Letter to Mendele

Sholem Aleichem

1886

Dedication to My Dearly Beloved Grandfather, Reb Mendalle Mocher Sephorim

To my dear grandfather, greetings!

Stempenyu, my first long novel, which I inscribe to you, is yours; not only because I have the honour to inscribe it to you, but also because it was you who instilled into me the desire to write such a novel. In one of your letters you said to…

Please login or register for free access to Posen Library
Register
Already have an account?
Engage with this Source

This letter, written in Kiev in 1886, was published as a dedication in Sholem Aleichem’s novel Stempenyu. That book was published in English translation in 1913 and is the only English translation that was supervised and approved by Sholem Aleichem.

Read more
Restricted
Some content is unavailable to non-members, please log in or sign up for free for full access.

Related Guide

Politics, Culture, and Religion at the Turn of the Twentieth Century

1880–1918

Jewish politics became more ideological, driving cultural change and defining nationalism. Tensions arose between secular movements and religious traditionalism.

You may also like

Letters to Sholem Aleichem

June 17, 1888 [June 29 in the Gregorian calendar]Dear Sir:Several days ago, I received an undated and terse postcard from one of my friends, a person close to me, H. Epstein, in which the following…
View Source

The Trial of Shomer

The secretary rises and begins to read out the indictment:“It has been nearly twenty years since Yiddish began to show signs of becoming a language, to stretch its limbs and demonstrate some forward…
View Source

In the Land of Israel

I traveled from Odessa by boat for eleven days until we arrived in Jaffa—this was the path taken by the Russian company’s ships. However, this was not the true length of the journey, which was in fact…
View Source