Alona Bach
@bachwards.bsky.social
Archive haunter (where history of technology + Yiddish meet); theatre/-er-maker; rogue illustrator. PhD candidate in MIT's Program in History, Anthropology, and Science, Technology, & Society (HASTS).
she/her | 📷: Der praktisher elektrotekhniker (1925)
she/her | 📷: Der praktisher elektrotekhniker (1925)
Pinned
And...we're off! @contrastsmag.bsky.social is a new digital magazine focused on the intersections of science, technology, & society ( #STS, #HistSTM ).
Our first issue on "portals" considers passageways between worlds—from apprenticeships to AI, maps to migration.
Read the issue: contrastsmag.net
Our first issue on "portals" considers passageways between worlds—from apprenticeships to AI, maps to migration.
Read the issue: contrastsmag.net
Reposted by Alona Bach
Introducing our keynote speakers for Farbindungen 2026: Yiddish at Work, taking place Feb 15th-16th, virtually. We're beyond excited and honored to have Caroline Luce and Miriam Udel headlining our program this year. Call for papers and submission form can be found at bit.ly/Farbindungen26Submission
November 24, 2025 at 4:12 PM
Introducing our keynote speakers for Farbindungen 2026: Yiddish at Work, taking place Feb 15th-16th, virtually. We're beyond excited and honored to have Caroline Luce and Miriam Udel headlining our program this year. Call for papers and submission form can be found at bit.ly/Farbindungen26Submission
What do the “Father of the Bund” & a Yiddish electrical engineering textbook have in common?
Find out: blog.cjh.org/index.php/20...
A groysn dank to YIVO archivist Jess Podhorcer & the CJH for the chance to write about the Vilna Technicum and the making of Yiddish-speaking engineers.
Find out: blog.cjh.org/index.php/20...
A groysn dank to YIVO archivist Jess Podhorcer & the CJH for the chance to write about the Vilna Technicum and the making of Yiddish-speaking engineers.
Electrical Engineering in Yiddish: The Vilna Technicum (and Beyond)
By Alona Bach, Dr. Sophie Bookhalter Short-Term Graduate Public History Fellow
Electrical Engineering in Yiddish: The Vilna Technicum (and Beyond)
“Up to this point, there has not been a single b
blog.cjh.org
November 19, 2025 at 10:33 PM
What do the “Father of the Bund” & a Yiddish electrical engineering textbook have in common?
Find out: blog.cjh.org/index.php/20...
A groysn dank to YIVO archivist Jess Podhorcer & the CJH for the chance to write about the Vilna Technicum and the making of Yiddish-speaking engineers.
Find out: blog.cjh.org/index.php/20...
A groysn dank to YIVO archivist Jess Podhorcer & the CJH for the chance to write about the Vilna Technicum and the making of Yiddish-speaking engineers.
Reposted by Alona Bach
NEW Pedagogy piece: Scientific Literature in the Yiddish Classroom
If you use this material in your classroom--let us know! 🦚
ingeveb.org/pedagogy/sci...
If you use this material in your classroom--let us know! 🦚
ingeveb.org/pedagogy/sci...
Scientific Literature in the Yiddish Classroom: A Lesson Based on a Page from a Chemistry Textbook | In geveb
Working with authentic material from Yiddish scientific and technical textbooks enables teachers to sharpen students’ grammatical and lexical awareness and to h
ingeveb.org
November 19, 2025 at 2:30 PM
NEW Pedagogy piece: Scientific Literature in the Yiddish Classroom
If you use this material in your classroom--let us know! 🦚
ingeveb.org/pedagogy/sci...
If you use this material in your classroom--let us know! 🦚
ingeveb.org/pedagogy/sci...
And...we're off! @contrastsmag.bsky.social is a new digital magazine focused on the intersections of science, technology, & society ( #STS, #HistSTM ).
Our first issue on "portals" considers passageways between worlds—from apprenticeships to AI, maps to migration.
Read the issue: contrastsmag.net
Our first issue on "portals" considers passageways between worlds—from apprenticeships to AI, maps to migration.
Read the issue: contrastsmag.net
October 30, 2025 at 12:40 PM
And...we're off! @contrastsmag.bsky.social is a new digital magazine focused on the intersections of science, technology, & society ( #STS, #HistSTM ).
Our first issue on "portals" considers passageways between worlds—from apprenticeships to AI, maps to migration.
Read the issue: contrastsmag.net
Our first issue on "portals" considers passageways between worlds—from apprenticeships to AI, maps to migration.
