Elementary Yiddish — Yiddish 101 [5 units] Five hours of lecture/discussion per week.
Description: Introduction to Yiddish language and literature. Attention to reading, writing, and speaking in the context of the historic Yiddish cultural environment.
Intermediate Yiddish — Yiddish 102 [5 units] Five hours of lecture/discussion per week. Prerequisites: 101 or equivalent. Credit option: Students will receive no credit for 2 after taking 102.
Description: Further intensive study of Yiddish, building on the foundation established in 101. Advanced grammar and introduction to the reading of original texts.
Readings in Yiddish — Yiddish 103 [5 units] Three hours of lecture/discussion per week. Prerequisites: 102 or equivalent, or consent of instructor. Credit option: Course may be repeated for credit when readings change.
Description: Study of selected Yiddish texts including prose, poetry, and drama, from various periods and geographic areas, in the context of time and place. Review of relevant grammatical topics. Increased attention to the Hebrew/Aramaic component. Selections may vary from semester to semester.
Online Yiddish dictionaries: Though the array of Yiddish-English dictionaries is still awaiting a thorough and exhaustive source (when will the Groyse Verterbukh ever be complete?) here are two useful online English-Yiddish/Yiddish-English dictionaries:
http://www.cs.uky.edu/~raphael/yiddish/dictionary.cgi
http://www.yiddishdictionaryonline.com/
Encyclopedias:
The YIVO Encyclopedia of Jews in Eastern Europe http://www.yivoencyclopedia.org/
The Jewish Women's Archive Encyclopedia http://jwa.org/encyclopedia
Vikipedie: http://yi.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D7%94%D7%95%D7%99%D7%A4%D7%98_%D7%96%D7%99%D7%99%D7%98
Yiddish Online:
The National Yiddish Book Center's Steven Spielberg Digital Library: http://www.archive.org/details/nationalyiddishbookcenter (don't let the irregular transliteration system stop you, keep searching and you will find a pdf for almost any Yiddish book!)
The Yiddish Radio Project: http://yiddishradioproject.org/
YIVO, The Institute for Jewish Research: http://www.yivoinstitute.org/
Yiddish in Berkeley:
Lehrhaus Judaica: http://www.lehrhaus.org/
Beginning Yiddish (Yiddish 101) is currently taught by Mindl Cohen, a graduate student in the department of Comparative Literature at UC Berkeley. Mindl's interest in Yiddish comes from her grandfather and great-grandather, a founding member of the Arbeter-Ring in Quincy, Massachusetts. Mindl has been studying Yiddish since 2006, she focuses on modernist Yiddish poetry by authors such as Moyshe Kulbak, Anna Margolin, and Itsik Manger. Beginning Yiddish takes a communicative approach to learning the Yiddish language; students learn to shmues and sing in Yiddish, in addition to getting a solid foundation in Yiddish grammar and a basic introduction to the history of the language and its culture.
Literature. Marc Chagall, Moscow, 1920. Tempura and gouache on canvas. Panel from the mural on the four arts created by Chagall for "A Sholem Aleichem Evening," the Yiddish Chamber Theater’s first production in Moscow, 1920. (© 2006 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York/ADAGP, Paris) (The State Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow)
Alef-beys (Alphabet). Yisakhar Ber Rybak, 1918. Oil on canvas. (Ryback Museum, Bat Yam, courtesy of the Bat Yam Municipality Department of Culture and Strategic Planning)
