Uriel Weinreich Summer Program Testimonial: Aistė Puidokaitė, ‘24

Yiddish as a Living Language

by Aistė Puidokaitė, Summer Program ‘24

I have just spent the most wonderful six weeks at the YIVO-Bard Summer Program in Yiddish Language, Literature, and Culture! To be everyday among Yiddish speakers, to be immersed in Yiddish language and culture was an extraordinary experience that brought me a lot of joy!

I believe that perhaps the greatest strength of the YIVO’s summer program is that it treats Yiddish as a living language and emphasizes spoken Yiddish. Three weekly shmues (conversation) classes, “Yiddish Civilization” lectures in Yiddish, and teachers or YIVO staff who spoke to us in Yiddish outside of class are just a few examples of how this approach was implemented on a daily basis. I am also very grateful to my teachers who regularly went above and beyond to help us learn.

I am very grateful to have been given the opportunity to study Yiddish at the YIVO and to be part of this inspiring Yiddish world. As my work is directly related to the Yiddish language (I am a senior researcher at the Judaica Research Center of the National Library of Lithuania), I feel that the Yiddish knowledge I gained at the YIVO will help to make a contribution to my work.

I will always have fond memories of my time here because learning Yiddish in the YIVO summer program was mamesh a mekhaye!

Learn more about the Uriel Weinreich Summer Program in Yiddish Language, Literature, and Culture.