Yiddish literature

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Yiddish literature encompasses all belles lettres written in Yiddish, the language of Ashkenazic Jewry which is related to Middle High German. The history of Yiddish, with its roots in central Europe and locus for centuries in Eastern Europe, is evident in its literature.

It is generally described as having three historical phases: Old Yiddish literature; Haskalah and Hasidic literature; and modern Yiddish literature. While firm dates for these periods are hard to pin down, Old Yiddish can be said to have existed roughly from 1300 to 1780; Haskalah and Hasidic literature from 1780 to about 1890; and modern Yiddish literature from 1864 to the present.

Old Yiddish literature

Yiddish literature began with translations of and commentary on religious texts. (See article on the Yiddish language for a full description of these texts). The most important writer of old Yiddish literature was Elijah Levita (known as Elye Bokher) who translated and adapted the chivalric romance of Bevis of Hampton, via its Italian version, Buovo d’Antona. Levita’s version, called Bovo d'Antona, and later known with the title Bovo-bukh, was circulated in manuscript from 1507, then published in Isny (Germany) in 1541. This work illustrates the influence of European literary forms on emerging Yiddish literature, not only in its subject but in the form of its stanzas and rhyme scheme, an adaptation of Italian ottava rima. Nonetheless, Levita altered many features of the story to reflect Judaic elements, though they rest uneasily with the essentially Christian nature of chivalry. (For a discussion of the tension between Christian and Jewish elements in the Bovo-bukh, see chapter two of Michael Wex’s Born to Kvetch.)

A number of Yiddish epic poems appeared in the 14-15th centuries. The most important works of this genres are Shmuel-Bukh and Mlokhim-Bukh - chivalric romances about king David and other Biblical heroes. The stanzaic form of these poems resembles that of the Niebelungenlied. Following the example of other European epics, [Shmuel-Bukh] was not simply recited, but sung or chanted to musical accompaniment; it's melody was widely known in Jewish communities.

Far from being rhymed adaptations of the Bible, these old Yiddish epic poems fused the Biblical and Midrashic material with the European courtly poetry, thus creating an Ashkenazic national epic, comparable to the Niebelungenlied and The Song of Roland.^[1]

Another influential work of old Yiddish literature is the Mayse-bukh (“Story Book”). This work collects ethical tales based on Hebrew and rabbinic sources, as well as folk tales and legends. Based on the inclusion of a few non-Jewish stories, scholars have deduced that the compiler lived in the area that is now western Germany during the last third of the 16th century. It was first published in 1602. These instructional stories are still read in highly religious communities, especially among the Hasidim.

A commentary written for women on the weekly parashot by Rabbi Jacob ben Isaac Ashkenazi in 1616, the Tseno Ureno (צאנה וראינה), remains a ubiquitous book in Yiddish homes to this day.

Women wrote old Yiddish literature infrequently, but several collections of tkhines (personal prayers which are not part of liturgy) were written by women such as Sara Bas-Tovim and Sarah Rebekah Rachel Leah Horowitz, both in the 18th century. The most extensive text by a woman from this era is the memoir of the 17th-18th century Glikl of Hameln, a family document that was not published until 1896.

Hasidic and Haskalah literature

Hasidic Stories

Non-Orthodox Jewish philosopher Martin Buber (1878-1965) was the first to publicise Hasidism to the wider non-Jewish world. His popular Neo-Hasidic interpretation of its stories was criticised by Gershom Scholem for leaving aside Hasidic Kabbalistic interpretation

