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You can now enjoy the Yiddish Book Center’s exhibit on your phone
Yiddish culture fans should take a look at the Yiddish Book Center’s recently launched website. Called Yiddish: A Global Culture, Virtual Exhibit, it’s an online version of their marvelous permanent exhibition that can be accessed on your cellphone.
If you know Yiddish, you may have read the Forverts article about the Book Center’s newly-published catalogue of its permanent exhibition. And I’ve described the transformative experience of visiting the exhibition at the Center’s campus in Amherst, Massachusetts. There’s nothing like spending time with the hundreds of Yiddish books on display — not to mention photographs, posters, musical scores, works of art, Yiddish typewriters used by famous authors and a giant linotype press once used to print the Forverts.
But thanks to the website, Yiddish enthusiasts who live far away from Massachusetts can now “visit” the exhibition on their phones. It’s a model of everything a website should be — clearly organized, visually attractive and free. And it makes excellent use of multimedia — not just photographs, but also videos and sound recordings.
Like the exhibition itself, the website is divided into 16 thematic sections, including “Women’s Voices,” “Theater” and “Press and Politics.” Each photograph or multimedia item is accompanied by a description that’s easy to understand, even for people who aren’t Yiddish mavens. The introductions and the descriptions were written by David Mazower, the curator of the exhibition and author of the new exhibition catalogue.
These are some of my favorite items on the website, but they represent only a small part of what’s available.
- Bold, brilliantly-colored illustrations by avant-garde Jewish artists Esther Karp and Ida Broyner for collections of Yiddish poems by Chaim Krul and Dovid Zitman. These limited edition books were published in Lodz, Poland, in 1921. Both the artists and the poets were active in the important Lodz-based Yiddish cultural movement, Yung-yidish. (To see this object, click here.)
- A postcard (ca. 1910) from Warsaw with a photo of the Yiddish and Hebrew writer Devorah Baron. She was hugely popular in Russia, and was practically the only Jewish female writer of her generation whose photo appeared on commercial postcards. (To see this object, click here.)
- Delightful illustrations by the avant-garde artist Issachar Ber Ryback for a Yiddish children’s book written by the Soviet-Yiddish poet Leib Kvitko, published in Berlin in 1921. Ryback was an innovative Jewish artist active in Kiev (Kyiv today), Berlin and Paris. Kvitko was among the 13 Soviet Jewish writers and public figures executed by Stalin in Moscow on Aug. 12, 1952. (To see this object, click here.)
- Amusing self-portrait doodles by the classic Yiddish writer I. L. Peretz, from his scrapbook. Peretz is revered as one of the “founding fathers” of modern Yiddish literature. The Book Center’s exhibition includes a reconstruction of his salon in Warsaw, where he helped shape an entire generation of young Yiddish writers. The self-portraits in his notebook show a lighter side of his character. (To see this object, click here.)
- A copy of Uncle Tom’s Cabin, Harriet Beecher Stowe’s novel about slavery in the American South, translated into Yiddish and published in 1911. A stage adaptation of Stowe’s novel was popular with American Yiddish-speaking audiences in the early 20th century. (To see this object, click here.)
- A Yiddish bookplate from Warsaw (ca. 1910) with a picture of a young girl reading by the light of a kerosene lamp. (To see this object, click here.)
- A photograph of Yiddish poet Esther Shumiatcher-Hirshbein standing with a geisha in Japan. Shumiatcher and her husband, Yiddish playwright and writer Peretz Hirshbein, were insatiable travelers. The steamer trunk that they carried with them all over the world is in the exhibition as well. (To see this object, click here.)
And some multimedia:
- Contemporary Yiddish actor, translator and scholar Mikhl Yashinsky reading a story (ca. 1908) about Max Spitzkopf, the fictional Jewish Viennese sleuth dubbed “the Yiddish Sherlock Holmes.” Yashinsky recently published his English translation of all 15 Spitzkopf stories. He reads here in English from his own translation. (To listen to this recording, click here.)
- A performance of the 1936 Yiddish song, “Our shtetl is burning” (Undzer shtetl brent), by poet and songwriter Mordkhe Gebirtig. During the Holocaust, Jews sang this song in the ghettos and concentration camps, and quickly came to think of it as a folksong. The performance on the website is by contemporary Jewish singer Bente Kahan. (To watch/listen to this performance, click here.)
