Podcast Summary: New Books Network — "100 Objects from the Collections of the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research"

Host: Matthew Miller
Guests: Stephanie Halpern (Director of Collections), Eddie Portnoy (Academic Advisor & Director of Exhibitions)
Date: December 10, 2025

Overview

This episode of New Books in Jewish Studies spotlights the new book, 100 Objects from the Collections of the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research (YIVO, 2025). Host Matthew Miller interviews editors and YIVO leaders Stephanie Halpern and Eddie Portnoy about the creation of a visually stunning coffee table book that highlights a century of Jewish history and memory through a selection of unique manuscripts, artifacts, photographs, and ephemera. The discussion provides an inside look into the curatorial process, the stories behind some standout objects, and the legacy and ongoing mission of YIVO’s monumental archive.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

Introducing the Book and Authors

• Book origins: Conceived as a way to make YIVO’s extensive archives accessible to a wider audience, especially for its centennial celebration. The book draws on YIVO’s vast holdings—24 million documents, artifacts, and 400,000 volumes—selecting 100 items that reflect the breadth and depth of Jewish culture and history (03:19).
• Collaborative selection: The final list was crafted through lively debate among YIVO staff, aiming for both representative diversity and narrative coherence (04:11).
• Organization: The hundred objects are grouped into ten thematic sections that mirror YIVO’s historical collecting practices, ranging from beliefs and customs to performing and visual arts, labor, youth, the Holocaust and its aftermath, immigration, and YIVO’s own institutional story (04:01, 05:34).

The Challenge of Selection

• Criteria and deliberations: With so many items to choose from, staff each drafted lists of favorites and negotiated to ensure both personal passions and institutional priorities were represented (04:11).
• What was left out: Some beloved artifacts, like a boy’s bris outfit and unique periodicals, didn’t make the cut—not for lack of significance, but due to space and the desire to offer a panoramic yet streamlined historical narrative (06:23, 07:19).

The Process of Photographing the Collection

• In-house workflow: All photography and graphic design were handled internally, with care taken to depict objects authentically—imperfections, “schmutz,” and all—so that the physicality and past lives of the items remain visible (08:19).
  “We thought it was important to have a really good representation of the object. So if something’s ripped or … has some schmutz on it, we wanted to leave that. Right. Because it gives you this tactile feel, as if you’re really encountering the object in real life.” – Stephanie Halpern (09:04)
• Conservation ethos: Physical traces like stamps, folds, and even the occasional food stain are maintained to underline artifacts’ authentic histories (09:28).

Digitization and Access

• Ongoing digitization: YIVO’s major digitization projects mean many featured objects are also available online—currently around 5.5 million pages, with millions more to come (10:44).
• Dual existence: Some book items are already digital, while others await future scanning—ensuring growing access for researchers and the public (11:51).

Defining an ‘Object’

• Flexible boundaries: An object might be a single manuscript, a trio of puppets, a set of vaudeville shoes, or even a reel-to-reel tape—essentially anything tangible within the archive, excluding actual sound recordings (19:03).
  “Basically, anything was fair game except for recorded sound.” – Stephanie Halpern (19:47)

Standout & Unusual Objects

Yossel Cutler’s Puppets (Performing Arts)

• History: Caricature puppets by Yossel Cutler, co-founder (with Zuni Maud) of America’s first Yiddish political puppet theater (1925).
• Legacy: The puppets’ intense ‘Jewishness’ was remarked upon in contemporary reviews, and their survival underscores YIVO’s commitment to collecting all facets of Jewish life—including the avant-garde (12:28).
  “These puppets are so Jewish. Every krech that comes out of them ... comes from an authentic Jewish source.” — Anonymous Polish Reviewer of the Troupe (13:06 paraphrased by Portnoy)

Bankes: Folk Medicine Cupping Glasses (Beliefs and Customs)

• Description: Glass bulbs used for cupping therapy, wrapped in 1960s newspaper, which connects layers of archival time and folk tradition (15:05).
  “We have … a dozen sets in the archives. The one featured in the book is my favorite because some of them are wrapped in newspaper from the 1960s ... when we would have received the donation.” – Stephanie Halpern (16:14)

