The Polish Lad

Isaac Joel (Yitskhok Yoyel) Linetski was a prolific Yiddish writer, essayist, and literary translator, and an active maskil in Russia. After breaking with his Hasidic family, Linetski turned toward the Haskalah and was closely associated with the leading periodicals and figures in Hebrew and Yiddish culture, including Alexander Zederbaum and Abraham (Avrom) Goldfaden. Linetski’s most successful work was the satiric novel Dos poylishe yingl (The Polish Lad), first serialized in the Yiddish paper Kol mevaser beginning in 1867 and published in book form for the first time in 1869. The book, a humorous critique of Hasidic life written as a fictional autobiography, reached a mass audience, going through at least thirty editions. Linetski eventually settled in Odessa and became involved in the city’s early Zionist circles as both a critic and prolific translator of Hebrew literature.