About this campaign
Project Logline
Not many people can say: “I single-handedly saved an entire culture from extinction.” In fact, no one can say it. Except for the one person who did.
Project Description
After taking a Yiddish college class in 1977, Aaron Lansky realized books in Yiddish could not be found, anywhere. Tens of thousands had been written - including major masterpieces - but where were they? Aaron was concerned. How can an entire culture - his culture - vanish? He started telling people that if anyone, anywhere, had Yiddish books, he’d take them, and save them. Thus began one of the greatest adventures in literary history. Racing against time, Aaron saved nearly 2 million Yiddish books. In doing so, he revived a culture.
Today, a vibrant new Yiddish culture - unimaginable 50 years ago and led by young Jews––and non-jews––is growing in the U.S, Canada, and Europe. There are festivals, conferences, music, films, literature, comic books, zines. And remarkably, an outsized LGBTQI+ presence, which the film will explore in depth. What begins as a great rescue mission becomes a living, thriving culture and a reclaiming of a lost identity, shaped by people finding their way back to a language the world nearly left behind.