About Us

The Rena Costa Center for Yiddish Studies was established in 1983 as a Chair for Yiddish Studies. Over the years, it has evolved into a vibrant and respected academic center within the Department of Literature of the Jewish People, in the Faculty of Jewish Studies at Bar-Ilan University.

For nearly a thousand years, Yiddish served as the primary language of European Jewry and was spoken widely even beyond Europe’s borders. In this language, generations of Jews created a vast cultural heritage—rich literary, theatrical, and scholarly works that remain an inexhaustible source for academic research and cultural exploration.

The Rena Costa Center is one of the few institutions in Israel—and indeed, the world—that offers students the opportunity to specialize in Yiddish as part of their undergraduate and graduate studies. Students at the Center receive rigorous linguistic training, enabling them to read both literary and scholarly texts in Yiddish. They are introduced to a fascinating array of genres and subjects that reflect a millennium of Jewish life, thought, and creativity.

Through their studies, students gain tools to explore Yiddish culture in all its complexity and bring its unique content into diverse academic fields, as well as to broader audiences through teaching and creative work. A distinctive feature of the Center’s curriculum is that some courses are taught in Yiddish itself, aligning with best practices in language and cultural studies.

The Center also boasts a rich library, housing an impressive collection of books and periodicals available to students and researchers.

Throughout the years, the Rena Costa Center has maintained strong ties with academic institutions in Israel and around the world that are engaged in Yiddish language and cultural studies. It also collaborates with cultural organizations dedicated to preserving and promoting Yiddish heritage.

The Center’s distinguished faculty is highly regarded in international academic circles and has produced an extensive body of scholarly publications recognized both in Israel and globally.
 
What do we learn?
• The Center for Yiddish Studies wishes to present a broad and interdisciplinary picture of Yiddish literature and culture against the background of contemporary Hebrew and general literature and in relation to the periods, places, events and processes within which it was created and developed.
• Language studies at beginner and advanced level.
• Genres and contents in old Yiddish literature (up to the eighteenth century).
• Genres and contents in modern Yiddish literature.
• Hassidism and its connection to Yiddish.
• Geographically related creators and works (Poland, the Soviet Union, the United States, etc.).
• Children's literature in Yiddish.
• The world of the individual and the general in Yiddish memoirs.
• The work in Yiddish during and about the Holocaust.
• Yiddish press as a center of public and cultural discourse.
• Jewish education in Yiddish.
• Folk culture in Yiddish.
• Yiddish theater for generations.
• Yiddish cinema and its achievements.
So why study at the center for Yiddish studies?
• Courses in a variety of focused and interdisciplinary fields of knowledge.
• Unmediated acquaintance with a glorious culture that was lost and a contribution to its perpetuation.
• A library rich in books and periodicals.
• Excellent teaching staff.
• Study tours in cultural institutions.
•    Seminars.
• Discussion between the research students.
• Personal treatment and a pleasant study atmosphere.
• Scholarships for those who qualify.
1. The structure of the program
Master's and Master's degrees in the Department of Literature of the Jewish People, specializing in Yiddish culture.
Master's degree
• Track A - research (with thesis).
• Track B - non-research (no thesis).
Ph.D
Postdoc
 
Details of the department's requirements on the department's website:
https://hebrew-literature.biu.ac.il/node/2184
 
Admission conditions
 
• For those registering for a master's degree in both tracks: a bachelor's degree from a recognized institution in Israel or abroad with an average grade of at least 85.
• For applicants for a third degree: a master's degree from a recognized institution in Israel or abroad with an average grade of at least 85.
•    personal interview.
• Complementary studies according to department and center requirements.
• Knowledge of Yiddish is desirable but not necessary.
 
Want to hear more? happily!
Contact Information
yiddish.center@biu.ac.il
03-5318630
Building 410, room 303