“Incredible... Inspiring... Important.” —Library Journal, starred review “A marvelous yarn, loaded with near-calamitous adventures and characters as memorable as Singer creations.” —The New York Post “What began as a quixotic journey was also a picaresque romp, a detective story, a profound history lesson, and a poignant evocation of a bygone world.” —The Boston Globe “Every now and again a book with near-universal appeal comes along: Outwitting History is just such a book.” —The Sunday Oregonian As a twenty-three-year-old graduate student, Aaron Lansky set out to save the world's abandoned Yiddish books before it was too late. Today, more than a million books later, he has accomplished what has been called “the greatest cultural rescue effort in Jewish history.” In Outwitting History, Lansky shares his adventures as well as the poignant and often laugh-out-loud stories he heard as he traveled the country collecting books. Introducing us to a dazzling array of writers, he shows us how an almost-lost culture is the bridge between the old world and the future—and how the written word can unite everyone who believes in the power of great literature.A Library Journal Best Book A Massachusetts Book Award Winner in Nonfiction An ALA Notable Book

Aaron Lansky, AARON LANSKY

Lansky, Aaron, 1955-

Chapel Hill, N.C.: Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill

Shannon Ravenel Books

1st ed., Chapel Hill, N.C, North Carolina, 2004

1st paperback ed, Chapel Hill, N.C, 2005

United States, United States of America

First edition, Chapel Hill, N.C, 2004

obscured text on cover

Includes bibliographical references (p. [313]-316).

The Great Yiddish Scholar Max Weinreich Was Delivering A Lecture In Finland When The Nazis Invaded His Native Poland. The Lecture Saved His Life. He Made His Way To New York, Where He Opened His Doors To New Students. Many Thought His Work With Hopeless -- Especially Since Half Of The World Yiddish Speakers Had Been Killed In The Holocaust. Asked Why He Persevered, Weinreich Answered Simply: Because Yiddish Has Magic, It Will Outwit History. And So It Has -- Though In Ways Few Could Have Imagined. In 1980, A 23-year-old Student Named Aaron Lansky Set Out To Rescue The World's Abandoned Yiddish Books Before It Was Too Late. Precious Volumes That Had Survived Hitler And Stalin Were Being Passed Down From Older Generations Of Jewish Immigrants To Their Non-yiddish-speaking Children --^ Only To Be Thrown Away Or Destroyed. With Little More Than His Own Chutzpah, Lansky Issued A Worldwide Appeal For Unwanted Yiddish Books, And The Response Was Overwhelming. Outwitting History Is An Adventure Tale Filled With Unforgettable Characters And Told With The Exuberance Of A Man Whose Passion Led Him From House To House, Country To Country, Collecting Treasured Books And Heartfelt, Often Hilarious Stories Of The Vibrant Intellectual World These Older Jews Inhabited. Lansky And A Team Of Young Volunteers Crisscrossed America, Shlepping Books From Attics And Basements, Demolition Sites And Dumpsters, While Schmoozing With Their Owners, Who Insisted On Feeding Them A Little Nosh -- Gefilte Fish, Kasha, Blintzes, Latkes, Kugel --^ Before Handing Over, One Book At A Time, Their Beloved Literary Heritage. When Lansky Started Out, Experts Believed That Fewer Than 70,000 Yiddish-language Books Still Existed. 25 Years And 1.5 Million Books Later, The Organization Lansky Founded, The National Yiddish Book Center, Is One Of The Largest And Fastest-growing Jewish Cultural Groups In The World. As He Takes Us Along On His Groundbreaking Journey, Lansky Explores The Roots Of The Yiddish Language And Introduces Us To The Brilliant Yiddish Writers -- From Mendele To Sholem Aleichem To I.b. Singer -- Whose Lasting Cultural Relevance Is Evident On Every Page. He Shares The Humor, Tenacity, And Love For The Written Word That Unites Jewish Immigrants With Everyone Who Cares About The Future Of Great Literature. And He Enables Us To See How An Almost-lost Culture Is The Bridge Between The Old World And The Future. - Jacket Flap. Aaron Lansky Shares The Story Of His Twenty-five-year Quest To Rescue The World's Abandoned Yiddish Books, A Mission That Led To The Establishment Of The National Yiddish Book Center, And Provides Information About The Origins Of The Yiddish Language, As Well As Introductions To Notable Yiddish Writers. Learning Yiddish -- Out Of The Dumpster -- Bread And Wine -- Come Back After Yontef! -- What Is Mendele Doing In A Fruit Basket On The Floor? -- On The Road -- A Ritual Of Cultural Transmission -- Don't You Know That Yiddish Is Dead? -- A Day In The Life -- A Brief History Of Yiddish Literature -- People Are Dying Today Who Never Died Before -- Pretty Soon We'll Have A Whole Forest In Israel And No More Members Here -- Love And Peace -- Ostroff! Sea Gate! -- The Great Newark Book Heist -- Him I Don't Talk To! -- You're A Liar! -- They're Tearing Apart The Library -- A Ghost In The Attic -- If Not Higher -- Hitler's Fault -- Ganvenen Dem Grenets--crossing The Border -- Squandered At The Concord -- Kaddish -- A Job For The Young -- The Four Corners Of The Earth -- Back In The U.s.s.r. -- Bringing It All Back Home -- Der Oylem Redt--the World Takes Notice -- A Home Of Our Own -- Immortality -- The Valise At The Bottom Of The Sea. By Aaron Lansky. Includes Bibliographical References (p. [313]-316).

