On Wednesday August 25 2021, we were joined by Christa Whitney as she presented Stories of Yiddish Melbourne – And Its Place in the Yiddish World.
What is so special about Yiddish in Melbourne? We were joined by Christa P. Whitney, Director of the Wexler Oral History Project at the Yiddish Book Center in Amherst, Massachusetts, as she shared her observations from her 2017 fieldwork in partnership with the Kadimah. Using video highlights of the 30+ oral history interviews she recorded with Yiddish speakers in Melbourne, she reflected on the way history, cultural institutions and politics have shaped the unique form of Yiddish cultural life in the community.
The talk was followed by audience Q&A.
Originally from Northern California, Christa discovered Yiddish while studying comparative literature at Smith College. She has studied Yiddish language at the Vilnius Yiddish Institute as well as the Yiddish Book Center, where she participated in the Steiner Summer Yiddish Program and was a graduate fellow.
וואָס איז אייגנאַרטיק בנוגע ייִדיש אין מעלבורן? באַטייליקט זיך מיט קריסטאַ וויטני, פֿאַרוואַלטערין פֿונעם “וועקסלער מינדלעכע געשיכטע פּראָיעקט”, בײַם ייִדישן בוך צענטער אין אַמהערסט , מעסעטשוסעטס, בשעת זי טיילט זיך מיט אירע באַמערקונגען נאָך מער ווי 30 היסטאָרישע אינטערוויוען, וועלכע זי האָט רעקאָרדירט מיט ייִדיש רעדנער אין מעלבורן אין 2017.