MODERN JEWISH WORLDMAKING THROUGH YIDDISH CHILDREN'S LITERATURE

Udel, an associate professor of Yiddish language, literature, and culture at Emory University, chronicles the ways in which classical Yiddish-language storytelling spread Jewish cultural ideas around the world.

Thoroughly and thoughtfully, the author tells a global story of cultural preservation and perseverance in her latest book, specifically describing how Yiddish children’s literature served as a distinct conduit for relaying Jewish culture and identity. Much of the work unfolds in the decades between the World Wars, when Yiddish children’s literature served as a means of communicating to a people whose already diasporic population had spread broadly to many countries. As such, the book touches on such locales as the United States, Canada, Europe and the Soviet Union, Latin America, and Israel over the course of its narrative, examining numerous trends along the way: “The moment when a Yiddish children’s literature was coming into being was, not coincidentally, the moment when the linkage between childhood and happiness diffused into the furthest reaches of Western culture. Seriousness was the province of adults, while whimsy ought to reign where children dwelled.” Udel describes the contents of the nearly 1,000 texts she surveys, and also the processes through which these texts were created and preserved. Yiddish writers and intellectuals sought to make use of ideas from the past to serve as a frame of reference for a Jewish future. Through the efforts of these knowledge workers, Udel describes how a focus on she calls “the Jewish timeless” in children’s stories—that is, Jewish holidays and the Jewish alphabet—helped to create a firm foundation for an enduring, worldwide cultural identity. Among the book’s most intriguing insights is how Yiddish children’s literature informed leftist politics—namely, its emphasis on notions of justice and equity. It also notes that the rapid expansion of Hasidic communities in cities around the world provided a thriving market for Yiddish-language children’s books and merchandise (and even action figures).

Udel’s text covers a wide range of children’s literature from chapter books to picture books, and she writes in accessible prose that shows clear mastery of the subject matter. Despite the text’s scholarly origins, this isn’t merely a reference for scholars who have similar research interests. It’s a foundational work that deserves a wide readership among any audiences who may be interested in Jewish history, Judaica, Yiddish studies, and folklore. It effectively shows how Yiddish literature for children began “as a kind of civic-minded gesture on behalf of the nation” and grew into a world-spanning beacon of Jewish culture, featuring the works of such luminaries as Nobel Prize-winner Isaac Bashevis Singer. In an era of ever-shrinking indexes, this book includes a decidedly robust one, filled with clear cross-references and explanations of particular ideas. Rather than simply listing the name of the author and playwright Sholem Aleichem, for instance, and including a laundry-list of page numbers, Udel includes notably specific explanations of what’s covered in the passages in which Aleichem is discussed. The book, too, contains many vivid illustrations, including early woodcuts, which bring the many references to life.

A comprehensive survey of the cultural impact of Yiddish books for young readers.