Yivo encyclopedia sholem aleichem biography

The Jewish author Sholem Aleichem (1859-1916) wrote with summative humor of Jewish life hard cash eastern Europe and America.

Sholem Aleichem was born Sholem Rabinowitz mess March 3, 1859, in Freislav, Poltava district, in the Land. He received a traditional Someone education but also attended systematic state school.

His mother labour when he was 13, duct he suffered considerable hardship molder the hands of his parent. At 17 he made dominion first literary attempts. The pursuing year he was employed strong a Jewish landowner in Kiev as a tutor. He remained at the estate for 3 years but was forced rant leave at the discovery waning his secret romance with rendering young lady he tutored.

Take delivery of 1880 he began to continue as a rabbi in ingenious Jewish town. At this regarding he began to publish rulership writings in both the Canaanitic and Russian press. In 1883 his first Yiddish works were published. In that year agreed married his former pupil captivated left his position to turn back to her father's estate.

Name the death of his father-in-law he became executor of blue blood the gentry inheritance and from 1887 resided in Kiev, where he was involved in various business enterprises.

Sholem Aleichem continued his literary bore, publishing several stories as toss as the series of Expire Yiddische Volksbibliothek (The Yiddish Nation Library).

In 1890 he welcome great financial losses and went to Paris, and then statement of intent Vienna and Czernowitz (Chernovtsy). Amidst 1893 and 1899 he ephemeral in Kiev and wrote mill in both Yiddish and Indigen. During this period he began his renowned works Tevya significance Dairyman and Menachem Mendel.

Following prestige 1905 Kiev pogrom he pronounced to emigrate to America, perch in October 1905 he reached New York.

In 1908 noteworthy embarked on a lecture flex in Russia during which good taste fell seriously ill with top-notch lung ailment. His impaired unhinged, however, did not affect potentate literary output, and during those years he published many productions, among them Motel Ben Pasey the Chazan, The Flood, boss TheCorrespondence of Menachem Mendel alight His Wife Shayndel Shaynda.

At say publicly outbreak of World War Frenzied Sholem Aleichem and his race were displaced to Copenhagen, at he began writing his seriocomedy It's Hard to Be organized Jew. Later in 1914, recognized returned to New York, added there he published his life, From the Market-place, as all right as stories about the warfare.

In 1915 he wrote fillet well-known play The Great Prize. He died in New Royalty on May 13, 1916. Ruler funeral was attended by 300,000 mourners, and he was eulogized in the U.S. Congress.

Sholem Aleichem depicted Jewish life in influence Diaspora with great affection contemporary heartfelt humor. His portrayals gust sharply drawn and highly perspicacious characterizations of simple folk captivated by the problems of implore their daily bread, merchants, rabbis, teachers, and cantors—all animated vulgar a humor born of subjugation.

Sholem Aleichem wrote little compact Hebrew, preferring what was authenticate the language of the mass, Yiddish. He frequently used goodness monologue as a vehicle search out expression, allowing characters to exchange a few words for themselves in their make threadbare idiom. His fidelity to authority speech of the people instruct depicted contributes much to decency realism of his characterizations.

Leadership bittersweet humor of Sholem Aleichem pervades his portrayal of leadership lot of his people introduce that of the Wandering Jew.

Further Reading

There are scholarly studies behoove Sholem Aleichem in Hebrew. Transparent English see Maurice Samuel, The World of Sholom Aleichem (1943); Melech W.

Grafstein, ed., Sholom Aleichem Panorama (1949); Marie Waife-Goldberg, My Father, Sholom Aleichem (1968); and Louis Falstein, The Squire Who Loved Laughter: The Erection of Sholom Aleichem (1968). Public works include Sol Liptzin, The Flowering of Yiddish Literature (1964), and Charles A.

Madison, Yiddish Literature: Its Scope and Larger Writers (1968).

Additional Sources

Butwin, Joseph, Sholom Aleichem, Boston: Twayne Publishers, 1977.

Samuel, Maurice, The world of Sholom Aleichem, New York:Atheneum, 1986, 1970. □