History and Jewish Studies Major Ryken Farr Attends Seven-Week Yiddish Language Intensive

Ryken Farr is a third-year undergraduate at the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities, double-majoring in History and Jewish Studies, with minors in German and Museum and Curatorial Studies. Ryken is currently an undergraduate student staff member with the Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies. Ryken wrote to the Centers for Austrian and Jewish Studies at the University to discuss the summer he spent at the Yiddish Book Center as a beginner student of Yiddish language and culture. 

In summer 2024, with travel funding from the Center for Austrian Studies, I was able to go to Amherst, Massachusetts and participate in the Steiner Summer Yiddish Program at the Yiddish Book Center. An intensive seven-week language learning program, 19 students were admitted into the program to spend the summer working through the Center’s first- and second-year Yiddish language curriculum. In addition to language instruction, the program introduced us to Yiddish culture through song and dance workshops (all while trying all of the ice cream that rural Massachusetts had to offer!). It was a great experience for me both academically and personally, and the experiences I had will stick with me for a lifetime.

I am a double-major in History and Jewish Studies, with a primary focus on Holocaust history. Given the prevalence of Yiddish, and with 4.5 million of the 6 million Jewish victims of the Holocaust being Yiddish speakers, it was essential for me to learn the language. The summer spent in Amherst was crucial for my academic career, because it is difficult to even get the opportunity to learn Yiddish. While there are a good amount of online programs that teach Yiddish over the course of a semester or even a week or two, there are very few immersive programs available for the study of Yiddish. The Steiner Program is one of those few immersive experiences, which made my time there even more special. I was able to surround myself with Yiddish nearly 24/7, whether it was in the classroom, at the lunch table (der Yidisch tisch), or while playing board games with my fellow students. It made the language learning process easier, and much more enjoyable. It also allowed me to explore a wealth of primary sources and narratives that would be inaccessible without Yiddish skills. 

Going forward I will be using my Yiddish skills extensively for my senior thesis, which I will be completing in May 2026. I plan to investigate the impact Yiddish had on the reconstruction of Jewish identity in postwar displaced persons camps, through political, religious, and cultural outlets. I will be completing research for this project while I am studying abroad in Marburg, Germany in Spring 2025. I also hope to continue my Yiddish skill-building while in Europe. This will allow me to write a provocative and Yiddish-rich senior thesis, and it all started with my summer at Steiner, which would not have been possible without generous funding from the Center for Austrian Studies - a groysn dank to the Center for helping me take advantage of this opportunity!