The rise of Hasidic Judaism at the end of the 18th century gave rise to a specific kind of literary work. Among other published mystical writings and exegesis were hagiographic stories extolling the Hasidic leaders (Rebbes), beginning with the Baal Shem Tov, and describing their lives. This gave storytelling a new centrality in Rabbinic Judaism, as a means to inspire mystical fervour (dveikus). This was a crucial component in the folk religious spread of Hasidism, and supplemented the scholarly Kabbalistic interpretations. The transformation of anecdotal stories, often including miraculous or semi-prophetic abilities, into a form of Torah study, was based on the Hasidic doctine of the Tzaddik (elevated saintly intermediary between God and man). As one Hasidic master related of his visit to the Maggid of Mezeritch, "I went to see how the Maggid tied up his shoelaces".^[2] Hasidic stories also illustrate the other mystical teachings of Hasidism, such as its new emphasis on the spiritual value of the common, sincere Jewish folk. In perhaps the most famous Hasidic Story, the spiritual value of such sincerity is recounted:

The saintly prayers of the Baal Shem Tov and his close circle were unable to lift a harsh Heavenly decree they perceived one Rosh Hashanah (New Year). After extending the prayers beyond their time, the danger remained. An unlettered shephard boy entered and was deeply envious of those who could read the holy day's prayers. He said to God "I don't know how to pray, but I can make the noises of the animals of the field." With great feeling, he cried out, "Cock-a-doodle-do. God have mercy!" Immediately, joy overcame the Baal Shem Tov, and he hurried to finish the day's prayers. Afterwards, he explained that the heartfelt prayer of the shephard boy opened the Gates of Heaven, and the decree was lifted.

In the 20th century Martin Buber publicised Hasidism in the secular world through its stories, which offered him Neo-Hasidic spiritual inspiration. However, Gershom Scholem criticised his eshewing of Hasidic philosophical thought. As Hebrew was reserved for the texts of Torah study and Hasidic exegesis, the stories were conveyed in the everyday Yiddish vernacular.

Hasidic Parables

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Nachman of Breslov saw sparks of holiness mixed up in the tales of the world. Lurianic Kabbalah describes the purpose of Creation as the redemption of sparks of the Shechinah. In Hasidism each person is guided to elevate their particular share. This is compared to the tale of a princess who agrees to be freed from imprisonment only by a particular prince

Within the explanations of Hasidic philosophy by the Hasidic masters, another storytelling form was used - creative parables to illustrate mystical ideas. The Ba’al Shem Tov and his great-grandson Nachman of Breslov especially used this form, sometimes incorporating elements of folk tales, to convey spiritual messages. These tales were often transcribed and collected by their followers, alongside or integrated with the master's Kabbalistic interpretations. These classic anthologised texts of Hasidism could recount the parables in Yiddish, for vivid impact. In one example, the Baal Shem Tov explained the mystical meaning of the New Year's mitzvah to hear the sound of the Shofar (ram's horn):

A King sent his son away from the palace to learn new abilities and skills. Regretably, the son lost his royal ways and forgot his home tongue. After years in exile, he remembered his true calling, and desired to return to the palace. Upon approaching the royal gates, the guards no longer recognised the King's son and refused his entry. At that moment, the King appeared on the balcony, and saw the commotion at the gates, but also did not recognise his son. In distress, the son could no longer remember the royal language, so cried out a heartfelt wordless call from his very soul. Immediately, the King recognised the particular voice, and delighted in being reunited with his son.

Rabbi Nachman’s 13 Sippurei Ma'asiyot of 1816, extend this parable form to an ultimate and new degree. Where the parables articulated by many Hasidic masters have clear analogous meanings, Rabbi Nachman's long, imaginative and intricate tales offer many alternative mystical interpretations and allusions. Breslov commentaries on the tales collect these together, often based on oral hints to the meanings from Rabbi Nachman. Followers of Rabbi Nachman see the Tales as deep insights into the Jewish mystical tradition, and an aid to spiritual living (see also Hitbodedut). In effect, these are Kabbalistic fairy tales, and can involve stories within stories. Their rotes are in the Midrashic, Kabbalistic and Hasidic parable form, but Rabbi Nachman's Tales are unique in Hasidic and Rabbinic literature. Rabbi Nachman saw himself as an innovation in Hasidism, and his teachings focus on the Lurianic mystical doctrine of cosmic Tikkun (rectification). Literary and biographical analysis of the Tales, places them in the messianic project of the life of Rabbi Nachman, and a refuge for redemptive activity, when the outer redemptive activities of his life had been blocked (such as the death of his son, in whom he saw messianic potential).^[3] "The time had come," declared Rabbi Nachman, "to tell stories." He saw a relationship between his tales, that outwardly resemble fairy tale forms, and the fairy tales and folk tales of the non-Jewish world. This is based on the Lurianic doctrine of hidden sparks of holiness ("Nitzutzot"), trapped in every creation, and his role in their rectification. He declared:

