1 'World t-JAMINOSIRY Save $300 Saving Culture when you book before January 31, 2011 Pa/s/go/vov2011 10 DAYS 9 NIGHTS APRIL 18 - APRIL 27. 2011 JOIN US AS WE CELEBRATE OURT7TH YEAR ASTHE PREMIER LUXURY PROGRAM ON THE WEST COAST Lansky tells crowd at EMU about rescuing Yiddish books. Ethan Lube and Clara Silver Special to the Jewish News Ypsilanti ,s.10.• • LOEWS ? eri °kit Riviera Resort and Spa Pain' Springy Loews Lake Las Vegas Resort • • Double 0 gratu a n RED UM ma gazine We are extending the Thread with our website. Get tied in by logging on! CAN'T GET ENOUGH? Get even more Red Thread with Web-only extras! Coming soon to redth read magazi ne.com 1641690 24 January 20 2011 A aron Lansky, founder and president of the National Yiddish Book Center, spoke on "Gevalt! The Last-Minute Rescue of Modern Jewish Culture" at Eastern Michigan University in December before a crowd of more than 200, including EMU and Washtenaw Community College students as well as Jewish community members from Metro Detroit, Ann Arbor and Jackson. "The Talmud says,`If you save one life, you save an entire world:" said Detroit Jewish News publisher Arthur M. Horwitz as he introduced Lanky. "I wonder if you save this many books, if you save an entire universe." Lanky has rescued 1.5 million volumes, now housed at the National Yiddish Book Center in Amherst, Mass. He engaged his audience with tales of his first trip to rescue Yiddish books from an older man, only to find that this man had shared the news of Lansky's coming with the entire apartment build- ing; all the residents had books ready to donate. Not only did Lansky rescue books already in dumpsters, but also from children and grandchildren who no longer had any interest in keeping their elders' books, which they could not read. The stories behind each book led Lansky to realize over time that he was not simply preserving books in a library, but also preserving the stories of a now largely disappeared generation that links modern Jews to more than a thousand years of Yiddish tradition and culture. Another highlight of the evening was an announcement by EMU College of Arts and Sciences Dean Thomas Venner that EMU would be launching a Jewish Studies program next fall. He introduced Prof. Martin Shichtman, a tenured member of the EMU faculty for 26 years, as the newly appointed director of Jewish Studies. At the post-lecture reception, Shichtman said, "Lanky is a truly outstanding man who saved a culture that would have been lost and made it accessible for our people's future forev- Aaron Lansky at the podium at EMU er." He was referring to Lansky's initia- tive to digitize and translate each of the 1.5 million volumes in the collection. After the lecture, the evening con- tinued with Lansky signing copies of his book, Outwitting History: The Amazing Adventures of A Man Who Rescued A Million Yiddish Books. Raymond Rosenfeld of Bloomfield Hills, EMU faculty member and Hillel at EMU president, said, "Lansky has a warmth that makes his story truly amazing. What a mitzvah he has done for our people." Others in attendance included Hillel at EMU board members, represen- tatives of the Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Detroit and EMU Provost and Executive Vice President Jack Kay. "Lansky demonstrates that one person can make a difference and, without realizing it until later, the thing you set out to do can truly reveal something far bigger and greater than your original intentions," Kay said. Hillel at EMU students welcomed guests at the event. The Lansky event launched "Three Jewish Voices:' the first Jewish speaker series at EMU, which will include lectures on Feb. 2 by author Jonathan Tropper and in March by author Sharon Pomerantz. This first lecture was sponsored by EMU's Division of Academic Affairs, EMU's College of Arts and Sciences, Hillel at Eastern Michigan University and the Detroit Jewish News. I_ I Ethan Lube of Northville is a junior at EMU; Clara Silver is director of Hillel at EMU.