AMHERST, Mass. – The Yiddish Book Center has been named as a recipient of a $1.1 million Jim Joseph Foundation grant for Jewish Educator Professional Development.

The grant is intended to support the Great Jewish Books program, training teachers of modern Jewish literature and culture at the secondary school level and above, while also developing the collection of textual, audio, and visual materials designed to support those teachers.

The Center’s grant was among 10 Jewish Educator Professional Development grants awarded by the Foundation, which invests in promising Jewish education grant initiatives. The other awards went to a diverse cohort of organizations, programs, and educators.

Yiddish Book Center President and founder Aaron Lansky noted, “The grant from the Jim Joseph Foundation will allow us to bring in-depth knowledge of modern Jewish literature and culture to classroom teachers, who in turn will share what they learn with students of their own. The result will transform the scope of Jewish education for generations to come.”

According to Lansky, this new program will build on the work that has been done with teachers over the past few years. The Great Jewish Books program will offer an extended, month-long summer seminar; a conference; virtual communities; and continued development of the Great Jewish Books program website of teaching resources.

The Yiddish Book Center is a nonprofit organization working to recover, celebrate, and regenerate Yiddish and modern Jewish literature and culture.