Yiddish theater poster Buenos Aires, 1930s

A weekend program with Ilan Stavans at the Yiddish Book Center

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Join author and cultural critic Ilan Stavans, for an exploration of the complexity, the beauty, and the epic nature of Jewish life in Latin America.

This weekend program will include:

• Four lectures by Ilan Stavans

• Discussion groups in English, Spanish, or Yiddish

• Screening of the award-winning comic film My Mexican Shiva, based on a short-story by Stavans

• Course packet and books for recommended reading

• A guided tour of the Center’s exhibits and Writer’s Garden

• A special exhibit of books and materials related to Jewish life in Latin America

• A wine and cheese reception

• Three kosher, catered meals, beginning with Shabbos dinner

...and more!

Ilan Stavans is the Lewis-Sebring Professor in Latin American and Latino Culture at Amherst College. Born and raised in Mexico, Stavans attended Yiddish day school with other children of Eastern European immigrants. He came to the U.S. in the 1980s as a graduate student, and is now an internationally known, award-winning cultural critic, linguist, translator, public speaker, editor, short-story writer, and TV host. His latest work, Return to Centro Histórico: A Mexican Jew Looks for His Roots, makes it possible to understand the intimate role that Jews have played in the development of Hispanic civilization. 

Cost: $260 for Yiddish Book Center members; $300 for non-members. Join or renew your membership now to take advantage of the member discount. Then return here to continue the registration process or call (413) 256-4900 ext. 142 to register by phone.

The lectures in this weekend program will be filmed and presented in future online courses offered by the Yiddish Book Center.

Click here to view a complete schedule.

Friday, April 19

5:30 PM — Registration
6:30 PM — Shabbos dinner
7:30 PM — Welcome and lecture I: “Jews and Latinos: Unlikely Partners”

Saturday, April 20

9:00 AM — Optional tour of Yiddish Book Center exhibitions
10:30 AM — Lecture II: “The Converso as Metaphor: The Legacy of Secrecy”
12:00 PM — Light lunch
1:15 PM — Lecture III: “Magical Realists with Yarmulkes: The Writer as Activist”
2:45 PM — Small group discussions: English, Spanish, and Yiddish
4:00 PM — Free time 
5:45 PM — Wine and cheese
6:15 PM — Dinner
7:30 PM — Film screening: My Mexican Shiva

Sunday, April 21

8:30 AM — Coffee and nosh
9:00 AM — Explore exhibits: Books & materials from Latin America
10:00 AM — Lecture IV: “Yiddish con salsa: Adventures of mame loshn in the Hispanic World”
12:00 PM — Optional tour of Yiddish Book Center exhibitions