&II Yiddish, or Intensive Advanced III&IV Yiddish in the Fall 2023 semester.

Course Materials:
The instructor will provide all required course materials digitally throughout the class on Canvas.

די קלאַסיקערס װי אינטעלעקטואַלן, קריטיקערס און אידעאָלאָגן פֿון זייער צײַט

די „אַפּאָלאָגעטיק פֿונעם שטעטל“ אין דער מאָדערנער ייִדישער ליטעראַטור פֿאַרדעקט אָפֿט מאָל די ראָלע פֿון מענדעלען, פּרצן און שלום־עליכמען אין זייערע ראַנגלענישן פֿאַר אַ מאָדערן און בעסער ייִדיש לעבן. איבערן משך פֿון זעקס לעקציעס װעלן מיר אַנאַליזירן זעקס שאַפֿונגען װאָס זײַנען נאָר אַ מוסטער פֿון אָט דער פּראָדוקציע זייערער און װײַזן זייער דרך װאָס האָט אַזוי שטאַרק אױסגענומען בײַם עולם, אפֿשר אין דער זעלביקער מאָס װי זייער בײַטראָג צו דער ייִדישער שפּראַך און ליטעראַטור.

פֿון מענדעלע מוכר-ספֿרים: „בשעת דער מהומה“, „אַמאָליקע בעלי־טובֿות“

פֿון י.־ל. פּרץ: „אַ גילגול פֿון אַ ניגון“, „בילדונג“

פֿון שלום-עליכם: „אַן אַסיפֿה פֿון ייִקאַ אין פּאַריז“, „אַ קאָנסיליום פֿון דאָקטוירים“

דער קורס איז פֿאַר אַװאַנסירטע לערנערס און װעט דורכגעפֿירט װערן אױף ייִדיש.

Questions? Read our 2024 Winter Yiddish Seminars FAQ.

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

Currently, he is executive director of the Argentinian YIVO (“Yidisher Visnshaftlekher Institut”) or IWO, and teaches Yiddish at Argentinian universities and at the YIVO Institute's Uriel Weinreich Program in New York. He has taught in Warsaw, Hamburg, and for the past 25 years at the summer course in Vilnius. Three 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 yidishkeyt), Jewish humor, and the historical processes that are reflected in modern Yiddish literature.

**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.