Classic Yiddish Stories Of S.Y. Abramovitsh, Sholem Aleichem, And I.L. Peretz: [1st Time Paper] (judaic Traditions In Literature, Music, And Art) [Paperback]

A comprehensive collection of best short fiction by the three classic Yiddish authors.

Two early works by S.Y. Abramovitsh introduce the reader to Abramovitsh's alter ego Mendele the Book Peddler. Mendele narrates both The Little Man and Fishke the Lame. In different voices, he also presents a diverse cast of characters including Isaac Abraham as tailor's apprentice, choirboy, and corrupt businessman. Reb Alter tells of his matchmaking mishap and Fishke relates his travels through the Ukraine with a caravan of beggars.

Sholem Aleichem's Tevye reemerges from new translations of Hodel and Chava in all of his comic splendor. Notes enable students to follow Tevye's uneven steps through Bible quotations. Four of Sholem Aleichem's other eloquent monologists come back to haunt us in scintillating translations.

The selections from Peretz include his finest stories about the hasidim, such as Kabbalists, Teachings of the Hasidim, and the ironic tale The Rebbe's Pipe. A fresh rendering of Peretz's masterpiece Between Two Mountains represents the meeting of an inspirational rebbe and an awe-inspiring rabbi.

Following the translations are three biographical essays about these giants of modern Yiddish literature.