Read the issue: contrastsmag.net
"Incomplete mourning, being unable to fully talk about what was lost, means that you’re perpetually haunted."
— @rokhl.bsky.social on ghosts, IRB forms, Purim shpiels, perfume, and her new play Shtumer Shabes.
— @rokhl.bsky.social on ghosts, IRB forms, Purim shpiels, perfume, and her new play Shtumer Shabes.
Jonathan L. Green speaks with Rokhl Kafrissen about Shtumer Shabes, her new play about the complications and contradictions in the last century of Yiddish theatre and Jewish life.
ingeveb.org/blog/incompl...
ingeveb.org/blog/incompl...
June 6, 2025 at 1:08 AM
"Incomplete mourning, being unable to fully talk about what was lost, means that you’re perpetually haunted."
— @rokhl.bsky.social on ghosts, IRB forms, Purim shpiels, perfume, and her new play Shtumer Shabes.
— @rokhl.bsky.social on ghosts, IRB forms, Purim shpiels, perfume, and her new play Shtumer Shabes.
Raboysay (/robotsay 🤖)!
One more week to send us your Yiddish sci-fi submissions. We're especially keen for pitches for the blog and pedagogy sections — on incorporating Yiddish sci-fi into the classroom, interviews, reviews, blog-length thoughts on techno-messianism or dys/utopia, and more!
One more week to send us your Yiddish sci-fi submissions. We're especially keen for pitches for the blog and pedagogy sections — on incorporating Yiddish sci-fi into the classroom, interviews, reviews, blog-length thoughts on techno-messianism or dys/utopia, and more!
We have extended the deadline for submissions to our special issue on "Yiddish Science Fiction" to Monday, May 5th. We seek submissions for our blog, pedagogy, and translation sections, as well as a special section of minyaturn.
More information: ingeveb.org/blog/call-fo...
More information: ingeveb.org/blog/call-fo...
April 28, 2025 at 11:20 PM
Raboysay (/robotsay 🤖)!
One more week to send us your Yiddish sci-fi submissions. We're especially keen for pitches for the blog and pedagogy sections — on incorporating Yiddish sci-fi into the classroom, interviews, reviews, blog-length thoughts on techno-messianism or dys/utopia, and more!
One more week to send us your Yiddish sci-fi submissions. We're especially keen for pitches for the blog and pedagogy sections — on incorporating Yiddish sci-fi into the classroom, interviews, reviews, blog-length thoughts on techno-messianism or dys/utopia, and more!
Reposted by Alona Bach
#PosenLibrary is introducing a new initiative - Posen Library Digital Curriculum Development Fellowship, to help create educational materials for Posen Library digital platform.
For more info:
www.posenlibrary.com/fellowship
#DHJewish #JewishEducation #CurriculumDevelopment
For more info:
www.posenlibrary.com/fellowship
#DHJewish #JewishEducation #CurriculumDevelopment
Fellowship
The Posen Library of Jewish Culture and Civilization, curated by leading Jewish studies scholars, is an anthology of texts and images containing thousands of sources—and growing.
www.posenlibrary.com
April 27, 2025 at 9:31 PM
#PosenLibrary is introducing a new initiative - Posen Library Digital Curriculum Development Fellowship, to help create educational materials for Posen Library digital platform.
For more info:
www.posenlibrary.com/fellowship
#DHJewish #JewishEducation #CurriculumDevelopment
For more info:
www.posenlibrary.com/fellowship
#DHJewish #JewishEducation #CurriculumDevelopment
Send us your airships, your dystopias, your wired masses yearning to breathe free—af yidish!
Submissions for our @ingeveb.bsky.social special issue on Yiddish sci-fi are due Mon, 28 April.
Submissions for our @ingeveb.bsky.social special issue on Yiddish sci-fi are due Mon, 28 April.
You have *ONE WEEK* to send your submissions on science fiction in Yiddish:
— Blog (reviews, short essays, interviews, etc.)
— Pedagogy (teaching guides)
— Texts & Translations, including miniyaturn (100-250 word narratives in Yiddish, with English translations).
ingeveb.org/blog/call-fo...
— Blog (reviews, short essays, interviews, etc.)
— Pedagogy (teaching guides)
— Texts & Translations, including miniyaturn (100-250 word narratives in Yiddish, with English translations).
ingeveb.org/blog/call-fo...
April 22, 2025 at 12:29 AM
Send us your airships, your dystopias, your wired masses yearning to breathe free—af yidish!
Submissions for our @ingeveb.bsky.social special issue on Yiddish sci-fi are due Mon, 28 April.
