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A farewell to Hampshire College, site of my Yiddish awakening

JL;DR SUMMARY Chana Pollack reflects on her transformative experiences at Hampshire College, where her Yiddish journey began. A way out west there was a fella, fella I want to tell you about, fella by the name of Jeff Lebowski. At least, that was the handle his lovin' parents gave him, but he never had much use for it himself. This Lebowski, he called himself the Dude. Now, Dude, that's a name no one would self-apply where I come from. But then, there was a lot about the Dude that didn't make a whole lot of sense to me. And a lot about where he lived, likewise. But then again, maybe that's why I found the place s'durned innarestin'.

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Tags

Jewish CultureYiddish LiteratureJewish EducationYiddishYiddish Book CenterChana PollackIrena KlepfiszCultural PreservationHampshire CollegeYiddish Women Writers

Places mentioned

Amherst, Massachusetts, United States
"I first studied Yiddish at the OG Yiddish Book Center of Amherst, Massachusetts, down the road from the genteel Lord Jeffrey Inn, across the street from uber-sensitive poet lady Emily Dickinsons alte heym."
Holyoke, Massachusetts, United States
"In nearby Holyoke, in an old mill turned Yiddish book storage loft, away from the genius of Dickinsons dybbuk, I earned my way shelving the Book Centers staggering amounts of the collected works of Sholem Aleichem"

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Retrieved 2026-04-16 05:31:09 UTC
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