Conversation: Reading Sholem Aleichem, with Ruth Wisse and David Roskies

Description

When Sholem Aleichem, the greatest of all Yiddish writers (and the author of the stories that formed the basis for Fiddler on the Roof), died in 1916, he left an unusual request in his will: he asked that family and friends gather together every year on his yortsayt, the anniversary of his death, to remember him by reading some of his happiest stories. As we approach the hundredth anniversary of his passing, join two of the world's most engaging Yiddish scholars?Ruth Wisse, recently retired from Harvard, and David Roskies of Hebrew University and the Jewish Theological Seminary?as they retell, discuss, and debate their favorite Sholem Aleichem stories on stage. Wisse and Roskies are sister and brother; they first heard Sholem Aleichem's stories at their parents' knee, and their lively, freewheeling conversation promises to be a highlight of Sholem Aleichem's centennial.