Submissions for our @ingeveb.bsky.social special issue on Yiddish sci-fi are due Mon, 28 April.
A Yiddish prank of yore: "Take 2 tsp of cold milk, mix w/ 2 tsp of cold water, squeeze in 4 drops of lemon juice & mix well. Dip a clean handkerchief in the fluid & lightly dampen empty area. Hold it against the sun & you'll see a cartoon."
—Der groyser kundes (March 31, 1911), p. 11.
—Der groyser kundes (March 31, 1911), p. 11.
April 1, 2025 at 6:37 PM
A Yiddish prank of yore: "Take 2 tsp of cold milk, mix w/ 2 tsp of cold water, squeeze in 4 drops of lemon juice & mix well. Dip a clean handkerchief in the fluid & lightly dampen empty area. Hold it against the sun & you'll see a cartoon."
—Der groyser kundes (March 31, 1911), p. 11.
—Der groyser kundes (March 31, 1911), p. 11.
CFP for ContraSTS / Issue: "Portals" / due March 1
ContraSTS is an online magazine run by MIT graduate students, featuring public-facing #STS and #histSTM works at the intersections of science, technology, and society.
More info & pitch: contrastsmagazine.github.io
ContraSTS is an online magazine run by MIT graduate students, featuring public-facing #STS and #histSTM works at the intersections of science, technology, and society.
More info & pitch: contrastsmagazine.github.io
February 25, 2025 at 12:07 AM
CFP for ContraSTS / Issue: "Portals" / due March 1
ContraSTS is an online magazine run by MIT graduate students, featuring public-facing #STS and #histSTM works at the intersections of science, technology, and society.
More info & pitch: contrastsmagazine.github.io
ContraSTS is an online magazine run by MIT graduate students, featuring public-facing #STS and #histSTM works at the intersections of science, technology, and society.
More info & pitch: contrastsmagazine.github.io
What other social and technological futures have we imagined, feared, hoped for—af yidish? Help us imagine, remember, and consider alternative possibilities by submitting to @ingeveb.bsky.social 's special issue on #Yiddish #scifi.
Full CFP: ingeveb.org/blog/call-fo...
Full CFP: ingeveb.org/blog/call-fo...
Call for Submissions: Yiddish Science Fiction!!
We invite submissions to a special issue of In geveb on “Yiddish Science Fiction" with guest editors Alona Bach, Sebastian Schulman, and Dalia Wolfson.
Submissions are due April 28. See the link for further details.
https://buff.ly/416QaB1
We invite submissions to a special issue of In geveb on “Yiddish Science Fiction" with guest editors Alona Bach, Sebastian Schulman, and Dalia Wolfson.
Submissions are due April 28. See the link for further details.
https://buff.ly/416QaB1
February 20, 2025 at 5:34 PM
What other social and technological futures have we imagined, feared, hoped for—af yidish? Help us imagine, remember, and consider alternative possibilities by submitting to @ingeveb.bsky.social 's special issue on #Yiddish #scifi.
Full CFP: ingeveb.org/blog/call-fo...
Full CFP: ingeveb.org/blog/call-fo...
Reposted by Alona Bach
Margaret Partridge bit.ly/3anO3yg & Margaret Rowbotham en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Margare... Partners in life & #engineering 1962 wrote joint letter of grandmotherly advice on joys of retirement: designing sports pavilion, converting stately home in2 boys school. Buried together #LGBTHM24 #ValentinesDay
February 14, 2025 at 8:31 PM
Margaret Partridge bit.ly/3anO3yg & Margaret Rowbotham en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Margare... Partners in life & #engineering 1962 wrote joint letter of grandmotherly advice on joys of retirement: designing sports pavilion, converting stately home in2 boys school. Buried together #LGBTHM24 #ValentinesDay
מוראדיק הײַנטצײַטיק
מיטן טראָפּ אויף מוראדיק
מיטן טראָפּ אויף מוראדיק
"Aroysgeshtelt."
—Cartoon from April 23, 1920, by Lola (Leon Israel) in Der groyser kundes, a #Yiddish biweekly humor magazine, p. 3.
—Cartoon from April 23, 1920, by Lola (Leon Israel) in Der groyser kundes, a #Yiddish biweekly humor magazine, p. 3.
