Celebrating 100 Years

Dear Friend,

On the eve of YIVO’s centennial anniversary, we celebrate the endurance of YIVO’s mission to preserve and protect our heritage and culture. We look back with awe at the imagination, passion, intelligence and, yes, heroism of those who first conceived, collected and studied YIVO’s archives and library, then risked their lives to save this precious legacy from both Nazi and Soviet destruction.

Today, we are delighted to formally announce YIVO’s $40 million Centennial Campaign, undertaken to sustain YIVO’s ongoing vitality as we develop new programs and ways to serve scholarship and the general public. Thanks to the generosity of our dedicated supporters, we have already exceeded 80% of our goal. The comprehensive campaign, which extends through 2026, encompasses three core pillars:

Saving is not enough; digitizing is not enough. These are but first steps— essential though they be—for conveying to our children who we were, who we are, and who we can become. Conflicts within the Jewish global community may obscure our sense of this evolution, but YIVO’s archives and library are both anchor and inspiration—a great monument to Jewish civilization and an expansive guide that includes every form of religious observance; political and labor movements; folk medicine to modern medicine; children’s summer camps; Yiddish lullabies and other musical compositions; communal records from the 17th century to immigration records in the 20th; and maps of the transformation of Eastern Europe and Russia.

Our resources and programs nurture us today and will continue to inspire those who come after us. In a challenging time, we welcome the New Year and look forward to YIVO’s second century.

Thank you for being part of the YIVO community.

!מיר װינטשן אײַך אַ פֿרײלעכן און אַ ליכטיקן חנוכּה

We wish you a happy and bright Hanukkah.

Sincerely,

Jonathan Brent Executive Director & CEO

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