About S.A. Birnbaum S.A. Birnbaum was a pioneer in the academic study of Yiddish. The first person to hold a teaching post in the study of Yiddish at any university in the world, he taught at the Universities of Hamburg and London. Books by S.A. Birnbaum Yiddish A Survey and a Grammar, Second Edition by (author) S.A. Birnbaum introduction by Eleazar Birnbaum, David Birnbaum, Kalman Weiser & Jean Baumgarten