February 5, 2025 at 3:35 AM
מוראדיק הײַנטצײַטיק
מיטן טראָפּ אויף מוראדיק
מיטן טראָפּ אויף מוראדיק
This sounds like a wonderful project — Haslett's correspondence is fascinating, lively, and a crucial part of UK engineering/electric history (with the WES, EAW, and beyond!). #histSTM
Collaborative PhD history of science/technology studentship now available at University of Leeds on the marvellous Caroline Haslett and her international networks wrocah.ac.uk/wp-content/u...
wrocah.ac.uk
February 5, 2025 at 2:33 AM
This sounds like a wonderful project — Haslett's correspondence is fascinating, lively, and a crucial part of UK engineering/electric history (with the WES, EAW, and beyond!). #histSTM
Reposted by Alona Bach
It was such an amazing time organizing @farbindungen.bsky.social 2026 with these incredible people!
February 4, 2025 at 4:24 PM
It was such an amazing time organizing @farbindungen.bsky.social 2026 with these incredible people!
#Farbindungen25 panel 1 — underworlds, shund, and disappointments.
February 2, 2025 at 3:28 PM
#Farbindungen25 panel 1 — underworlds, shund, and disappointments.
Really looking forward to this #Farbindungen25 panel on Yiddish theater, featuring Rebecca Turner on Jane Rose's NIT MIT ALEMEN (a favorite play!), @bluma.bsky.social on Leivick (!!), and Yael Horowitz on reviving a Polish Yiddish cabaret tune/dance, with @ruthieabeliovich.bsky.social moderating.
Introducing! מיר שטעלן פֿאָר!
The fifth panel of #Farbindungen25 is "Mitn linkn fus: Stigma on the Yiddish Stage." Featuring Rebecca Turner, Bluma Lange, and Yael Horowitz, with Ruthie Abeliovich. Register today, link in bio!
The fifth panel of #Farbindungen25 is "Mitn linkn fus: Stigma on the Yiddish Stage." Featuring Rebecca Turner, Bluma Lange, and Yael Horowitz, with Ruthie Abeliovich. Register today, link in bio!
January 26, 2025 at 4:46 PM
Really looking forward to this #Farbindungen25 panel on Yiddish theater, featuring Rebecca Turner on Jane Rose's NIT MIT ALEMEN (a favorite play!), @bluma.bsky.social on Leivick (!!), and Yael Horowitz on reviving a Polish Yiddish cabaret tune/dance, with @ruthieabeliovich.bsky.social moderating.
Fan studies, Crisco recipes, Yiddish lesboerotica — what more could you ask for in a #Farbindungen25 panel on "Practice as Method"? And with the eyn-un-eyntsike @evejochnowitz.bsky.social moderating, at that! Join us virtually by registering here: bit.ly/registerfarb...
Introducing! מיר שטעלן פֿאָר! The third panel of #Farbindungen25 is "Doing (not so) Badly: Practice as Method." Featuring Rachel Greiner, Grisha Leyfer, and Hinde Ena Burstin, with Eve Jochnowitz. Register today, link in bio!
January 23, 2025 at 8:56 PM
Fan studies, Crisco recipes, Yiddish lesboerotica — what more could you ask for in a #Farbindungen25 panel on "Practice as Method"? And with the eyn-un-eyntsike @evejochnowitz.bsky.social moderating, at that! Join us virtually by registering here: bit.ly/registerfarb...
Reposted by Alona Bach
Introducing! מיר שטעלן פֿאָר!
The second panel of #Farbindungen25 is "Dos heyst taytsh? Unfaithful Translation." Featuring Rebecca Weingart, Uri Horesh, and Pamela Brenner, with Sunny Yudkoff. Register today, link in bio!
The second panel of #Farbindungen25 is "Dos heyst taytsh? Unfaithful Translation." Featuring Rebecca Weingart, Uri Horesh, and Pamela Brenner, with Sunny Yudkoff. Register today, link in bio!
January 22, 2025 at 9:00 PM
Introducing! מיר שטעלן פֿאָר!
The second panel of #Farbindungen25 is "Dos heyst taytsh? Unfaithful Translation." Featuring Rebecca Weingart, Uri Horesh, and Pamela Brenner, with Sunny Yudkoff. Register today, link in bio!
The second panel of #Farbindungen25 is "Dos heyst taytsh? Unfaithful Translation." Featuring Rebecca Weingart, Uri Horesh, and Pamela Brenner, with Sunny Yudkoff. Register today, link in bio!
Reposted by Alona Bach
This is such a helpful and long overdue piece that demonstrates @annsplaining.bsky.social’s meticulous research about women’s spirituality and spiritual leadership in Jewish Eastern Europe.
