Are you interested in reading classic Yiddish literature in translation? This new quarterly reading group explores many themes for lively discussion through the lens of three Yiddish novels in translation, plus an additional contemporary title outside of the genre. Some of the themes we’ll discuss are the tug and pull of tradition and modernity; familial relationships; immigration; and the history of the Yiddish language, literature and culture. Each book comes with a discussion guide.

Registration is optional.  Visit the Reading Room to borrow a copy of the book.

Presented as part of the Yiddish Book Center’s Public Libraries Program, a partnership with the American Library Association. Made possible by the Lilly Endowment, Inc. Learn more about WPL's participation in the this program here.

At this meeting, we'll discuss The Zelmenyaners: a Family Saga by Moyshe Kulbak, translated by Hillel Halkin.

This is a classic of Yiddish literature and one of the great comic novels of the twentieth century. The Zelmenyaners describes the travails of a Jewish family in Minsk that is torn asunder by the new Soviet reality. Four generations are depicted in riveting and often uproarious detail as they face the profound changes brought on by the demands of the Soviet regime and its collectivist, radical secularism. The resultant intergenerational showdowns- including disputes over the introduction of electricity, radio, and electric trolley- are rendered with humor, pathos, and a finely controlled satiric pen. Moyshe Kulbak, a contemporary of the Soviet Jewish writer Isaac Babel, picks up where Sholem Aleichem left off a generation before, exploring in this book the transformation of Jewish life.