Elie Wiesel is a master storyteller with the ability to use storytelling as a form of activism. From his landmark memoir Night to his novels and numerous retellings of Hasidic legends, Wiesel's literature emphasizes storytelling, and he frequently refers to himself as a storyteller rather than an author or historian. In this work, essays examine Wiesel's roots in Jewish storytelling traditions; influences from religious, folk, and secular sources; education; Yiddish background; Holocaust experience; and writing style. Emphasized throughout is Wiesel's use of multiple sources in an...

From the Russian civil wars through the Nazi years, the Jews of Eastern Europe were targets of violence during the first half of the twentieth century. During the Holocaust especially, entire communities were wiped out. In response, survivors sometimes compiled memorial books, or Yizker books, in an attempt to preserve historical, biographical, and cultural information about their shtetls.This multipart collection provides a concise history of the memorial books and their cultural contexts; eight analytical essays on or using Yizker books; key reviews, in some cases translated from the...

Taking stock of Yiddish literature in 1939, critic Shmuel Niger highlighted the increasing number and importance of women writers. However, awareness of women Yiddish writers diminished over the years. Today, a modest body of novels, short stories, poems and essays by Yiddish women may be found in English translation online and in print, and little in the way of literary history and criticism is available. This collection of critical essays is the first dedicated to the works of Yiddish women writers, introducing them to a new audience of English-speaking scholars and readers.

Children’s literature is ubiquitous in preschool and elementary school classrooms and in school libraries. Teachers use children’s literature for pedagogical purposes and to excite children’s imaginations and expose them to “worlds” beyond their own experience. Over the past thirty years, teachers have increasingly used children’s literature to expose their students to cultural, racial, and religious diversity as well as introducing their students to issues of social justice and social equity. Unfortunately, Jewish children’s literature is often absent in the preschool and...

Children’s literature is ubiquitous in preschool and elementary school classrooms and in school libraries. Teachers use children’s literature for pedagogical purposes and to excite children’s imaginations and expose them to “worlds” beyond their own experience. Over the past thirty years, teachers have increasingly used children’s literature to expose their students to cultural, racial, and religious diversity as well as introducing their students to issues of social justice and social equity. Unfortunately, Jewish children’s literature is often absent in the preschool and...