Outwitting History by Aaron Lansky, Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill, 2005
By Sheila Orysiek
SAN DIEGO — Suppose you wanted to learn to read and/or speak Yiddish. Where would you go to find books to read and people to speak to?
But, you say, Yiddish is first of all not really a language and second of all – dead. Well, several places of learning would disagree. Places like: Oxford University, Columbia, Harvard, Stanford – to name a few, with faculty, departments and degrees in various aspects of Yiddish. Are you surprised? Skeptical? Go to Google and type in: “Yiddish studies” – and be amazed.
In 1974 while at Hampshire College, Aaron Lansky and a small group of friends decided to find a teacher to study Yiddish and its literature. He became aware that thousands of Yiddish books were being destroyed through neglect, disposal after elderly owners died and general ignorance of the history and culture they contained. With few resources except the strength of his passion and his ability to enlist the aid of others, Lansky began a life’s work to rescue this treasure. From attics, cellars, dumpsters and piles of rubbish – as well as handed to him one at a time from beloved shelves in private libraries, he cajoled, persuaded and sometimes smuggled them to safety.
That ragtag beginning became the Yiddish Book Center (Amherst, Mass.) and the rescue of over one million Yiddish books from around the world such as Cuba, Argentina, Africa and Siberia. The Center not only collects books – it supplies them to those in need like the newly reborn Jewish communities in Europe and Russia.
Rare books and historical documents have been donated to Oxford University’s Bodleian Library (Oxford, UK) and the Library of Congress (Washington, D.C.) The Yiddish Book Center’s website – http://www.yiddishbookcenter.org/ – is fascinating and well worth a visit with free downloads of books (often translated into English) by legendary authors.
Along the road (literally) while collecting the books, Lansky met many of the passing generation of people who owned them – each eager to share his/her life story while sitting around a table filled with Jewish food – and spiced with tears and laughter.
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Orysiek is a freelance writer who specializes in arts and literature. You may comment to her at sheila.orysiek@sdjewishworld.com or post your comment on this website provided that the rules below are observed.
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