How modern Yiddish children’s literature gave expression to emerging forms of Jewish identity across the twentieth century. A Cappella Books is delighted to welcome Miriam Udel, a scholar of Yiddish language and literature, for a discussion of her latest work, “Modern Jewish Worldmaking Through Yiddish Children’s Literature.” This event is free and open to the public; […]
Based on her new book Modern Jewish Worldmaking Through Yiddish Children’s Literature, Yiddish scholar Miriam Udel will reflect on her efforts to reclaim and revivify the corpus of secular Yiddish children’s literature published in Eastern Europe and the Americas during the 20th century. She will consider the relationship between the texts, many of which have been […]
As migration carried Yiddish to several continents during the twentieth century, an increasingly global community of speakers and readers clung to Jewish heritage while striving to help their children make sense of their lives as Jews in the modern world. In Modern Jewish Worldmaking Through Yiddish Children’s Literature, Miriam Udel traces how the stories and poems written for […]
Children’s literature offers a window onto a culture, a society, a historical moment. It reflects the values, hopes, and fears of the adults and communities that created it. In the 20th century, alongside the great works of modern literature for adults, Yiddish writers were also crafting a vibrant body of tales and poems for young […]
Join us for this special event with author Miriam Udel, who will discuss her forthcoming book Modern Jewish Worldmaking Through Yiddish Children’s Literature (Princeton University Press; October 14, 2025). In this groundbreaking work, Udel uncovers the neglected yet profoundly important archive of Yiddish children’s stories, poems, and books written during the twentieth century. These works reimagined Jewish […]
“Crumbs of Wisdom from Yiddish Children’s Literature” is an interactive, intergenerational storytelling session that blends two delicious elements: the warmth of Yiddish and the comfort of carbohydrates. Together, we’ll sample the humor, heart, and timeless lessons tucked into Yiddish children’s stories, discovering how they nourish both body and soul. Bring along a loved one from […]
"Make Your Limit the Sky!" brings Dr. Miriam Udel, author of the newly released Modern Jewish Worldmaking Through Yiddish Children's Literature, into lively conversation with novelist Rachel Barenbaum. They will discuss the history and priorities of the Yiddish children's canon and consider what the stories and poems of fifty to a hundred years ago can […]
What did Yiddish-speaking teenagers in the Americas need to know about Jewish history during and immediately after the Holocaust? How ought the decimation of their cousins in Europe inflect their own Jewish lives? Throughout the 1940s and 1950s, the highest priority of educators in the secular Yiddish schooling networks of the New World was to […]
CSI's welcomes Miriam Udel, Associate Professor of Yiddish Language, Literature, and Culture at Emory University, in conversation with Marshall Duke about her work and her latest book, Modern Jewish Worldmaking Through Yiddish Children’s Literature. Dr. Udel is associate professor of German Studies and Judith London Evans Director of the Tam Institute of Jewish Studies at Emory […]
Join Dr. Miriam Udel, Miami native and Professor of Yiddish Language/Literature/Culture at Emory University, for an amazing discussion on the impact of 20th century Yiddish children’s literature on what it means to be a Jew today, as revealed in her book Modern Jewish Worldmaking Through Yiddish Children’s Literature. Written in an accessible and humane way, […]
What would you do to make the world better for the children in your life? Around the turn of the twentieth century, a group of Yiddish-speaking educators, authors, and cultural leaders undertook a bold project: creating a corpus of nearly one thousand books and several periodicals, which flourished in conjunction with the secular Yiddish school […]
Around the turn of the twentieth century, a group of Yiddish-speaking educators, authors, and cultural leaders undertook a bold project: creating a corpus of nearly one thousand books and several periodicals, which flourished in conjunction with the secular Yiddish school systems that spanned the globe in the 1920s and 30s. These vibrant texts cut across […]