ere not 'us bout Shirts & Ties!
our man from head to toe, from
Buy him a Hama Gift Certificate,
we'll do the rest.
Saving The Texts
Steven Spielberg is funding a project
to create a digital Yiddish library.
these books, and we ignore Yiddish liter-
mire at our peril."
ecial to The Jewish News
This year marks the 18th year the
National
Yiddish Book Center has spent
heist, Mass.
recovering what now amounts to almost
rittle with age and crumbling,
1.5 million Yiddish volumes. Most were
the world's largest collection
printed
on acidic, wood-pulp paper that
of Yiddish literature is being
is
deteriorating
with age.
given new life.
Neil
Zagorin,
the center's bibliogra-
The National Yiddish Book Center
pher,
said
memorial
books are also high-
in Amherst has announced it will receive
ly
sought
after.
These
are books contain-
$500,000 from Steven Spielberg's
ing maps and
Righteous
genealogies
ersons
written mostly
oundation to
by Holocaust
create a digital
survivors about
Yiddish library
their home-
of 20,000 out-
— Aaron Lansky towns.
of-print, irre-
Most of the
placeable texts.
books were
The project
published in very limited quantities by
will use digital technology to perma-
landsmanshafien, which were hometown
nently preserve works of modern
associations organized in the New
iddish literature, very nearly obliterated
World,
said Zagorin.
during the Holocaust.
The
project
has been a major finan-
Similar technology was used in
cial
undertaking
during a year of antici-
Spielberg's Survivors of the Shoah Visual
pated
—
and
unanticipated
— budget
History Foundation archive. That pro-
shortfalls.
In
a
September
letter
to mem-
ject preserved on digital video the eye-
bers,
Lansky
said
an
operating
budget
witness testimonies of 50,000 Holocaust
deficit of over $900,000 required him to
survivors, rescuers and liberators.
issue an emergency appeal, even though
Digitized books in "The Steven
the center raised more than $3.3 million
pielberg Digital Yiddish Library" will
in major gifts and grants this year. Those
be reprinted on demand, or alternatively
grants, however, were earmarked mostly
issued as CD-ROMs, and made avail-
for the digitization and endowment
able via the Internet. Officials at the
funds, according to the letter.
center say this is the first time that virtu-
The center has grown to become the
ally an entire modern literature will be
world's
largest supplier of out-of-print
preserved in digital form.
Yiddish books, with an $8 million facili
Emerging in the 1860s, modern
ty on the campus of Hampshire College.
Yiddish literature encompasses novels,
Spielberg gave $250,000 towards con-
plays, poetry, stories and essays by writers
struction of the organization's perma-
including literary masters such as Sholem
nent home in 1995.E
Aleichem and Isaac Bashevis Singer.
Often viewed as a bridge between the
world of Jewish tradition and modern,
industrialized society, the Yiddish works
Letter writer Wilbert Simkovitz'
are a unique record of Jewish life and
first name was misspelled in the
thought in Eastern Europe and America
Dec. 4 letter, "Religion vs. Belief."
before the Holocaust.
With demand for primary Yiddish
sources increasing worldwide in recent .
The name of artist Lynne
years, Aaron Lansky, the center's founder,
Avadenka was misspelled in the
sees digitization as a historic effort. "This
caption of a Dec. 18 photograph
showing winners of the Benard L.
is a finite [body of] literature," Lansky
said. "Since the Holocaust, the culture of
Maas Foundation Prize for
our immediate forebears resides largely in
Achievement in Jewish Culture
and Continuity.
ELODY WI LENSKY
Buy him a Nama Gift Certificate. We'll meet him in the office or at his home,
whatever suits him. How can looking great be any easier?
"We ignore Yiddish
literature at our peril.
LOOK GOOD:
• Professional Hair & Nail Supplies
• Custom Cosmetics
• Tanning & Skin Care
SMELL GREAT:
• Discount Designer
• Fragrances
• The Newest, the Classics &
the hard to find favorites
FEEL SENSATIONAL:
• Bath & Body Oils, Shower Gels
• Powders & Cremes
AND SAVE:
• Selections and prices that all
others strive to duplicate.
WEST BI—Clo
Er. 5
I IE L. ICI)
OAK PARK
Uo
—7323
—So 46•46, 9
24695 Coolidge Hwy. at
10 Mile Rd. Plaza
Orchard Lake Road in the
West Bloomfield Plaza
KNIGHTSBRIDGE ANTI
•UE MALL
26,000 sq. ft. & over 230 dealers
Michigan's Largest High Quality Antique Mall
We have a Large Selection of ...
• Stained Glass Windows • Jewelry
• Pottery
• Prints & Pictures
• Books
• Vintage Clothing
• Toys
• Advertising
• Furniture
42305 W 7 Mile Rd.
Northville
(2 Miles W. of 1-275)
(248) 344-7200
Clarifications
Melody Wilensky is a writer for the
Jewish Advocate.
FOR SALE
INTERNATIONAL NEWS PLUS
12/.
199
Detroit Jewish News
21