In the tales told by the Nations of the World are hidden sparks of holinees, but the tales are confused and spiritually out of order, so that the sparks remain hidden.

Indeed, a literary analysis of the 13 Yiddish Tales points to some similar themes to well-known non-Jewish fairy tales^{[citation needed]}. For example, the first tale, "The Lost Princess", features a Prince and Princess, like in the Sleeping Beauty, but here it is the Prince who gets drunk and falls asleep, rather than rescue the exiled Princess. In Midrashic and Kabbalistic commentary, the Princess refers to the Shechinah (exiled feminine Divine Presence), and the successive attempts and setbacks of the Prince, the people of Israel, reflect Midrashic accounts of Adam and Eve, the drunkeness of Noah, and the sin of the Golden calf. The thirteenth tale, "The Seven Beggars", is the longest and most intricate. The story told on the seventh day by the seventh beggar is unfinished, and Rabbi Nachman related that it would only be known when the Messiah comes.

The Yiddish Tales of Rabbi Nachman amongst other forms of Hasidic storytelling, have had the strongest effect on the development of Yiddish literature. The secular development of the art of Yiddish storytelling as a cultural end in itself, outside of Rabbinic study, can trace its roots to the imagination and creativity of the Tales.^[4]

Haskalah

During the same years as the emergence of Hasidism, the most influential secular movement of Jews also appeared in the form of the Haskalah. This movement was influenced by the Enlightenment and opposed superstition in religious life and the antiquated education given to most Jews. They proposed better integration into European culture and society, and were strong opponents of Hasidism. Writers who used their craft to expound this view were Israel Aksenfeld, Solomon (or Shloyme) Ettinger and Isaac Meir Dik. Aksenfeld was at first a follower of Reb Nachman of Bratslav, but later abandoned Hasidism and became a strong opponent of it. His novel Dos shterntikhl (“The head-scarf”), published in 1861, portrays the Hasidic world as intolerant and small-minded. Only five of his works were published because of opposition from Hasidic leaders. His work is realist and shows the influence of 19th century Russian literature. Ettinger was a physician who wrote plays, including what is considered the most important of the Haskalah era, “Serkele.” His satiric style shows the influence of European drama: one scholar speculates that he read Molière. Dik (1808-1893) wrote short stories which sold tens of thousands of copies in book form. His role in literary development is as significant for creating a readership for Yiddish as for the content of his work, which tends to the didactic. He also wrote in Hebrew, including the outstanding Talmudic parody, “Masseket Aniyyut” (“Tractate Poverty”).

Modern Yiddish literature

The classic Yiddish writers

Modern Yiddish literature is generally dated to the publication in 1864 of Sholem Yankev Abramovitsh’s novel Dos kleyne mentshele (“The Little Person”). Abramovitsh had previously written in Hebrew, the language in which many proponents of the Haskalah communicated with each other, until this publication. With this novel, originally published serially in a Yiddish newspaper, Abramovitsh introduced his alter-ego, the character of Mendele Moykher Sforim (“Mendel the Book Peddler”), the character who narrates this and many succeeding stories. Abramovitsh himself is often known by this name, and it appears as the “author” on several of his books, producing a complex set of relations between the author, the persona and the readership which has been explored most thoroughly by Dan Miron. Abramovitsh’s work is ironic and sharp, while maintaining the voice of a folksy narrator. His work critiques corruption inside the Jewish community and that imposed on it from Russian and Polish governing institutions. He also continues the tradition of Haskalah literature with his attack on superstition and outmoded traditions such as arranged marriage. His extraordinary parody of the picaresque, Kitser masoes Binyomen hashlishi (“The Brief Travels of Benjamin the Third”), published in 1878, was his last great work and provides one of his strongest critiques of Jewish life in the Pale of Settlement.