Chaim Grade’s Typewriter (Literature)

• Discovery: While prepping for a previous exhibit, staff found the Vilna-born Yiddish author’s typewriter—with an unfinished page still in the roller, possibly the last sentence he wrote (20:46).
  “I can only imagine that this was the last sentence he ever wrote ... It was still in the typewriter. … That’s how it appears in the book. It’s currently on display.” – Eddie Portnoy (21:02)

The Butterfly Wing Tray

• Myth vs. evidence: A beautiful tray long believed to be crafted by famed Yiddish writer H. Leivick in a tuberculosis sanatorium—later research showed it was likely purchased, not handmade, showing the complexity of provenance (23:39).

Hanukkah Bong

• Modern material culture: An artistic bong, shaped like a menorah, made by the company Grav, founded by a Jewish owner—originally resisted, but ultimately included as a reflection of living, evolving Jewish culture (26:00).
  “Anything that is Jewish is ... within YIVO’s mandate. And since this object ... is clearly ... a menorah bong is a very Jewish object ... that’s why we ... decided to include it.” – Eddie Portnoy (28:25)

Mae Simon’s Rhinestone Red Shoes (Performing Arts)

• Significance: The shoes belonged to a star of Yiddish vaudeville, now obscure, but emblematic of YIVO’s rescue of overlooked theatrical stories (29:51).

Surprises, Discoveries, & Reflections

• Surprising finds: For veteran YIVO archivists, most discoveries are incremental. Yet the process revealed many objects had multiple possible stories and unexpected provenances, challenging assumptions and reframing familiar narratives (23:14).
  “There are objects you think belong in a certain category, but they actually appear somewhere else ... these objects can tell multiple stories.” – Stephanie Halpern (23:39)

Ongoing and Future Projects

• Exhibitions: Eddie is preparing an exhibit on Jews and magic/the occult, highlighting an array of ritual and mystical objects from YIVO’s holdings (30:48).
• Digitization: Stephanie’s team continues digitizing the Jewish labor and political archive, with an eye towards genealogy and family history as a future focus (31:16).

Notable Quotes

• “We wanted to let the object speak for itself ... it gives you this tactile feel, as if you’re really encountering the object in real life.” — Stephanie Halpern (09:04)
• “Every little paper fold, every stamp in a book ... is part of the life of that artifact.” — Eddie Portnoy (09:28)
• “YIVO has been collecting odd and unusual artifacts from Jewish life for its entire existence.” — Eddie Portnoy (26:13)
• “There are objects you think belong in a certain category, but they actually appear somewhere else … objects can tell multiple stories.” — Stephanie Halpern (23:39)

Timestamps of Key Segments

• 1:30 — Introduction and book announcement
• 2:06 — Halpern and Portnoy introduce themselves
• 3:19 — The genesis of the book project
• 4:11 — How the 100 objects were selected
• 8:19 — How objects were photographed and presented
• 10:44 — Digitization projects and linking book/digital collections
• 12:28 — Yossel Cutler’s puppets and the history of Yiddish puppet theater
• 15:05 — Bankes (cupping glasses) and folk medicine collection
• 19:03 — Defining what counts as an “object” for the book
• 20:46 — The discovery of Chaim Grade’s typewriter
• 23:39 — The butterfly wing tray and evolving stories of provenance
• 26:00 — The menorah bong and expanding the boundaries of Jewish cultural collecting
• 29:51 — Mae Simon’s rhinestone red shoes and the preservation of performing arts history
• 30:48 — Forthcoming exhibitions and archival projects

Final Takeaways

100 Objects from the Collections of the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research reflects YIVO’s century-long mission to rescue, preserve, and share the full diversity of Jewish life. From historic puppets and Yiddish author’s last lines to psychedelic menorahs and rhinestone heels, each item in the book is a portal into the ongoing story of Jewish creativity, change, and memory. The podcast offers a rare behind-the-scenes look into the art of curation, the thrill of discovery, and the enduring relevance of YIVO’s archives for contemporary Jewish culture.