The Global Yiddish Story

03/08/2026
60 min
[video_views]

It was the everyday language of most of the world’s Jews for a thousand years, shaping a cultural legacy of remarkable diversity and achievement. The Yiddish Book Center in Massachusetts is the first museum devoted entirely to this heritage, with its immersive permanent exhibition Yiddish: A Global Culture at its core. Its chief curator, journalist David Mazower, joins art historian and former YIVO director Tom L. Freudenheim to explore this essential yet often overlooked aspect of modern Jewish life – from migration and adaptation to innovation and enduring creativity.

About the speakers

Tom L. Freudenheim

An art historian and retired museum director, Tom L. Freudenheim studied at Harvard College, Hebrew Union College, and New York University’s Institute of Fine Arts, where his focus was on Islamic and Early Christian Art.  He served as director of the Baltimore Museum of Art, Worcester Art Museum, and Gilbert Collection (London), as well as […]

David Mazower

David Mazower is the research bibliographer and editorial director at the Yiddish Book Center in Amherst, Massachusetts. He is the chief curator of the Center’s permanent exhibition, Yiddish: A Global Culture and the author of the newly published book and catalogue, Yiddish: A Global Culture: Bold Lives, Boundless Creativity. Before joining the Center, he was a senior staff journalist with […]

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The Global Yiddish Story

03/08/2026
|
60 min

Speaker

Tom L. Freudenheim

An art historian and retired museum director, Tom L. Freudenheim studied at Harvard College, Hebrew Union College, and New York University’s Institute of Fine...

David Mazower

David Mazower is the research bibliographer and editorial director at the Yiddish Book Center in Amherst, Massachusetts. He is the chief curator of the...