Globetrotting Yiddish Writers: Exploring the Work of Perets Hirshbeyn and H.-D. Nomberg

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: Abraham Lichtenbaum

Who should take this course?
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 Description:
During the Czernowitz Conference, the visionary Y.-L. Peretz called for Yiddish artists to travel the world and acquaint themselves with its far-flung Jewish communities. Following his lead, the writers Perets Hirshbeyn and Hirsh-Dovid Nomberg set forth to present a picture of life across the Americas and Erets-Yisroel. This undertaking would broaden the reach of the literary printed word in Yiddish and acquaint European readers with the new centers of contemporary Jewish life.

Perets Hirshbeyn traveled the world, sharing his literary and theatrical works wherever he went. On his travels, he built a better educated community of performers and established a theater-going public. Inspired by Y.-L. Peretz and Hayim-Nahman Bialik, Hirshbeyn sought to capture village and city life from across the Jewish world through art. Among his works, we will read samples of his poetry, short stories, memoirs, travelogues, and theater pieces, including the one-act play “Bebele.”

H.-D. Nomberg's work focuses on the struggles of shtetl intellectuals to adapt to the demands of urban existence. His works of social criticism and literary fiction, informed by his travels, served to challenge traditional Jewish life. In this class, we will read his short stories “Fliglman” and “Dos shpil in libe,” as well as his travelogues covering Russia, North America, and Argentina.

פּרץ הירשביין און ה.־ד. נאָמבערג: שרײַבערס װאָס זײַנען אויסגעפֿאָרן אַ װעלט

דער רבי י.־ל. פּרץ האָט געװיזן דעם װעג בײַ דער טשערנאָװיצער קאָנפֿערענץ מיט זײַן רוף, אַז ייִדישע קינסטלער זאָלן אַרומפֿאָרן זיך באַקענען מיט דער װעלט בכּלל און מיט אירע פֿאַרשיידענע ייִדישע ייִשובֿים בפֿרט. האָבן פּרץ הירשביין און הירש־דוד נאָמבערג זיך געלאָזט אין װעג אַרײַן צו באַשרײַבן זייער צײַט און איבערגעבן אַ בילד פֿון גאַנץ אַמעריקע און ישׂראל, דערבײַ נישט נאָר פֿאַרשפּרייטנדיק דאָס ייִדישע װאָרט נאָר אויך באַקענענדיק דעם אייראָפּעיִשן לייענער מיט די נײַע צענטערס פֿון ייִדישן לעבן. 

פּרץ הירשביין האָט אַרומגעטראָגן זײַנע שאַפֿונגען איבער דער גאָרער װעלט און פֿונאַנדערגעבויט דעם ייִדישן טעאַטער: צוגעגרייט בעסערע אַקטיאָרן און געשאַפֿן אַ פּובליקום. ח.־נ. ביאַליק און י.־ל.פּרץ האָבן אים סטימולירט אין אַ תּקופֿה פֿון נאַציאָנאַלן רענעסאַנס און סאָציאַלע אויפֿברויזן, האָט ער װי אַ מאָלער פֿון דאָרף און שטאָט פֿאַרפֿיקסירט אין זײַנע שאַפֿונגען שטיקער לעבן. פֿון צװישן זײַנע װערק װעלן מיר לייענען טעאַטער־שטיק און בײַשפּילן פֿון לידער און דערציילונגען, אַרײַנגערעכנט דעם איינאַקטער „בעבעלע“, זכרונות און רײַזע־באַשרײַבונגען זײַנע.

ה.־ד. נאָמבערג האָט באַשריבן דעם אינטעליגענט פֿון שטעטל װאָס קען זיך נישט צופּאַסן צו די פֿאָדערונגען פֿון דער גרויסער שטאָט. װי אַ פּובליציסט און װי אַ בעלעטריסט האָט ער קריטיקירט דאָס ייִדישע לעבן און געװיזן נײַע װעגן. פֿון זײַנע װערק װעלן מיר לייענען „פֿליגלמאַן“, „דאָס שפּיל אין ליבע“, װי אויך זײַנע רײַזע־באַשרײַבונגען פֿון רוסלאַנד, צפֿון־אַמעריקע און אַרגענטינע.

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

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

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.

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