When Isaac Bashevis Singer takes the microphone, he is greeted with thunderous applause in his Polish accent and has some remarks ready about his personal relationship with religion, philosophy and mysticism.
After his speech, he will read the short story “Shiddah and Kuziba” about two demons who meet humans for the first time and answer questions from the audience about his life and research.
Although the famous Yiddish writer died in 1991, brand new audio recordings released by 92NY bring him back to life in the 21st century with new insights into his personality, thoughts and work.
Bashevis Singer’s lecture, “On Mysticism and Modern Man,” was given on November 19, 1975 at the 92nd Street Y. It is one of over 400 historical lectures given at 92NY and now available in this audio recording archive.
Made possible by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities, 92NY has digitized conversations from the last 75 yearswhich is freely accessible to the public through the 92NY website.
“Throughout its 150-year history, 92NY has been a home for the intellectually curious and has provided a platform for many of the great artists, scholars, and thought leaders of the past 150 years,” said Seth Pinsky, CEO of 92NY, in a press release. “We hope the collection will make an invaluable contribution to humanities research and teaching, foster public appreciation, and create a greater understanding of the humanities.”
In addition to Bashevis Singer, the recordings include lectures by important historical thinkers such as the feminist writer Betty Friedan on “Overcoming the War of the Sexes” and by Mordecai Kaplan, the founder of Reconstruction Judaism, on “Judaism in the Modern World” (1951) and “What Religion Can Learn from Psychology” (1952).
In addition, more recent lectures are also available, including lectures by composer and director of the National Yiddish Theater Folksbiene, Zalmen Mlotek, and writers Jonathan Safran Foer and Gary Shteyngart.
The lectures cover topics from Jewish life and philosophy to politics, psychology, science, art, dance, film, history, philosophy, music and women’s perspectives. In a press release, the Jewish cultural institution announced that it had digitized more than 800 lectures in total.
The 92NY lecture series, now called “92NY Talks,” was launched in 1930 and is “one of America’s longest-running public lecture series,” the press release states.
92NY was founded in 1874 at the Young Men’s Hebrew Association by a group of German Jews who wanted to meet the social, intellectual and spiritual needs of the American Jewish community in New York. Long known as the 92nd Street Y, In 2022, the name “92NY” was adopted as part of a name change..
