"At the turn of the twentieth century East European Jews underwent a radical cultural transformation, which turned a traditional religious community into a modern nation, struggling to find its place in the world. An important figure in this 'Jewish Renaissance' was the American-Yiddish writer and activist Joseph Opatoshu (1886-1954). Born into a Hassidic family, he spent his early childhood in a forest in Central Poland, was educated in Russia and studied engineering in France and America. In New York, where he emigrated in 1907, he joined the revitalizing modernist group Di yunge - The Young. His early novels painted a vivid picture of social turmoil and inner psychological conflict, using modernist devices of multiple voices and mixed linguistic idioms. He acquired international fame by his historical novels about the Polish uprising of 1863 and the expulsion of Jews from Regensburg in 1519. Though he was translated into several languages, Yiddish writing always fostered his ideas and ideals of Jewish identity. Although he occupied a key position in the transnational Jewish culture during his lifetime, Opatoshu has until recently been neglected by scholars. This volume brings together literary specialists and historians working in Jewish and Slavic Studies, who analyse Opatoshu's quest for modern Jewish identity from different perspectives. The contributors are Shlomo Berger (Amsterdam), Marc Caplan (Baltimore, MD), Gennady Estraikh (New York), Roland Gruschka (Heidelberg), Ellie Kellman (Boston), Sabine Koller (Regensburg), Mikhail Krutikov (Ann Arbor, MI), Joshua Lambert (Amherst, MA), Harriet Murav (Urbana-Champaign, IL), Avrom Novershtern (Jerusalem), Dan Opatoshu (Los Angeles), Eugenia Prokop-Janiec (Krakow), Jan Schwarz (Lund), Astrid Starck (Basel/Mulhouse), Karolina Szymaniak (Krakow) and Evita Wiecki (Munich)."

In Polish Woods, which was first published in its English translation from its original Yiddish in 1938, is a historical novel describing the devolution of the Kotzker dynasty between the age of Napoleon and the Polish Revolt of 1863. Author Joseph Opatoshu reflects on the conflicting and even opposite tendencies in development of the Jewish ideology during this era, which would largely determine the future of the Jewish people: Hasidism, enlightenment, and assimilation. A thoroughly engaging read.

The five short novellas which comprise this anthology were written between 1890 and World War I. All share a common setting--the Eastern European Jewish town or shtetl, and all deal in different ways with a single topic--the Jewish confrontation with modernity. The authors of these novellas are among the greatest masters of Yiddish prose. In their work, today's reader will discover a literary tradition of considerable scope, energy, and variety and will come face to face with an exceptionally memorable cast of characters and with a human community now irrevocably lost. In her general introduction, Professor Wisse traces the development of modern Yiddish literature in the late 19th and early 20th centuries and describes the many shifts that took place between the Yiddish writers and the world about which they wrote. She also furnishes a brief introduction for each novella, giving the historical and biographical background and offering a critical interpretation of the work.

A delightful excursion through the Yiddish language, the culture it defines and serves, and the fine art of complaint Throughout history, Jews around the world have had plenty of reasons to lament. And for a thousand years, they've had the perfect language for it. Rich in color, expressiveness, and complexity, Yiddish has proven incredibly useful and durable. Its wonderful phrases and idioms impeccably reflect the mind-set that has enabled the Jews of Europe to survive a millennium of unrelenting persecution . . . and enables them to kvetch about it! Michael Wex—professor, scholar, translator, novelist, and performer—takes a serious yet unceasingly fun and funny look at this remarkable kvetch-full tongue that has both shaped and has been shaped by those who speak it. Featuring chapters on curse words, food, sex, and even death, he allows his lively wit and scholarship to roam freely from Sholem Aleichem to Chaucer to Elvis. Perhaps only a khokhem be-layle (a fool, literally a "sage at night," when there's no one around to see) would care to pass up this endearing and enriching treasure trove of linguistics, sociology, history, and folklore—an intriguing appreciation of a unique and enduring language and an equally fascinating culture.

CONTENTS.- Continuity; a memory of my father.- A day in Regensburg.- Ciechanow melody.- A Bratzlaver Chasid.- A rabbi.- Rationalists.- Simchat Torah.- Meyer Balaban.- Four hundred years.- Miracles.- The mute hungarian.- Pedigree.- The Chumash lad.- The eternal wedding dress.- In the Jewish district of Vienna.- A Sabbath afternoon.- Almost there.- Ben Sira's grandson.- Father, father.- In a slaurhterhouse.- Midnight vigil.- Lampshade king.

Rabbi Menahem Mendel of Kotsk (1787-1859) was one of the most interesting and challenging figures of Hasidism in the nineteenth century. His search for truth and battles against falsehood and spiritual compromise are the subject of many legends, hagiographical stories, and anecdotes. Though he was irascible and demanding, he inspired the loyalty of disciples who went on to become the dominant leaders of Hasidism in Poland from the middle of the nineteenth century to the destruction of Polish Jewry in the Holocaust. R. Menahem Mendel left no surviving writings. His descendants and disciples moved away from the radicalism of his teachings and adopted more conventional and conservative theological positions. As a result, there was little incentive to preserve and publish his teachings. The goal of this work is twofold. First, to present a biographical study of what is known about R. Menahem Mendel that is based on historical research, instead of repeating myths, legends, and stories without regard to their historical veracity. Secondly, to collect, translate, and analyze those teachings and sayings by or about R. Menahem Mendel that are consistent with what we know about his life and teachings, and are also accessible to a broader audience.

Through the lens of children's literature, explores the largely untold story of secular Yiddish schools in America