Miriam Salpeter's legacy: A gift to CU Hillel to support Yiddish culture

A recent photo of Mika and Edwin Salpeter. Photos courtesy of Mika and Edwin Salpeter

Miriam (Mika) Mark Salpeter died Monday, Oct. 24, after a brief illness. She was a professor in neurobiology and behavior and former chair of that section.

Her illness and death came shortly after she and her husband, Edwin Salpeter, made a gift to Cornell Hillel in honor of their 50th wedding anniversary. A memorial service for Mika will be held on campus at a later date.

The Salpeters met at Cornell in February 1950 at a Cornell Hillel welcome reception. They went out for a drink together at a local watering hole and in June 1950 were married at Cornell Hillel by Rabbi Morris Goldfarb. Subsequently they both became faculty members at Cornell -- he is the J.G. White Distinguished Professor of Physical Sciences emeritus.

Their gift to Cornell Hillel establishes the Salpeter-Mark Fund for Yiddish. The fund will provide annual support for programs on Yiddish language and culture.

The Salpeters pose on their wedding day in June of 1950 at Cornell Hillel.

"We are saddened by the loss of such a vibrant and long-standing member of the community," said Vally Kovary, executive director of Cornell Hillel. "Mika understood what a unique place Yiddish holds in the hearts of Jews of Eastern European descent. She believed that this rich culture was part of the immigrant experience of Jews in America, and she hoped her gift would sustain the living bridge between generations. The gift is a fitting memorial to her and the Salpeters' long and happy marriage."

Mika Salpeter grew up with Yiddish culture all around her. Her uncle Yudel Mark was a well-known Yiddish scholar, and her father, Mendel Mark, was one of the founders of the first secular Yiddish day schools in Riga, Latvia. The schools taught required non-Jewish as well as Jewish subjects, with Yiddish as the language of instruction. They flourished between World War I and 1934, when the changing political climate in Eastern Europe prompted Mika and other members of the Mark family to immigrate first to Canada and then to the United States.

Edwin Salpeter, born in Vienna, came from an assimilated Jewish family where Yiddish was not spoken at home. After spending the World War II years in Australia and doing post-war studies in England, he came to the United States in 1949. His appreciation and love for Yiddish culture began after he met Mika's family and it has grown and matured through the years, he said, prompting the gift to Cornell Hillel.