Abramovitsh’s influence lay in two factors. First, he wrote in Yiddish at a time when most Jewish thinkers tended to Hebrew or a non-Jewish language such as German. Secondly, as Dan Miron demonstrates, Abramovitsh brought Yiddish belles lettres firmly into the modern era through the use of rhetorical strategies that allowed his social reform agenda to be expressed at the highest level of literary and artistic achievement. The outpouring of Yiddish literature in modernist forms that followed Abramovitsh demonstrates how important this development was in giving voice to Jewish aspirations, both social and literary. The most important of the early writers to follow Abramovitsh were Sholem Rabinovitsh, popularly known by his alter-ego, Sholem Aleichem, and I. L. Peretz. Rabinovitsh’s best-known works are the stories centering on the character Tevye the Dairyman. Written over many years and in response to the variety of Jewish catastrophes of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the stories epitomize Rabinovitsh’s style, including his signature style of “laughter through tears.” I. L. Peretz brought into Yiddish a wide array of modernist techniques he encountered in his reading of European fiction. While himself politically radical, particularly during the 1890s, his fiction is enormously nuanced and allows multiple readings. His work is both simple and caustic, more psychological and more individualistic than Abramovitsh or Rabinovitsh’s. For these reasons, he is considered the first true modernist in Yiddish literature. He wrote primarily stories of which “Bontshe shvayg” (Bontshe the Silent) is one of his best known. As with much of his work, it manages to convey two apparently opposing messages: sympathy for the oppressed with critique of passivity as a response to oppression.

Together, Abramovitsh, Rabinovitsh and I. L. Peretz are usually referred to as the three “classic” Yiddish writers (“di klasiker” in Yiddish). They are also nickednamed respectively the “grandfather,” the “father” and the “son” of Yiddish literature. This formulation erases the fact that they were all roughly contemporaneous and are best understood as a single phenomenon rather than as distinct generational manifestations of a tradition. Nonetheless, this formulation was propounded by the classic writers themselves, perhaps as a means of investing their fledgling literary culture with a lineage that could stand up to other world literatures they admired.

Literary movements and figures

Dramatic works in Yiddish grew up at first separately, and later intertwined with other Yiddish movements. Early drama, following Ettinger’s example, was written by Abraham Goldfaden, and Jacob Gordin. Much of what was presented on the Yiddish stage were translations from European repertoire, and as a result much of the earliest original writing in Yiddish owes as much to German theatre as to the classic Yiddish writers.

