Yiddish Literature
   HOME
*



picture info

Yiddish Literature
Yiddish literature encompasses all those belles-lettres written in Yiddish language, Yiddish, the language of Ashkenazim, 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 Judaism, 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 Elia Levita, Elijah Levita (known as Elye B ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  




Belles-lettres
is a category of writing, originally meaning beautiful or fine writing. In the modern narrow sense, it is a label for literary works that do not fall into the major categories such as fiction, poetry, or drama. The phrase is sometimes used pejoratively for writing that focuses on the aesthetic qualities of language rather than its practical application. A writer of belles-lettres is a belletrist. Overview Literally, is a French phrase meaning 'beautiful' or 'fine' writing. In this sense, therefore, it includes all literary works—especially fiction, poetry, drama, or essays—valued for their aesthetic qualities and originality of style and tone. The term thus can be used to refer to literature generally. The ''Nuttall Encyclopedia'', for example, described belles-lettres as the "department of literature which implies literary culture and belongs to the domain of art, whatever the subject may be or the special form; it includes poetry, the drama, fiction, and criticism," whil ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


Mlokhim-Bukh
The ''Mlokhim-Bukh'' (English: ''Book of Kings'') is a Yiddish religious verse epic by an unknown author, which recounts the monarchy of Solomon and the ancient history of the Hebrews up to the Babylonian Captivity. The oldest surviving fragment is dated to 1519–1525, though the poem is probably older. Its stanzaic form resembles that of the Nibelungenlied. The poem fuses Biblical material, Midrashic legends, and rabbinical folklore with European courtly poetry, and belongs to the genre of the Ashkenazic national epic, comparable to other European epic poems, such as the Nibelungenlied and The Song of Roland. However, in contrast to the more chivalry-themed Shmuel-Bukh The ''Shmuel-Bukh'' is a midrashic verse epic written in Yiddish. Composed no later than the second half of the 15th century and widely circulated in manuscript, it was first printed in Augsburg in 1544. Its stanzaic form resembles that of the Nib ..., it is more ethical and historical in nature.Introduction to ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


Sarah Bas Tovim
Sarah Bas Tovim (lived in the late 17th and early 18th centuries) was a Ukrainian Jewish woman, author of ''Shloshe Shearim'' ("Three Portals") the most widely circulated of the ''tkhines'', Yiddish-language prayer booklets intended mainly for Jewish women. Liptzin, Sol, ''A History of Yiddish Literature'', Jonathan David Publishers, Middle Village, NY, 1972. . pp.16-17. Dovid Katz refers to Sarah as Sora bas Toyvim and refers to another of her works that have survived, ''Sheker ha-kheyn''. Born in the small town of Satanov in the Podolia region of Ukraine, she claimed descent from Rabbi Mordechai of Brisk. ''Shloshe Shearim'', written toward the end of her life, is a cautionary tale based on her own life. She tells of herself as a vain young woman, who came to the synagogue wearing jewels and gossiping and jesting during services, and of how she spent a sad life as a wanderer. Bas Tovim herself became a figure of Jewish legend, such as the story ''"Der Zivug"'' by I.L. Peretz ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Tseno Ureno
The ''Tz'enah Ur'enah'' ( ''Ṣʼenā urʼenā'' "Go forth and see"), also spelt Tsene-rene and Tzeno Ureno, sometimes called the ''Women's Bible'', is a Yiddish-language prose work of c.1590s whose structure parallels the weekly Torah portions and Haftarahs used in Jewish prayer services. The book was written by Jacob ben Isaac Ashkenazi (1550–1625) of Janów Lubelski (near Lublin, Poland), and mixes Biblical passages with teachings from Judaism's Oral Torah such as the Talmud's Aggadah and Midrash, which are sometimes called "parables, allegories, short stories, anecdotes, legends, and admonitions" by secular writers. Liptzin, Sol, ''A History of Yiddish Literature'', Jonathan David Publishers, Middle Village, NY, 1972. . pp.10-11. The name derives from a verse of the Song of Songs that begins (, "Go forth and see, O ye daughters of Zion", ()). The nature of the source of the name indicates that the book was intended for women, who would have been less versed than men i ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  