- Historic recordings by the famous Yiddish singer-actresses Jennie Goldstein, Nellie Casman, Molly Picon, Pepi Litman and Bessie Thomashefsky. (To listen to these recordings, click here.)
- An animation and reading of “Di Zogerin,” a 1922 short story by Rokhel Brokhes. Both the animation and the reading (in Yiddish) are by contemporary Yiddish actress, artist and scholar Alona Bach. The story describes the bitter life of a woman who served as a “zogerin” (also called a “zogerke”). These were women who recited prayers for other women who couldn’t read Hebrew — at home, in the synagogue or at the cemetery. (To watch/listen to the animation and reading, click here.)
Mazower told me that the website will expand and develop over time. “We plan to delve deeper into certain subjects, and hope to add some themes that space didn’t allow us to include in the permanent exhibition, such as the shtetl, Hasidism, organized labor and Yiddish in Israel,” he said.
To access the exhibit, click here.
The post You can now enjoy the Yiddish Book Center’s exhibit on your phone appeared first on The Forward.
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Israel Strikes Hezbollah Targets in Several Areas in Lebanon
Illustrative: Smoke rises after Israeli strikes following Israeli military’s evacuation orders, in Tayr Debba, southern Lebanon, Nov. 6, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Ali Hankir
The Israeli military said it was striking Hezbollah targets in several areas in Lebanon on Thursday, adding that the strikes were in response to Hezbollah‘s “repeated violations of the ceasefire.”
An Israeli military spokesperson had earlier issued a warning to residents of certain buildings in the Lebanese village of Sohmor.
Israel and Lebanon agreed to a US-brokered ceasefire in 2024, ending more than a year of fighting between Israel and Hezbollah that had culminated in Israeli strikes that severely weakened the Iran-backed terrorist group. Since then, the sides have traded accusations over violations.
Lebanon has faced growing pressure from the US and Israel to disarm Hezbollah, and its leaders fear that Israel could dramatically escalate strikes across the battered country to push Lebanon‘s leaders to confiscate Hezbollah‘s arsenal more quickly.
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Pakistan-Saudi-Turkey Defense Deal in Pipeline, Pakistani Minister Says
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif meet in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Sept. 17, 2025. Photo: Saudi Press Agency/Handout via REUTERS
Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and Turkey have prepared a draft defense agreement after nearly a year of talks, Pakistan‘s Minister for Defense Production said, a signal they could be seeking a bulwark against a flare-up of regional violence in the last two years.
Raza Hayat Harraj told Reuters on Wednesday the potential deal between the three regional powers was separate from a bilateral Saudi–Pakistani accord announced last year. A final consensus between the three states is needed to complete the deal, he said.
“The Pakistan–Saudi Arabia-Turkey trilateral agreement is something that is already in pipeline,” Harraj said in an interview.
“The draft agreement is already available with us. The draft agreement is already with Saudi Arabia. The draft agreement is already available with Turkey. And all three countries are deliberating. And this agreement has been there for the last 10 months.”
Asked at a press conference in Istanbul on Thursday about media reports on negotiations between the three sides, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said talks had been held but that no agreement had been signed.
Fidan pointed to a need for broader regional cooperation and trust to overcome distrust that creates “cracks and problems” that led to the emergence of external hegemonies, or wars and instability stemming from terrorism, in the region.
“At the end of all of these, we have a proposal like this: all regional nations must come together to create a cooperation platform on the issue of security,” Fidan said. Regional issues could be resolved if relevant countries would “be sure of each other,” he added.
“At the moment, there are meetings, talks, but we have not signed any agreement. Our President [Tayyip Erdogan]’s vision is for an inclusive platform that creates wider, bigger cooperation and stability,” Fidan said, without naming Pakistan or Saudi Arabia directly.
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The Trump-Backed Palestinian Who Wants to Push Gaza’s Rubble Into the Sea
A drone view shows Palestinians walking past the rubble, following Israeli forces’ withdrawal from the area, amid a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, in Gaza City, Oct. 11, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas
Ali Shaath, the Palestinian former government official chosen to administer Gaza under a US-backed deal, has an ambitious plan that includes pushing war debris into the Mediterranean Sea and rebuilding destroyed infrastructure within three years.
