Yiddish Book Center

Translation Initiative

2018

$100,000

Yiddish books tell us more about the history of Jewish life in Eastern Europe than perhaps any other source, and yet 98 percent of all Yiddish books remain un-translated and inaccessible to English readers. With support from RPF, the Yiddish Book Center (YBC) has been chipping away at that figure via its Translation Fellowship, a program that tasks a diverse group of scholars with making important Yiddish works available in English for the first time. Having made strides in publishing (nearly 50 fellows have translated works to date, including a previously unknown manuscript by celebrated Yiddish writer Chaim Grade being published by Knopf/Doubleday Publish Group), the Center is now looking to significantly broaden the audience for these and future translations. With support from RPF, YBC will accept 10 new fellows while determining how best to develop a larger audience for their important work.