The Tale of the Ba‘al Shem and the Dybbuk

Sonya the Wise Woman (Sonya Naimark)

1908

This is no fairy tale, it really happened.

In our shtetl, there was a bright young man named Móyshele. He was as smart as a whip, and also a good-for-nothing. Then all at once he disappeared, and no one knew what had become of him. About five or six years later, my dad had to take a business trip to a small shtetl somewhere in Volhynia. Upon…

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

Creator Bio

Sonya the Wise Woman (Sonya Naimark)

Mid-19th Century–Early 20th Century

Little is known of Sonya (Naimark) the Wise Woman, whose folktales reflect Jewish life in her home Mogilev province (today in Belarus). A respected khakhome (wise woman), Naimark won recognition—and earned a living—as a practiced storyteller. She also taught tales to badkhentes (female wedding jesters), which they used to entertain guests at weddings and other festivities. Naimark was noted for her deft and theatrical use of language, style, and rhyme in her performance of stories and proverbs. Naimark was a contributor to A. Litvin’s pioneering ethnographic compilations of East European Jewish folk culture.

You may also like

Literary Science

The purpose of this work is to acquaint the Yiddish reader with the theory, structure, and various forms of belletristic literature in general and Yiddish literature in particular.The need for…
View Source
Poster with English text and image of woman with flowing hair, and photograph of man in right bottom corner.
Tooltip info icon

Sadie Salome, Go Home!

Verse 1Sadie Cohen left her happy homeTo become an actress lady,On the stage she soon became the rage,As the only real Salomy baby.When she came to town, her sweetheart MoseBrought for her around a…
View Source