People sometimes ask Henry Sapoznik why he is starting an institute for Yiddish culture in, of all places, Wisconsin. He responds with a surprising fact ? UW-Madison was very likely the first university in the country to teach a class on Yiddish, a language once spoken by millions of Eastern European Jews.
?The first university in America that was teaching Yiddish was Madison in 1916,? Sapoznik said. ?There isn?t one book on Jewish American history that acknowledges that fact. Every other narrative goes to the low-hanging fruit. It goes to New York or Philadelphia.? The new UW-Madison Mayrent Institute for Yiddish Culture ? for which Sapoznik is director ? received its first shipment of Yiddish audio records last week. It is named for Sherry Mayrent, who donated her collection of some 7,500 78 rpm records to the university. Mayrent and her wife, Carol Master, jointly donated $1 million to endow the institute. The center is unique because it focuses on Yiddish culture, not just the language. The hope is that it will become a draw for people who want to study the collection.