The Naomi Prawer Kadar International Yiddish Summer Program

19/04/2026

Discover Yiddish in Tel Aviv – Summer 2026!

Join the Naomi Prawer Kadar International Yiddish Summer Program at Tel Aviv University
📅 July 5–30, 2026

✨ What to expect:
• 4 levels of in-person Yiddish classes (beginner → advanced)
• Inspiring lectures by leading scholars
• Creative workshops, song sessions & manuscript studies
• Film screenings + cultural tours in Tel Aviv & Jerusalem
• A vibrant international community

💡 Scholarships available for full-time students!

📌 How to apply:
Apply through TAU International (Language Programs → Yiddish Program)
Send us a short personal letter about your connection to Yiddish language/The Jona Goldrich Institute for Yiddish Language, Literature and Culture

⚠️ Scholarships are awarded individually based on your application (not guaranteed).

🎓 TAU students with schedule conflicts—reach out! We’ll work with you to find a solution.

📩 Questions? Contact us anytime—we’re happy to help.
Apply now and be part of a living language and culture this summer.
🔗 https://international.tau.ac.il/apply-to-international-programs-at-tel-aviv-university

17/02/2025

The TAU Yiddish Summer Program will take olace from July 8-31, 2025.
Registration is open. Please ckeck our website for more details:
https://en-humanities.tau.ac.il/naomiyiddish

18/08/2024

בצער רב אנו מודיעים על פטירתה של בלה בריקס קליין .

הלוויתה תתקיים היום , יום ראשון 18.8.2024
בשעה 17:30 בבית העלמין סגולה, פ״ת.

השבעה תתקיים בבית בלב
דנמרק 36, פ״ת
דירה 29

שעות השבעה:
שני-חמישי 8:30-14:00
16:00-21:00

שישי 8:30-15:00

29/11/2023

November 28, 2023: Vered Sagie of The Jona Goldrich Institute for Yiddish Language, Literature and Culture and Prof. Justin Cammy (Aryeh-Leyb) doing their small part volunteering in support of Israeli farmers close to Gaza, who are in need of workers and help with their fields. Yiddish -- into nature!

20/11/2023

Tayere Khaveyrim,
I wanted to reshare this image from the 2023 Naomi Program. It captures what is, for me, a powerful memory: Miriam Toukan, the renowned Palestinian singer who is a citizen of Israel, performing in Yiddish and in Arabic beside Jasmine Garfunkl of Argentina and Lea Kalisch of Switzerland/US—at my house, when it was packed with raucous students. This is what our program is and will always be about—bringing people together from all backgrounds to explore, cherish, revive and grow inspired by the Yiddish cultural tradition.

Here at the Naomi Program and the Goldrich Institute, we are working hard to think about how to rebuild that space of joy, dialogue and Yiddishkayt after the massacre on October 7th and the ensuing war in Gaza. We can’t yet offer dates and details about summer 2024. But, we’re working on it, attending carefully to the events in our region, and hope you’ll stay posted. We are more committed to our vision than ever before, and want you to remain a part of it.

On that note, I’d like to announce an exciting shift in our leadership. As of the current academic year, Dr. Rachel Wamsley will be expanding her role in the summer program to Academic Director. I will remain on as Executive Director of the program (and head of the Institute) and Prof. Justin Cammy will continue to enrich our program with his stellar lecture series and more. Dr. Wamsley comes into the program with both expertise and passion for Yiddish, as well as innovative ideas for Yiddish learning. Please join me in welcoming her to this new role.

Since I started this note with a picture, I’ll end with thoughts drawn from a written text: In her first book of poetry, written immediately after her liberation from the concentration camps, Chava Rosenfarb wrote that her poetry aimed to “teach people how to love/lernen lib hobn” in the wake of catastrophe. Yiddish literature has something to teach us at every historical juncture and our program will continue to giving people the tools to listen.

Mit vareme vuntshn,
Hannah Pollin-Galay

23/08/2023

Lerer Roskies shows us how it’s done!

The art of renewal in the summer heat

31/07/2023

Student Spotlight:

I am Anya Zaltsman from Georgia and a descendant of Ashkenazis scattered in Europe.

Among the million Jews who could not escape the anti-Semitic wave, my grandfather Efim Salzman was with his family, whose tragic story continued from Germany to Georgia due to the Russian policy of oppression.

No one around understood the language my ancestors spoke. That language was Yiddish - the tongue that saved the Jewish culture from complete assimilation in the world.

The history of Yiddish in Georgia is known since the 19th century, when the first Ashkenazis entered the country, and it disappeared with the Ashkenazis in the second half of the 20th century. When I grew up, I decided to follow in the footsteps of my ancestors and dedicated to their memory a documentary film about the Jews living in my city, who left a mark on the history of Georgia.
And in order to better understand the history of the Ashkenazi Jews, I began to study the Yiddish language in order to speak as my people spoke, to pray as my people prayed and to fight as they fought.

That is why I am standing here today, on the grounds of Tel Aviv University, and I thank God, Georgia, who sheltered many displaced Jews and loved me, my ancestors, (my deceased mother) my family, friends and my talented lecturer, Lasha Shakulashvili, who revived Yiddish in Georgia and is the patron of Jewish treasure and culture.

I would like to express my special thanks to Tel Aviv University, each lecturer, and the administration, who gave me the opportunity to set foot on the land of my ancestors and shout loudly:
If I forgot thee O’ Jerusalem...

26/07/2023

Yesterday, we held our annual Student Symposium, where we got to hear 10 fascinating presentations, many of which were in Yiddish, from some of our students, pursuing both bachelors and advanced degrees.

Thank you so much to everyone who attended, and of course, to our talented and insightful speakers, you did an amazing job!

20/07/2023

Meet our students!

I am Tamta Todadze from the country of Georgia. I have a Bachelor's degree in Political Science, and a Masters in State Management and Public Policy. This year, I am completing a doctoral program in economics at Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University. At the same time, I am very interested in Jewish culture and learn Hebrew studies at the same university. I would like to point out that Georgia is the only country in the Caucasus where Yiddish is taught. The foundation for all this was laid out by TAU Goldrich summer program graduate Lasha Shakulashvili. On behalf of everyone in my cohort, I would like to take this opportunity to thank him for this opportunity. To me, Yiddish is not only a language, but more, encompassing the Jewish nation's history and culture. I deeply believe that we will all revive and develop history together!

19/07/2023

Meet our students!

Shalom!

My name is Tamar Levi. I am from the country of Georgia, where I represent the Jewish community. I am so glad that I had the opportunity to participate in this unique program offered by the Goldrich Institute.

Back home, I am a student at Tbilisi State University, where I am completing my bachelor’s degree in economics. My interest in Yiddish may seem unusual to some, but it stems from my childhood, growing up in a very multicultural environment, surrounded by so many jewish and ashkenazi people.

I believe that the best opportunity for a student who is ready to serve her community is to study at the best university in the world, and at the same time, have the opportunity to form meaningful connections with great people who share their interests. This has been my experience, participating in the summer program.

I would also like to add that for me, living and studying in Israel is no more and no less than the definition of freedom – a guarantee of self-realization – the goal I have set for myself.

Finally, I would like to thank the country of Israel, Tel Aviv University’s unique Yiddish program, and my favorite lecturer of all, Lasha Shakulashvili, who did everything he could to allow us, nine Georgian students, to take part in this amazing program.