Dear Mendl, Dear Reyzl: Yiddish Letter Manuals from Russia and America - Softcover

Nakhimovsky, Alice; Newman, Roberta

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0253012031 ISBN 13: 9780253012036

Publisher: Indiana University Press, 2014

Synopsis

At the turn of the 20th century, Jewish families scattered by migration could stay in touch only through letters. Jews in the Russian Empire and America wrote business letters, romantic letters, and emotionally intense family letters. But for many Jews who were unaccustomed to communicating their public and private thoughts in writing, correspondence was a challenge. How could they make sure their spelling was correct and they were organizing their thoughts properly? A popular solution was to consult brivnshtelers, Yiddish-language books of model letters. Dear Mendl, Dear Reyzl translates selections from these model-letter books and includes essays and annotations that illuminate their role as guides to a past culture.

About this title

Review:

The vibrant world of the brivenshtelers, indispensible Yiddish guides to the art of letter writing for geographically mobile Jews, comes to life in this riveting volume. For the first time, model letters for every occasion―from desperate requests for money to advice about romance and jealousy, from excuses about late rents to accusations about having a Christmas tree―are accessible in rich detail and variety. Through the window of these long-forgotten manuals, unique for their paradoxical 'fluent banality,' this new history of Jewish emotions, sentiments, social propriety, and everyday life in Eastern Europe and America blazes a fresh, pioneering trail. Author: ChaeRan Y. Freeze Source: author of Everyday Jewish Life in Imperial Russia

From the Author:

Alice Nakhimovsky is Professor of Russian and Jewish Studies at Colgate University, where she directs the program in Russian and Eurasian Studies. She has written extensively on Russian-Jewish literature and everyday life and served on the editorial board of The YIVO Encyclopedia of Jews in Eastern Europe.

Roberta Newman is an independent scholar living in New York City. She is Director of Digital Initiatives at the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research and was Illustrations Editor and Director of Archival Research for The YIVO Encyclopedia of Jews in Eastern Europe.

About this edition

• Publisher: Indiana University Press
• Publication date: 2014
• ISBN 10: 0253012031
• ISBN 13: 9780253012036
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 248