While the three classic writers were still at their height, the first true movement in modern Yiddish literature sprang up in New York. The “Sweatshop Poets,” as this school has come to be called, were all immigrant workers who experienced first hand the inhumane working conditions in the factories of their day. The leading members of this group were Morris Rosenfeld, Morris Winchevsky, David Edelstadt and Joseph Bovshover. Their work centers on the subject of proletarian oppression and struggle, and uses the styles of Victorian verse, producing a rhetoric that is highly stylized. As a result it is little read or understood today. Simultaneously in Warsaw a group of writers centered around I. L. Peretz took Yiddish to another level of modern experimentation; they included David Pinski, S. Ansky, Sholem Asch and I.M. Weissenberg. A later Warsaw group, “Di Khalyastre” (“The Gang”) included notables such as Israel Joshua Singer, Peretz Hirshbein, Melech Ravitch and Uri Zvi Grinberg (who went on to write most of his work in Hebrew). Like their New York counterpart, the group called “Di Yunge” (“The Young Ones”), they broke with earlier Yiddish writers and attempted to free Yiddish writing, particularly verse, from its preoccupation with politics and the fate of the Jews. Prominent members of Di Yunge included Mani Leib, Moyshe Leib Halpern, H.Leivick, Zishe Landau and the prose writers David Ignatoff and Isaac Raboy. Just a few years after Di Yunge came into prominence, a group called “In Zikh” (“Introspection”) declared itself the true avant garde, rejecting metered verse and declaring that non-Jewish themes were a valid topic for Yiddish poetry. The most important member of this group was Yankev Glatshteyn. Glatshteyn was interested in exotic themes, in poems that emphasized the sound of words, and later, as the Holocaust loomed and then took place, in reappropriations of Jewish tradition. His poem, “A gute nakht, velt” (“Good Night, World,” 1938) seems to foresee the tragedy on the horizon in Eastern Europe. In Vilnius, Lithuania (called Vilna or Vilne by its Jewish inhabitants, and one of the most historically significant centers of Yiddish cultural activity), the group “Yung Vilne” (“Young Vilna”) included Chaim Grade, Abraham Sutzkever and Szmerke Kaczerginski. Grade’s short story “Mayn krig mit Hersh Raseyner” (“My Quarrel With Hershl Rasseyner”) is one of the classic post-Holocaust Yiddish stories, encapsulating the philosophical dilemma faced by many survivors. Sutzkever has gone on to be one of major poets of the 20th century.

During the radical turn of the 1930s, a group of writers clustered around the U. S. Communist Party came to be known as “Di Linke” (“The Left Wing”). This group included Moyshe Nadir, Malke Lee and Ber Grin. In Canada, a similar group was known as the Proletariat school of writers, exemplified by Yudica. In the Soviet Union, Yiddish literature underwent a dramatic flowering, with such greats as David Bergelson, Der Nister, Peretz Markish and Moyshe Kulbak. Several of these writers were murdered during a Stalinist purge known as the Night of the Murdered Poets (August 12-13, 1952), including Itzik Fefer and Leib Kvitko. Bergelson is considered by many an underrated genius whose work in the modernist novel may be among the most interesting examples of the form. Important Soviet writers who escaped persecution include Moyshe Altman, Ikhil Shraybman, Note Lurie, Elye Shekhtman, Shike Driz, Rivke Rubin, Shira Gorshman, and others. There appears to have been no rhyme or reason to explain why certain writers were not persecuted, as all these writers pursued similar themes in their writing and participated in similar groupings of Jewish intellectuals.

An interesting feature of Yiddish literature in its most active years (1900-1940) is the presence of numerous women writers who were less involved in specific movements or tied to a particular artistic ideology. Writers such as Celia Dropkin, Anna Margolin, Kadya Molodowsky, Esther Kreitman and Esther Shumiatcher Hirschbein created bodies of work that do not fit easily into a particular category and which are often experimental in form or subject matter. Margolin’s work pioneered the use of assonance and consonance in Yiddish verse. She preferred off-rhymes to true rhymes. Dropkin introduced a highly charged erotic vocabulary and shows the influence of 19th century Russian poetry. Kreitman, the sister of I. J. and I. B. Singer, wrote novels and short stories, many of which were sharply critical of gender inequality in traditional Jewish life.

Certain male writers also did not associate with a particular literary group, or did so for a short time before moving on to other creative ethics. Among these were Itzik Manger, whose clever re-imaginings of Biblical and other Jewish stories are accessible and playful but deeply intellectual. Other writers in this category are Joseph Opatoshu, I. B. Singer (who is always called “Bashevis” in Yiddish to distinguish him from his older brother), I. J. Singer and Aaron Zeitlin.

Many of the writers mentioned above who wrote during and after the 1940s responded to the Holocaust in their literary works—some wrote poetry and stories while in ghettos, concentration camps, and partisan groups, and many continued to address the Holocaust and its aftereffects in their subsequent writing. Yiddish writers known best for their writings about the Holocaust include Yitzhak Katzenelson, Y. Shpigl, and Katsetnik.