The appointment of the civil engineer and former deputy planning minister on Thursday marked the start of the next phase of US President Donald Trump‘s plan to end Israel’s war in Gaza.
Shaath will chair a group of 15 Palestinian technocrats tasked with governing the Palestinian enclave after years of rule by Hamas terrorists.
Under Trump‘s plan, Israel has withdrawn from nearly half of Gaza but its troops remain in control of the other half, a wasteland where nearly all buildings have been destroyed. Trump has floated turning Gaza into the “Riviera of the Middle East.”
Shaath will face the uncertain task of rebuilding the territory’s shattered infrastructure and clearing an estimated 68 million tons of rubble and unexploded ordnance even as Israel and Hamas continue to trade fire.
After past rounds of fighting with Israel, Palestinians in Gaza used war rubble as foundational material for the historic marina in Gaza City and for other projects. In an interview with a Palestinian radio station on Thursday, Shaath suggested a similar approach.
“If I brought bulldozers and pushed the rubble into the sea, and made new islands, new land, I can win new land for Gaza and at the same time clear the rubble,” Shaath said, suggesting the debris could be removed in three years.
He said his immediate priority was the provision of urgent relief, including forging temporary housing for displaced Palestinians. His second priority would be rehabilitating “essential and vital infrastructure,” he said, followed by reconstruction of homes and buildings.
“Gaza will return and be better than it used to be within seven years,” he said.
According to a 2024 UN report, rebuilding Gaza’s shattered homes will take until at least 2040, but could drag on for many decades.
REBUILDING GAZA
Shaath, born in 1958, is originally from Khan Younis in southern Gaza. He previously served as the deputy minister of planning in the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank, where he currently resides.
In that role and others, he oversaw the development of several industrial zones in the West Bank and Gaza. He holds a PhD in Civil Engineering from Queen’s University Belfast.
Shaath’s upbeat assessment of the timeline for rebuilding Gaza is almost certain to face challenges as mediators struggle to agree terms on disarming Hamas, which refuses to give up its weapons, and deploying peacekeepers in the enclave.
It was unclear how Shaath’s committee would proceed with rebuilding and gaining permissions for the import and use of heavy machinery and equipment – generally banned by Israel.
Israel, which cites security concerns for restricting the entry of such equipment into Gaza, did not respond to requests for comment on Shaath’s appointment and plans.
Shaath said the Palestinian committee’s area of jurisdiction would begin with Hamas-controlled territory and gradually increase as Israel’s military withdraws further, as called for in Trump‘s plan.
“Ultimately, the [committee’s] authority will encompass the entire Gaza Strip — 365 square kilometers — from the sea to the eastern border,” Shaath said in the radio interview.
SUPPORT FROM HAMAS AND ABBAS
The formation of Shaath’s committee has won support from Hamas, which is holding talks on Gaza’s future with other Palestinian factions in Cairo.
Senior Hamas official Bassem Naim said the “ball is now in the court of the mediators, the American guarantor and the international community to empower the committee.”
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, whose authority has limited sway in the West Bank, voiced support for the committee, which he said would run Gaza through a “transitional phase.”
“We reaffirm the importance of linking the institutions of the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank and Gaza, and avoiding the establishment of administrative, legal and security systems that entrench duality and division,” Abbas said in a statement published on Thursday by the official WAFA news agency.
Israel and Hamas agreed in October to Trump‘s phased plan, which included a complete ceasefire, the exchange of hostages living and deceased for Palestinian prisoners, and a surge of humanitarian aid into Gaza.
The deal has been shaken by issues including Israeli airstrikes targeting Hamas operatives, the failure to retrieve the remains of one last Israeli hostage, and Israeli delays in reopening Gaza’s border crossing with Egypt.
On Thursday, a senior Hamas figure was among seven people killed in a pair of Israeli airstrikes in Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip, a Hamas source said.
The source said one of the dead was Mohammed Al-Holy, a local commander in the terrorist group’s armed wing in Deir al-Balah.