"In 1980, a twenty-three-year-old student named Aaron Lansky set out to rescue the world's abandoned Yiddish books before it was too late. Precious volumes that had survived Hitler and Stalin were being passed down from older generations of Jewish immigrants to their non-Yiddish-speaking children - only to be thrown away or destroyed. With little more than his own chutzpah, Lansky issued a worldwide appeal for unwanted Yiddish books, and the response was overwhelming." "Outwitting History is an adventure tale filled with unforgettable characters and told with the exuberance of a man whose passion led him from house to house, country to country, collecting treasured books and heartfelt, often hilarious stores of the vibrant intellectual world these older Jews inhabited. Lansky and a team of young volunteers crisscrossed America, shlepping books from attics and basements, demolition sites and dumpsters, while shmoozing with their owners, who insisted on feeding them a little nosh - gefilte fish, kasha, blintzes, latkes, kugel - before handing over, one book at a time, their beloved literary heritage." "When Lansky started out, experts believed that fewer than 70,000 Yiddish-language books still existed. Twenty-five years and 1.5 million books later, the organization Lansky founded, the National Yiddish Book Center, is one of the largest and fastest-growing Jewish cultural groups in the world. As he takes us along on his journey, Lansky explores the roots of the Yiddish language and introduces us to the Yiddish writers - from Mendele to Sholem Aleichem to I. B. Singer - whose lasting cultural relevance is evident on every page."--BOOK JACKET.

Part one : Learning Yiddish.
Out of the dumpster
Bread and wine
"Come back after Yontef!"
"What is Mendele doing in a fruit basket on the floor?"
Part two : On the road.
A ritual of cultural transmission
"Don't you know that Yiddish is dead?"
A day in the life
A brief history of Yiddish literature
"People are dying today who never died before"
"Pretty soon we'll have a whole forest in Israel and no more members here"
"Love and peace"
"Ostroff! Sea gate!"
The great Newark book heist
Part three : "Him I don't talk to!"
"You're a liar!"
"They're tearing apart the library"
A ghost in the attic
"If not higher"
"Hitler's fault"
Part four : Ganvenen dem grenets : crossing the border.
Squandered at the Concord
Kaddish
A job for the young
The four corners of the earth
Back in the U.S.S.R.
Part five : Bringing it all back home.
Der oylem redt : the world takes notice
A home of our own
Immortality
The valise at the bottom of the sea

In 1980 an entire body of Jewish literature-- the physical remnant of Yiddish culture-- was on the verge of extinction. Precious volumes that had survived Hitler and Stalin were being passed down from older generations of Jewish immigrants to their non-Yiddish-speaking children only to be discarded or destroyed. So Aaron Lansky, just twenty-three, issued a worldwide appeal for unwanted Yiddish works

The author explains how he founded the National Yiddish Book Center, and describes the worldwide effort he currently leads to collect unwanted Yiddish books and save the Yiddish language from extinction.

316 p. ; 24 cm
Includes bibliographical references (p. [313]-316)

2023-06-28