Isaac Bashevis Singer and the Nobel Prize

The awarding of the Nobel Prize in Literature to Isaac Bashevis Singer in 1978 helped cement his reputation as one of the great writers of world literature. Many readers of Yiddish, however, are convinced that there are many finer writers among Yiddish literature, including his brother. Chaim Grade believed himself overlooked by the English-speaking world. Cynthia Ozick’s short story “Envy; or, Yiddish in America” implies a similar emotion on the part of a Yiddish poet, generally taken to be based on Yankev Glatshteyn. Some Yiddish critics complained of the excessive sex and superstition in Singer’s work, which they felt brought Yiddish literature in general into disrepute. In addition, Singer’s habit of presenting himself to the American press as the last or only Yiddish writer was irksome to the dozens of writers still living and working at the time. But in spite of these squabbles (some of which continue to be perpetrated years after the death of the protagonists), most scholars of Yiddish today would agree that the awarding of the Nobel Prize to Singer brought an unprecedented amount of attention to Yiddish literature, and has served to heighten interest in the field generally. Many scholars believe it to be a justified prize on the basis of the part of Singer’s oeuvre that is available in translation, which represents his most accomplished works.

Contemporary writing in Yiddish and influenced by Yiddish literature

The most important living Yiddish writer is undoubtedly Abraham Sutzkever. The last prewar European-born writers who are still publishing include the Canadian authors Chava Rosenfarb, Simcha Simchovitch, and Grunia Slutzky-Kohn; the Israeli writers including Tzvi Ayznman, Aleksander Shpiglblat, Rivke Basman Ben-Hayim, Yitzkhok Luden, Mishe Lev, Yente Mash, Tzvi Kanar, Elisheva Kohen-Tsedek and Lev Berinsky; and American poet-songwriter Beyle Schaechter-Gottesman and poets and prose masters Yonia Fain and Moyshe Szklar (editor of the Los Angeles Yiddish literary periodical Khezhbn) as well as the prolific feuilletonist and playwright Miriam Hoffman. Writers of the "younger" postwar born generation comprising those born in the late 1940s, 1950s, 1960s (many hailing from the former Soviet Union) include Alexander Belousov (1948-2004), Mikhoel Felsenbaum, Daniel Galay, Moyshe Lemster, Boris Sandler (current editor of the Yiddish "Forverts" edition of The Forward), Velvl Chernin, Zisye Veytsman, Heershadovid Menkes (pen name of Dovid Katz), and Boris Karloff (pen name of Dov-Ber Kerler, editor of "Yerusholaymer Almanakh"). A younger generation of writers who began to come to the fore in the 21st century includes poets Gitl Schaechter-Viswanath, Yermiyahu Ahron Taub and Yoel Matveyev in the US, Yisroel Nekrasov in Saint Petersburg, Haike Beruriah Wiegand in London, Thomas Soxberger in Vienna, and the prose writers Boris Kotlerman in Israel and Gilles Rozier (editor of "Gilgulim") in Paris. The earlier works of some of the younger generation authors were collected in the anthology "Vidervuks" (regrowth), published in 1989. Recent works of many of contemporary authors appeared in 2008 in Paris (Gilgulim: naye shafungen) and Jerusalem (Yerusholaymer Almanakh).

A new generation of Yiddish writers has emerged from the Hasidic and Haredi movements of contemporary Orthodoxy. The author known only by the pseudonym Katle Kanye writes blistering satire of current halakhic literature as well as poetry and thoughtful commentary on Hasidic life. Another example of a Haredi Yiddish blog-writer is Naturlich. Spy thrillers in Yiddish have become a popular genre within Hasidic communities.