Excited to see this published in the @jwaonline.bsky.social Encyclopedia. jwa.org/encyclopedia... Sharing with one of the photos featured in the article, from the YIVO archives: a group of professional klogerins (mourning women) in Brody 1920s-1930s
January 21, 2025 at 9:41 PM
This is such a helpful and long overdue piece that demonstrates @annsplaining.bsky.social’s meticulous research about women’s spirituality and spiritual leadership in Jewish Eastern Europe.
1930s illustrations of Zelmenyaner characters: Uncle Zishe, Uncle Folye, Uncle Itshe, and Tsalke.
- Zishe & Fole by Kh. M. Faynshteyn, reprinted in Dos vort [Kovne/Kaunas] (Feb 7, 1936).
- Itshe & Tsalke in Shtraln [biweekly children's magazine] (1 June, 1938), p14.
Via NLI/HJP.
- Zishe & Fole by Kh. M. Faynshteyn, reprinted in Dos vort [Kovne/Kaunas] (Feb 7, 1936).
- Itshe & Tsalke in Shtraln [biweekly children's magazine] (1 June, 1938), p14.
Via NLI/HJP.
January 21, 2025 at 3:56 PM
1930s illustrations of Zelmenyaner characters: Uncle Zishe, Uncle Folye, Uncle Itshe, and Tsalke.
- Zishe & Fole by Kh. M. Faynshteyn, reprinted in Dos vort [Kovne/Kaunas] (Feb 7, 1936).
- Itshe & Tsalke in Shtraln [biweekly children's magazine] (1 June, 1938), p14.
Via NLI/HJP.
- Zishe & Fole by Kh. M. Faynshteyn, reprinted in Dos vort [Kovne/Kaunas] (Feb 7, 1936).
- Itshe & Tsalke in Shtraln [biweekly children's magazine] (1 June, 1938), p14.
Via NLI/HJP.
Reposted by Alona Bach
#Farbindungen25 Bad Yiddish is in just two weeks!
Take a look at the full schedule below to learn more about this year's panels, workshops, and keynote. The conference runs February 2-3.
Register here - bit.ly/registerfarbindungen25
Full-text schedule - bit.ly/Farbindungen...
Take a look at the full schedule below to learn more about this year's panels, workshops, and keynote. The conference runs February 2-3.
Register here - bit.ly/registerfarbindungen25
Full-text schedule - bit.ly/Farbindungen...
January 21, 2025 at 2:47 PM
#Farbindungen25 Bad Yiddish is in just two weeks!
Take a look at the full schedule below to learn more about this year's panels, workshops, and keynote. The conference runs February 2-3.
Register here - bit.ly/registerfarbindungen25
Full-text schedule - bit.ly/Farbindungen...
Take a look at the full schedule below to learn more about this year's panels, workshops, and keynote. The conference runs February 2-3.
Register here - bit.ly/registerfarbindungen25
Full-text schedule - bit.ly/Farbindungen...
"In the confluence of Christmas and Hanukkah, in the days of the Yiddish New York festival, [Isaac Bashevis] Singer's ghosts and his language live on to haunt us."
forward.com/culture/thea...
Playing until Jan 15 @ Theatre 154.
forward.com/culture/thea...
Playing until Jan 15 @ Theatre 154.
While Yiddish lives, Isaac Bashevis Singer’s ghost stories may flourish
"Bashevis' Demons" stages three stories from Isaac Bashevis Singer, from the occult to the musings of a rooster.
forward.com
December 23, 2024 at 3:03 AM
"In the confluence of Christmas and Hanukkah, in the days of the Yiddish New York festival, [Isaac Bashevis] Singer's ghosts and his language live on to haunt us."
forward.com/culture/thea...
Playing until Jan 15 @ Theatre 154.
forward.com/culture/thea...
Playing until Jan 15 @ Theatre 154.
Reposted by Alona Bach
Marina Mayorski reviews Ayelet Brinn's A Revolution in Type: Gender and the Making of the American Yiddish Press:
"A Revolution in Type offers a timely and forceful contribution to the study of Jewish history, culture, and gender."
https://buff.ly/3DiHj76
"A Revolution in Type offers a timely and forceful contribution to the study of Jewish history, culture, and gender."
https://buff.ly/3DiHj76
December 16, 2024 at 5:20 PM
Marina Mayorski reviews Ayelet Brinn's A Revolution in Type: Gender and the Making of the American Yiddish Press:
"A Revolution in Type offers a timely and forceful contribution to the study of Jewish history, culture, and gender."
https://buff.ly/3DiHj76
"A Revolution in Type offers a timely and forceful contribution to the study of Jewish history, culture, and gender."
https://buff.ly/3DiHj76