JEWISH POWERLESSNESS DEBATED ANEW WITH RESURGENCE OF INTEREST IN
YIDDISH
WRITER, SHOLEM ASCH
New Recording of KIDDUSH HASHEM and Academic Conference
Spur Discussion
In the 17th century, Jews living in the tiny towns
of the Ukrainian plains faced desperate choices. They were "protected"
by the Polish aristocracy that ruled the Ukraine at the time, and
relied on their own elite leaders - rabbis and wealthy men - to
negotiate with the Poles to guarantee Jewish privileges and safety.
However, that system effectively made the Jews into
middle-men, doing the least desirable administrative work of the
rulers and inevitably incurring the hatred of the non-Jewish Ukarainian
peasantry. When the peasants rebelled, led by the Cossack leader,
Bogdan Chmelnitzki, they took their wrath out on the Jewish community,
the perceived instruments of their Polish oppressors. From 1648-1649,
the Polish "protectors" remained silent as hundreds of thousands
of Ukrainian Jews were slaughtered.
To the best selling 20th century Yiddish writer Sholem
Asch (1880 - 1957), this situation mirrored the potential danger
to the Jews in contemporary Europe and America. Asch's response
was expressed in his writing of KIDDUSH HASHEM: AN EPIC OF 1648.
His critique was so perceptive and timeless that there has been
a recent resurgence in academic and general attention given to Asch
and, in particular, in KIDDUSH HASHEM.
Originally serialized in 1918 in the Yiddish newspaper,
The Forward, KIDDUSH HASHEM recounts the tragic experiences of a
Jewish family living in the fictional town of Zlochev in the Ukraine
in 1648. The town's determined patriarch, his brilliant yeshiva
student son, the son's lovely young wife, a superstitious young
Cossack warrior and a snooty Polish count are just some of the characters
who populate the pages of this colorful and evocative book. Asch
moves easily from the annual market-fairs where Jews from all over
the world come to sell their goods to the glorious Ukrainian countryside,
from the hovels of embittered peasants to the gala balls of the
Polish nobility.
Wrenched by political upheavals from their peaceful
lives, faced with the choice of conversion or death at the hands
of the Cossacks, many of the Jewish characters choose martyrdom,
thus dying, "af kiddush haShem" (in the sanctification of God's
name.).
Dr. Ellen D. Kellman of Brandeis, appearing at a recent
conference on Asch at Yale University, said that in KIDDUSH HASHEM,
Asch argued against relying on the Jewish elite to negotiate with
the ruling elite. Fostering democratic rule within the Jewish community
and promoting Jewish solidarity with other oppressed groups would
be, Asch felt, far better strategies for the preservation of the
Jewish people in the future.
The son of Orthodox European parents, Asch had settled
in New York in 1914. He was alarmed by the post-World War I pogroms
in Europe and was concerned by the ascendancy of a German-Jewish
elite in America that looked down upon the Russian-Jewish immigrants.
He felt it was dangerous for the Jewish community to be led by people
who profited from a special relationship with the ruling classes
of the general community. Using KIDDUSH HASHEM to prod public consciousness,
Asch pointed out the inherent danger for Jews, as outsiders in any
host society, in relying on the rulers for protection.
And in stressing the religious dedication and Zionist
longings of his central characters in KIDDUSH HASHEM, Asch wanted
to wanted to instill a cautious optimism about the future, suggesting
that inspired democratic leadership, courage and faith were essential
for the task of rebuilding the Jewish people.
KIDDUSH HASHEM has seen a surge in popularity due,
in part, to the recent unabridged recording of this classic Jewish
novel by Jewish Contemporary Classics, Inc. Totalling four cassettes,
approximately six hours, KIDDUSH HASHEM is now available for $34.95,
plus postage and handling, from Jewish Contemporary Classics (1-877-522-8273
or www.jccaudiobooks.com).
# # #
Award-winning narrator George Guidall and author/historian
Susan Dworkin are available for a program and discussion entitled
"Outwitting the Cossacks" - on Sholem Asch and other great Jewish
writers who have addressed the issue of Jewish power and powerlessness.
For further information on acquiring the audiobook or booking the
program for your library, JCC or synagogue, please call 1-877-JCC-TAPE
(1-877-522-8273).