European literatures have had a strong influence on Yiddish literature, but until the late 20th century there was little return flow into English, except through bilingual writers who chose to write in English, such as Anzia Yezierska and Ab Cahan. Currently, many young writers with little knowledge of Yiddish have been influenced by Yiddish literature in translation, such as Nathan Englander and Jonathan Safran Foer. An exception is Dara Horn, who has studied both Yiddish and Hebrew and draws on both of these traditions in her English-language novels.

The last Yiddish language writers in the former Soviet Union are Aleksandr Bejderman in Odessa and Yoysef Burg in Chernivtsi.

See also

See the List of Yiddish language poets and the categories below to find information on writers not mentioned above. The entry on Yiddish theatre discusses dramatic literature in greater depth.

Notes

References

This article includes a list of references, related reading or external links, but its sources remain unclear because it lacks inline citations. Please improve this article by introducing more precise citations where appropriate. (September 2009)

• Estraikh, Gennady. In Harness: Yiddish Writers’ Romance with Communism (Syracuse: Syracuse University Press, 2005) ISBN 0-8156-3052-2
• Glasser, Amelia (trans.) Proletpen: America’s Rebel Yiddish Poets (Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 2005) ISBN 0-299-20800-1
• “Ma’aseh books,” “Aksenfed, Israel,” “Ettinger (Oetinger),” “Dick, Isaac Mayer”. Jewish Encyclopedia (1904-11). 11 August 2006 [1]
• Miron, Dan. A Traveler Disguised: A Study in the Rise of Modern Yiddish Fiction in the Nineteenth Century. (New York: Schocken, 1973; reprint edition Syracuse University Press, 1996). ISBN 0-8156-0330-4
• Norich, Anita. The Homeless Imagination in the Fiction of Israel Joshua Singer (Bloomington: IUP, 1991) ISBN 0-253-34109-4
• Roskies, David G. A Bridge of Longing: The Lost Art of Yiddish Storytelling (Harvard University Press, 1996) ISBN 0674081404, ISBN 978-0674081406
• Seidman, Naomi. A Marriage Made in Heaven: the Sexual Politics of Hebrew and Yiddish (Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1997) ISBN 0-520-20193-0
• Sokoloff, Naomi, Anne Lapidus Lerner and Anita Norich, eds. Gender and Text in Modern Hebrew and Yiddish Literature. New York: JTSA, 1992. ISBN 0-674-34198-8
• Wex, Michael. Born to Kvetch: Yiddish Language And Culture in All Its Moods. (New York: St. Martin's Press, 2005). ISBN 0-312-30741-1
• Wisse, Ruth. A Little Love in Big Manhattan: Two Yiddish Poets (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1988) ISBN 0-674-53659-2
• “Yiddish literature.” Encyclopedia Britannica. 2006. Encyclopedia Britannica Online. 31 July 2006 <http://search.eb.com/eb/article-9108783>
• “Yiddish literature,” “Glikl of Hameln” and “Nahman of Bratslav”. Reader’s Guide to Judaism, ed. Michael Terry (Chicago, New York: Fitzroy Dearborn: 2000). ISBN 1-57958-139-0
• Riemer, Nathanael: Some parallels of stories in Glikls of Hameln "Zikhroynes". In: PaRDeS. Zeitschrift der Vereinigung für Jüdische Studien e.V. (2008) Nr. 14 , S. 125-148.

2. Zeitgenössische jiddische Lyrik Odessaer Autoren Steinhoff, Thorsten. - [Regensburg] : [Lehrstuhl für Neuere Dt. Literaturwiss. I der Univ.], [1996], Als Ms. gedr.

External links

• Yiddish Book Collection of the Russian Avant-Garde at the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library at Yale University
• Gilgulim, a literary Yiddish Magazine published in Paris
• Yerusholaimer Almanakh, periodic collections for Yiddish literature and culture, published in Jerusalem
• A Yiddish poem read in Yiddish and English
• A literary blog with news on Yiddish literature and culture
• English selections from the Stories of Nachman of Breslov