This extraordinary novel is part of Grigory Kanovich’s "Litvak saga," his tribute to Jewish life before the Holocaust. Set in a small Lithuanian town in the late nineteenth century, the story begins with the arrival of a stranger who sets everyone on edge and seems to know their secrets. Is he a messenger from God, a long-lost son, a saint, or a madman? As the stranger in the velvet yarmulke makes his rounds, we meet an unforgettable cast of characters—Rabbi Uri, the aged rabbi; Itsik Magid, the strapping young woodcutter; the resourceful widow Golda; Markus Fradkin, the wealthy timber merchant, and his beautiful daughter Zelda; Yeshua Mandel, the tavern keeper, his troubled son Simeon, and their devoted servant girl Morta. A work of realism as well as a parable, Kanovich’s novel illuminates the most intimate fears, dreams, and longings of the shtetl’s inhabitants.

For centuries before its ""rebirth"" as a spoken language, Hebrew writing was like a magical ship in a bottle that gradually changed design but never voyaged out into the world. Isolated, the ancient Hebrew ship was torpid because the language of the Bible was inadequate to represent modern life in Europe. Early modern speakers of Yiddish and German gave Hebrew the breath of life when they translated dialogues, descriptions, and thought processes from their vernaculars into Hebrew. By narrating tales of pilgrimage and adventure, Jews pulled the ship out of the bottle and sent modern Hebrew into the world. In Travels in Translation, Frieden analyzes this emergence of modern Hebrew literature after 1780, a time when Jews were moving beyond their conventional Torah- and Zion-centered worldview. Enlightened authors diverged from pilgrimage narrative traditions and appropriated travel narratives to America, the Pacific, and the Arctic. The effort to translate sea travel stories from European languages-with their nautical terms, wide horizons, and exotic occurrences-made particular demands on Hebrew writers. They had to overcome their tendency to introduce biblical phrases at every turn in order to develop a new, vivid, descriptive language. As Frieden explains through deft linguistic analysis, by 1818, a radically new travel literature in Hebrew had arisen. Authors such as Moses Mendelsohn-Frankfurt and Mendel Lefin published books that charted a new literary path through the world and in European history. Taking a fresh look at the origins of modern Jewish literature, Frieden launches a new approach to literary studies, one that lies at the intersection of translation studies and travel writing.

Hilarious and sad at the same time, Ehrlich's collection of short stories, Who Will Die Last is an original and moving work of fiction. Ever deeply humane, the author takes his characters on a tantalizing journey through their souls. His understated style transforms even a heartbreaking plot into an uplifting and funny story. Israel's special history, landscapes, and conflicts add to the drama and passion of the book. Ehrlich's themes relate to gay life in Israel, the pull of loneliness, and the power of community. Rather than a single translator, this collection employs a variety of translators, reflecting in many ways the luminous diversity of voices in the stories.

Two novellas by S. Y. Abramovitsh open this anthology, the first comprehensive overview of works by the three classic Yiddish authors. They describe Jewish life in Eastern Europe during the nineteenth century and introduce the reader to Abramovitsh' alter ego, Mendele the Book Peddler, who narrates both The Little Man and Fishke the Lame. Here he presents a diverse cast of characters including Isaac Abraham as tailor's apprentice, choirboy, and corrupt businessman, and Fishke traveling through the Ukraine with a caravan of beggars. Sholem Aleichem reintroduces us to Tevye the Dairyman's beloved daughters Hodel and Chava, known to everyone familiar with the musical or film Fiddler on the Roof. Tevye is a gregarious storyteller who describes the pleasures of raising independent-minded daughters. The selections from Peretz include his best stories about life of the hasidim. We catch glimpses of inspirational rebbes and awe-inspiring rabbis. These translations breathe new life into the unforgettable worlds of Yiddish literature.

Two early works by S.Y. Abramovitsh introduce the reader to Abramovitsh's alter ego Mendele the Book Peddler. Mendele narrates both The Little Man and Fishke the Lame. In different voices, he also presents a diverse cast of characters including Isaac Abraham as tailor's apprentice, choirboy, and corrupt businessman. Reb Alter tells of his matchmaking mishap and Fishke relates his travels through the Ukraine with a caravan of beggars. Sholem Aleichem's Tevye reemerges from new translations of ""Hodel"" and ""Chava"" in all of his comic splendor. Notes enable students to follow Tevye's uneven steps through Bible quotations. Four of Sholem Aleichem's other eloquent monologists come back to haunt us in scintillating translations. The selections from Peretz include his finest stories about the hasidim, such as ""Kabbalists,"" ""Teachings of the Hasidim,"" and the ironic tale ""The Rebbe's Pipe."" A fresh rendering of Peretz's masterpiece ""Between Two Mountains"" represents the meeting of an inspirational rebbe and an awe-inspiring rabbi. Following the translations are three biographical essays about these giants of modern Yiddish literature.

For centuries before its ""rebirth"" as a spoken language, Hebrew writing was like a magical ship in a bottle that gradually changed design but never voyaged out into the world. Isolated, the ancient Hebrew ship was torpid because the language of the Bible was inadequate to represent modern life in Europe. Early modern speakers of Yiddish and German gave Hebrew the breath of life when they translated dialogues, descriptions, and thought processes from their vernaculars into Hebrew. By narrating tales of pilgrimage and adventure, Jews pulled the ship out of the bottle and sent modern Hebrew into the world. In Travels in Translation, Frieden analyzes this emergence of modern Hebrew literature after 1780, a time when Jews were moving beyond their conventional Torah- and Zion-centered worldview. Enlightened authors diverged from pilgrimage narrative traditions and appropriated travel narratives to America, the Pacific, and the Arctic. The effort to translate sea travel stories from European languages-with their nautical terms, wide horizons, and exotic occurrences-made particular demands on Hebrew writers. They had to overcome their tendency to introduce biblical phrases at every turn in order to develop a new, vivid, descriptive language. As Frieden explains through deft linguistic analysis, by 1818, a radically new travel literature in Hebrew had arisen. Authors such as Moses Mendelsohn-Frankfurt and Mendel Lefin published books that charted a new literary path through the world and in European history. Taking a fresh look at the origins of modern Jewish literature, Frieden launches a new approach to literary studies, one that lies at the intersection of translation studies and travel writing.