The Shtetl In Yiddish Literature And Film with Dr. Avi Blitz

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The Shtetl In Yiddish Literature And Film

From the Yiddish meaning small town, the word shtetl nowadays conveys a romantic image of traditional Jewish life in Eastern Europe, evocative of Tevye’s Anatevka from Fiddler on the Roof. But what was the reality? The small Jewish market towns of the Pale of Settlement were fraught with social tensions. In the early days, there existed in the shtetl a gulf between the rich and the poor, between the haves and the have-nots; in the nineteenth century, the shtetl was ravaged by the modernizing forces of urbanization, secularization and migration. Nevertheless, we continue to revere the shtetl as a locus of lost innocence. This course will lead you on a journey through the shtetl, real and imagined, in excerpts from Yiddish memoirs and in tales from Yiddish literature.

Instructor: Dr. Avi Blitz

Tuition: $105

Day/Time: Thu 7:30 PM - 8:45 PM

Location: This Class will be on ZOOM

Class Dates: 1/4/2024, 1/11/2024, 1/18/2024, 1/25/2024, 2/1/2024, 2/8/2024