Immersive Cultural Transmission

Expands research capacity by acquiring significant new collections, such as letters from Sholem Aleichem and Israel Zajd’s Morgnshtern archive, and co-founded the Center for Jewish History to strengthen institutional collaboration in Jewish scholarship.

Produces and maintains digital platforms including The YIVO Encyclopedia of Jews in Eastern Europe (with over 180,000 annual visitors), the Online Guide to the YIVO Archives, the Milstein Family Jewish Communal Archive Project, and the YIVO Digital Archives on Jewish Life in Poland. Also contributed to external exhibitions such as “From the Bowery to Broadway” at the Museum of the City of New York.

Leads the Edward Blank YIVO Vilna Online Collections project, launched in 2015, to conserve, digitize, and reunite online millions of pages of looted and scattered pre-war YIVO documents and books from Lithuania. This includes major digitization initiatives such as the Vilna Collections Project, the Chaim Grade and Nachman Blumental collections, and collaboration with the National Library of Israel.

Operates free gallery spaces open multiple days per week for the public to view rotating exhibitions such as “Jews Are Magic” and “Psychedelicatessen,” and offers guided tours of the Sima and Ruby Wagner Gallery by appointment.

Maintains the world's largest and most comprehensive collection of materials on East European Jewish civilization, including approximately 24 million archival items and nearly 400,000 library volumes, with extensive holdings of Yiddish-language books, manuscripts, photographs, sound recordings, and personal correspondence. Collections are accessible to researchers through the Lillian Goldman Reading Room and receive over 5,000 annual research requests.

Hosts 40 to 75 public programs annually, including lectures, conferences, concerts, film screenings, and walking tours, featuring scholars, artists, and writers. Events include the Yiddish-language Passover concert “Music of the Third Seder,” screenings of Holocaust-era films like “Diamonds of the Night,” and tours focused on Yiddish women writers. Receives over 25,000 annual registrations.

Conducts and publishes academic research on East European Jewish life, Yiddish language and literature, the Holocaust, and the American Jewish immigrant experience. Key publications include Max Weinreich’s History of the Yiddish Language, the YIVO Encyclopedia of Jews in Eastern Europe, and scholarly volumes such as Embers Plucked from the Fire and The Last Days of the Jerusalem of Lithuania.

Offers a global online learning program launched in January 2016 that provides access to YIVO’s collections through virtual classes and lectures, engaging over 30,000 students from more than 70 countries.

Organizes international study tours focused on Jewish history and culture, including an annual tour of the Balkans, providing immersive educational experiences grounded in archival and historical research.

Operates the oldest intensive Yiddish language program, held annually since 1968, offering multiple levels of Yiddish instruction and attracting students internationally. In 2025, hosted 74 students from 12 countries. Provides stipends to young scholars to support participation.

Operates a digital museum launched in 2020 that presents East European Jewish history through interactive exhibits using archival materials, making YIVO’s collections accessible to a global online audience.

Offers a range of in-person and online Yiddish language classes and workshops beyond the summer program, including beginner to advanced levels, Alefbeys (alphabet) workshops, and specialized courses on interpreting handwritten Yiddish documents and survivor narratives in literature.

Organizes and hosts an annual weeklong Yiddish-language immersion retreat, known as Yidish-vokh, scheduled for August 14–20, 2026, and attended by up to 170 participants from around the world. The retreat includes daily structured programming in Yiddish such as lectures, workshops, arts activities, sports, and cultural events, with dedicated morning children's groups and accommodations in a facility featuring private rooms, shared cabins, and modern amenities.

Provides digital access to all issues of the publication "Yugntruf" since its first issue in 1965, preserving and disseminating the organization’s historical and cultural content.

Founded and publishes Kinder-Loshn Publications, a Yiddish children's publishing project that produces materials to support language learning and engagement among young speakers.

Engages in advocacy by participating in media productions such as a BBC radio documentary to promote the preservation and revitalization of the Yiddish language.

Operates a scholarship program that has enabled most applicants to attend Yidish-vokh at an affordable cost, with recent expansion allowing over 60 young people and families to participate.

Conducts an annual seminar for teachers during Yiddish Week to promote Yiddish language education and support educators in advancing Yiddish instruction, with a recorded instance in 2021.