Uriel Weinreich Summer Program Testimonial: Joshua “Yoshke” Horowitz, ‘24

Intentional Yiddish Spaces

by Joshua “Yoshke” Horowitz, Summer Program ‘24

As a student in the 2024 in-person advanced class at YIVO's Uriel Weinreich Summer Program, I had an incredible time. Every day, I had a chance to attend hours of Yiddish class focusing on grammar, literature, and speaking practice, in addition to elective seminars, lectures in English and in Yiddish, walking tours, concerts, and more. Over the past six weeks I've met many incredible Yiddishists, including my amazing lerers and the students in my and other levels. I am very grateful for the instruction I received from my teachers, Dovid Braun, Joshua Price, and Boris Sandler. All three are absolute experts, and it was a pleasure to get to sit in the same room and learn from them in as small and attentive of a learning environment as YIVO. At a certain level of language learning it can be hard to notice progress, but when I think back to six weeks ago it is very clear to me that I speak, read, and understand grammar better and with more confidence.

Learning together in the intensive educational environment of YIVO we had a chance to make deep bonds and deep friendships, bonds that also help to incorporate Yiddish into one's daily life. In today's world, it is necessary for Yiddish-learners to seek out intentional Yiddish-speaking spaces, and the Weinreich Program was, for me, a model of that exact kind of space. I know that many students plan to continue meeting with their classmates online to finish the material they didn't have a chance to in their six short weeks at YIVO. As a graduate of the advanced level, I've been asked to act as the surrogate teacher for one of these Zoom groups, and I am so excited to help these Yiddishists go further, and that we had a chance to meet through the Weinreich Program.

Learn more about the Uriel Weinreich Summer Program in Yiddish Language, Literature, and Culture.