Afterlife: Survivors in the Stories of Chava Rosenfarb and Zvi Eisenman
Tuition: $240 | YIVO members: $180**
Students: $120 (Must register with valid university email address)
This is a live, online course held weekly on Zoom. Enrollment will be capped at about 15 students. All course details (Zoom link, syllabus, handouts, assignments, etc.) will be posted to Google Classroom. Students will be granted access to the class on Google Classroom after registering for the class here on the YIVO website. This class will be conducted in Yiddish.
Instructor: Vera Szabó
Who should take this course?
This course is appropriate for Yiddish students at the high intermediate level and above.
What topics will this class cover?
In this course, students will read and discuss selected short stories of Chava Rosenfarb and Zvi Eisenman focusing on the lives of survivors after the Holocaust: coping with trauma and losses, the challenges of displacement and emigration, carrying memories that resist both expression and silence. Both authors are Holocaust survivors themselves, and their stories offer us two complementary perspectives of the survivor experience: a female and a male voice; a life rebuilt in North America and another rebuilt in Israel. We will examine the texts from a literary and linguistic point of view. Relevant grammatical structures will be clarified; oral and written exercises will strengthen all language skills.
Is knowledge of the Yiddish alphabet required?
Yes, knowledge of the Yiddish alphabet is required.
Course Materials:
Required:
- Bochner/Beinfeld, Comprehensive Yiddish-English Dictionary (verterbukh.org)
- Schaechter-Viswanath/Glasser, Comprehensive English-Yiddish Dictionary (englishyiddishdictionary.com)
- Yitskhok Niborski, Verterbukh fun loshn-koydesh-shtamike verter in yidish, Paris, 2012 (Purchase)
Recommended:
- It is highly recommended to purchase the print version of both Comprehensive Dictionaries.
Additional print and audio material will be provided by the instructor (students will have free digital access).
Questions? Read our 2026 Summer Classes FAQ.
Vera Szabó was born and raised in Budapest, Hungary. She holds an M.A. in Yiddish Studies from Columbia University as well as an M.A. in English and German Studies from ELTE University, Budapest.
She has taught Yiddish language, literature and folklore at various universities in the US (University of Michigan, Stanford, the University of Washington) and in Israel (Ben-Gurion University of the Negev) as well as in various intensive summer programs (NYU/YIVO, Vilna, and Tel Aviv University.) She currently teaches various levels of Yiddish at Beth Shalom Aleichem.
Vera also translates literary and non-literary texts from Yiddish and Hungarian into English. Her research interest is Yiddish folklore. A certified yoga teacher, Vera has been teaching yoga in Yiddish for the past few years in Jerusalem, where she resides. More information on her website: www.verele.com
**Become a member today, starting at $54 for one year, and pay the member price for classes! You’ll save on tuition for this course and more on future classes and public programs tickets.