Filled with princesses and witches, dybbuks and wonder-working rebbes, the two hundred marvelous tales that make up this delightful compendium were gathered during the 1920s and 1930s by ethnographers in the small towns and villages of Eastern Europe. Collected from people of all walks of life, they include parable and allegories about life, luck, and wisdom; tales of magic and wonder; stories about rebbes and their disciples; and tales whose only purpose is to entertain. Long after the culture that produced them has disappeared, these enchanting Yiddish folktales continue to work their magic today.

Reproduced pages of the original 17th-century Yiddish, including the woodcuts, face the first English translation of the 34 fables that comprise Wallich's Sefer Mesholim. A valuable resource for students of the Yiddish language and of European Jewish culture of the early modern period. The fables come mostly from Aesop and medieval Hebrew and German sources. Well annotated. No index. Annotation copyright by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

Once upon a time a poor unfortunate man lived with his mother, his wife, and his six children in a one-room hut. Because they were so crowded, the children often fought and the man and his wife argued. When the poor man was unable to stand it any longer, he ran to the Rabbi for help. As he follows the Rabbi's unlikely advice, the poor man's life goes from bad to worse, with increasingly uproarious results. In his little hut, silly calamity follows foolish catastrophe, all memorably depicted in full-color illustrations that are both funnier and lovelier than any this distinguished artist has done in the past.

An illustrated collection of fifty traditional Jewish tales from various parts of the world.

Over 150 tales from the Talmud, the Zohar, Jewish folktales, and Hasidic lore.