Literary Analysis of Sholom Aleichem and IL Peretz
Reading the writings of Aleichem and Peretz was a pure pleasure. It was like walking in the wood decorated with all kinds of flowers blooming. Although the roads Aleichem and Peretz took were bit different, they both attempted to describe the beauty of the Jewish culture and the hidden treasures which it offers to the world. One would wonder how, in the world, can there be a humor in the midst of horrible suffering? Well, get ready to surprise. Jewish culture without a humor is like a computer without a mouse. In another word, you can understand all the functions of computer with keyboard only, but it gets a lot easier if you have a mouse to with you. Understanding Jewish humors would help us what Jewish people think and feel of a world around them. The writings of Sholom Aleichem are good examples of the value of humor in revealing the heart of the Jewish culture. In Hodel, the conversation between Tevye and his wife reveals the value of Jewish people regarding the tradition. It also shows the role of a woman in a funny way. "What do I care about a medresh?" she says. "We have a daughter to marry off. And after her are two more almost ready. And after these two-three more-may t
I enjoyed both stories very much. It was an eye-opening opportunity to see the beauty and power of Jewish literatures. Literature plays important role in any culture in the world. I think Jewish people found the way to express their angers, sorrows, and hopes through the means of literature. Sholom Aleichem and I. L. Peretz are two great examples of representatives of Jewish culure. On surface it can be considered as one of Aleichem's humorus way of explaining the typical Jewish mother-in-law. But there's more to it if we look deep enough. The Jews in shtetl were too weak and powerless to resist the harsh sufferings Gentiles put upon their shoulders. They knew their history as wanderers of the world, and accepted to play that roll once again. However, they have had one hope based on the promise of God all along since the Bibylonian captivity. That is God will bring His people back to Jerusalem from the four corners of the world through Messiah. As men always come back, the suffering There are huge differences in characters both authors used to lead the story. Aleichem's Tevye and Peretz's Chiya represent two different class of Jews. If Tevye represents the uneducated, poor Shtetl Jews who made his living by trading or farming, Chiya represents educated, rich Jews whom people respect and depend upon. Of course these stories based on two different time period. Nonetheless, it still can be possible to compare these two characters for their zeal to retain the tradition of the old. Their knowledge of Torah, use of language, and the way of controlling himself are manifestly compared throughout the story. However, there are several similarities also. Both revere the Torah(although Chiya's was out of wisdom, and Tevye's was out of ignorance) very much, and also love to talk about it. And their attitude toward suffering was also very noticeable. When Chiya lost her beloved wife, he was willing to submit God's will, and seek the good out of it. In similar way, when Tevye discovered his daughter's decision to leave for her husband and enter into a very risky and unce
Some common words found in the essay are:
Aleichem Peretz, Mendel Laugh, Chananiah Miriam, Shtetl Jews, Holda Miriam, Torahalthough Chiya's, Sholom Aleichem, God Bibylonian, Jew Stetel, Finally Chananiah, aleichem peretz, jewish culture, jewish people, sholom aleichem, sholom aleichem peretz, holda miriam, conversational style, shtetl jews, doesn't, change jewish, menachem mendel,
Approximate Word count = 1421
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)
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