Jewish women in the writings of Sholom Aleichem

Abstract

Jewish Pale could be written solely on the basis of the stories and sketches of Sholom Aleichem and "it would be as reliable a scientific document as any factual study; more so, indeed for we should get, in addition to the material of a straightfdwerd social inquiry, the intangible spirit in which informs the material and gives it its living significance".

Our purpose is to focus on one aspect of Eastern European life, the world of the women, as reflected in the writings of Sholom Aleichem. Although the man was dominant in this world and Sholom Aleichem concen­trated on the man, he presented a rich and varied portrait of the women. He described the traditional woman in the shteitl and in the city, the new generation woman as artist, student, revolutionary, the nouveau riche and the poverty stricken. The dominant picture, however, is the woman in her family roles as wife, mother and daughter.

The women will be studied in a framework of the three primary worlds that Sholom Aleichem depicts, the shteitl, the shteitl n transition and the open society.