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In many shtetls throughout Podolye and Volhynia we often find a mound next to the synagogue. Surrounded by a traditional cemetery fence, the mound is known as the Grave for the Bride and Groom. And…
This is a night of vigil for me,
in the shudder of my soul
I shall conceal
the secret of my youth.
I shall stand on guard:
No sleep nor slumber!
And in just one moment
the veil was taken away.
A…
The new Rabbi pleased everybody, because he was beyond all doubt a righteous man. I was then a boy of twelve. My father received two letters from Rabbi Yukel on the subject of a good match for me in…
His sorrowful expression broke her heart. She’d always believed that her father was strong and would do whatever was necessary to retain his dignity and his self-respect. And now for the first time…
Between the River Prat and stream Hidekel
on a mountaintop there waves a palm.
And in the palm, among its fronds
lives a hummingbird of gold.
Golden bird! Fly and wheel
go out and find for me my…
Older people still remember it. Younger people know about it from reading our classic writers of the older generation: how Jews once gave much thought to naming a child, long before it was born and…
While ketubot (marriage contracts) are usually written in Aramaic, Karaite ketubot are written in Hebrew. They are often pentagonal in shape, most often with a pointed bottom. This example has a…
Yehudis:
Yidele—a question. Hear me out.
And please don’t interrupt and start to shout.
Yidele:
I’m not exactly in the mood, my dear,
But go ahead and…
Fishke started to narrate in his lisping, stammering way.
“You seem to know I married the blind orphan girl, and after the wedding we lived well, like a Jewish couple should. I think I kept my part of…
Well, no sooner had I thought of my Hodl than she appeared by my side. She sat down next to me on the stoop, looked around, and said in a low voice, “Papa, are you listening? I have to tell you…