The Letters of Menakhem-Mendl and Sheyne-Sheyndl and Motl, the Cantor's Son

This volume presents a new translation of two favorite comic novels by the preeminent Yiddish writer Sholem Aleichem (1859-1916). The Letters of Menakhem-Mendl and Sheyne-Sheyndl portrays a tumultuous marriage through letters exchanged between the title character, an itinerant bumbler seeking his fortune in the cities of Russia before departing alone for the New World, and his scolding wife, who becomes increasingly fearful, jealous, and mystified. Motl, the Cantor's Son is the first-person narrative of a mischievous and keenly observant boy who emigrates with his family from Russia to America. The final third of the story takes place in New York, making this Sholem Aleichem's only major work to be set in the United States.
Sholem Aleichem endows each character with an individual comic voice to tell in his own way the story of the collapse of traditional Jewish life in modern industrial society as well as the journey to America, where a new chapter of Jewish history begins. This volume includes a biographical and critical introduction as well as a useful glossary for English-language readers.

Sholem Aleichem, born Sholem Rabinovich in 1859, was one of Yiddish literature's most beloved and widely translated authors. Among his many enduring characters is Tevye the Dairyman, who inspired the musical Fiddler on the Roof. Sholem Aleichem died in New York City in 1916 Hillel Halkin is a widely respected translator of Yiddish and Hebrew and a frequent contributor to Commentary, The Forward, and The Jerusalem Post