Shtetl
My father, the shoemaker
It was a miracle my father wasn’t beaten up by his peasant customers, since after any heavy rain, the boots could fall apart.
The “golden age” of Yiddish-speaking criminals
Jewish gangsters had their own folklore, songs and distinct Yiddish slang.
Shtetl-inspired sweatshirts are creating controversy online — but is ‘shtreetwear’ really beyond the pale?
it’s hard to imagine our ancestors extolling the “raw simplicity” of shtetl life — or forking over $65 for a hoodie.
What Was Passover Like Before WWII? 5 Facts You May Not Know
Because smoking is permitted on the holiday but lighting them isn’t, Jews would offer their lit cigarettes to Jewish passers-by.
Why Bubbe Always Ate Alone In The Kitchen
I always found the shtetl foods — chicken necks and smoked fish — disgusting. Until now.
Grigory Kanovich’s Remarkable Love Song For a Lithuanian Shtetl
“Shtetl Love Song” belongs to the genre of homespun shtetl literature, which began with Mendele Mocher Sforim’s autobiography, “Shloyme Ben Khayems.”
LISTEN: A Yiddish Shtetl Song Got Revived On NPR
Ljova and the Kontraband performed a beautiful Yiddish song from western Ukraine in an NPR “Tiny Desk Concert.”
Preparing For Passover In Ukraine’s Last Shtetl
At first glance, this drab town 160 miles south of Kiev seems nearly identical to the settlements that dot the poverty-stricken district of Vinnitsa. Shrouded in a seemingly permanent cloud of smoke from wood fires Bershad, population 13,000, features two rickety bridges over the Dokhna River.
The ‘Turncoats’ Of Wojslawice — And What They Say About Us
The Jews of Uchanie, my father’s shtetl in Lublin province, used to say about the Jews of Wojslawice just down the road, that they were meshumodim. Turncoats. What worse epithet could you hurl at a fellow Jew?
Letter from Ukraine: Don’t Let Refugee History Repeat Itself
As Jews, we must speak out. We are no strangers to the life-saving benefits of immigration no less than we are strangers to the reality of what happens when immigration is no longer an option.