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Lansky tells crowd at EMU
about rescuing Yiddish books.

Ethan Lube and Clara Silver
Special to the Jewish News

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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.