Jacob Ben Isaac Ashkenazi
Rabbi Jacob ben Isaac Ashkenazi (1550–1625), of Janów (near Lublin, Poland), was the author of the ''Tseno Ureno'', sometimes called the "Women's Bible", a Yiddish-language prose work written around the 1590s whose structure parallels the weekly portions of the Pentateuch and Haftorahs used in Shabbat services. He also wrote a supplement, the ''Melitz Yosher'' () and ''Seyfer Ha Magid'' (). ''Ha Magid'', which literally means "the book that tells" or "the messenger book" in the biblical sense, as in "the messenger came to David saying" in , is a similar compilation on the Prophets and Hagiographa. See also * Role of women in Judaism * Tzeniut *Yiddish language *Yiddish literature Yiddish literature encompasses all those 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 Euro ... References Further reading * Yiddish- ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Parashot
The term ''parashah'' ( he, פָּרָשָׁה ''Pārāšâ'', "portion", Tiberian , Sephardi , plural: ''parashot'' or ''parashiyot'', also called ''parsha'') formally means a section of a biblical book in the Masoretic Text of the Tanakh (Hebrew Bible). In common usage today the word often refers to the Weekly Torah portion (a shortened form of ''Parashat HaShavua''). This article deals with the first, formal meaning of the word. In the Masoretic Text, ''parashah'' sections are designated by various types of spacing between them, as found in Torah scrolls, scrolls of the books of Nevi'im or Ketuvim (especially the Megillot), masoretic codices from the Middle Ages and printed editions of the masoretic text. The division of the text into ''parashot'' for the biblical books is independent of chapter and verse numbers, which are not part of the masoretic tradition. ''Parashot'' are not numbered, but some have special names. The division of ''parashot'' found in the modern-day To ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


Gentile
Gentile () is a word that usually means "someone who is not a Jew". Other groups that claim Israelite heritage, notably Mormons, sometimes use the term ''gentile'' to describe outsiders. More rarely, the term is generally used as a synonym for ''heathen'' or ''pagan''. In some translations of the Quran, ''gentile'' is used to translate an Arabic word that refers to non-Jews and/or people not versed in or not able to read scripture. The English word ''gentile'' derives from the Latin word , meaning "of or belonging to the same people or nation" (). Archaic and specialist uses of the word ''gentile'' in English (particularly in linguistics) still carry this meaning of "relating to a people or nation." The development of the word to principally mean "non-Jew" in English is entwined with the history of Bible translations from Hebrew and Greek into Latin and English. Its meaning has also been shaped by Rabbinical Jewish thought and Christian theology which, from the 1st century ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Folklore
Folklore is shared by a particular group of people; it encompasses the traditions common to that culture, subculture or group. This includes oral traditions such as tales, legends, proverbs and jokes. They include material culture, ranging from traditional building styles common to the group. Folklore also includes customary lore, taking actions for folk beliefs, the forms and rituals of celebrations such as Christmas and weddings, folk dances and initiation rites. Each one of these, either singly or in combination, is considered a folklore artifact or traditional cultural expression. Just as essential as the form, folklore also encompasses the transmission of these artifacts from one region to another or from one generation to the next. Folklore is not something one can typically gain in a formal school curriculum or study in the fine arts. Instead, these traditions are passed along informally from one individual to another either through verbal instruction or demonstr ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

The Song Of Roland
''The Song of Roland'' (french: La Chanson de Roland) is an 11th-century ''chanson de geste'' based on the Frankish military leader Roland at the Battle of Roncevaux Pass in 778 AD, during the reign of the Carolingian king Charlemagne. It is the oldest surviving major work of French literature. It exists in various manuscript versions, which testify to its enormous and enduring popularity in Medieval and Renaissance literature from the 12th to 16th centuries. The epic poem written in Vulgar Latin is the first and one of the most outstanding examples of the ''chanson de geste'', a literary form that flourished between the 11th and 16th centuries in Medieval Europe and celebrated legendary deeds. The date of composition is put in the period between 1040 AD and 1115 AD; an early version began around 1040 AD with additions and alterations made up until about 1115 AD. The final text contains about 4,000 lines of poetry. Manuscripts and dating Although set in the Carolingian era, ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Ashkenazic
Ashkenazi Jews ( ; he, יְהוּדֵי אַשְׁכְּנַז, translit=Yehudei Ashkenaz, ; yi, אַשכּנזישע ייִדן, Ashkenazishe Yidn), also known as Ashkenazic Jews or ''Ashkenazim'',, Ashkenazi Hebrew pronunciation: , singular: , Modern Hebrew: are a Jewish diaspora population who coalesced in the Holy Roman Empire around the end of the first millennium CE. Their traditional diaspora language is Yiddish (a West Germanic language with Jewish linguistic elements, including the Hebrew alphabet), which developed during the Middle Ages after they had moved from Germany and France into Northern Europe and Eastern Europe. For centuries, Ashkenazim in Europe used Hebrew only as a sacred language until the revival of Hebrew as a common language in 20th-century Israel. Throughout their numerous centuries living in Europe, Ashkenazim have made many important contributions to its philosophy, scholarship, literature, art, music, and science. The rabbinical term ''A ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Midrash
''Midrash'' (;"midrash"
''Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary''.
he, מִדְרָשׁ; or מִדְרָשׁוֹת ''midrashot'') is expansive using a rabbinic mode of interpretation prominent in the . The word itself means "textual interpretation", "study", or "