Reviews
Review
A Wolf Among Poets: A Review of Zlochov, My Home: Poems by Moyshe-Leyb Halpern
One might be tempted to name the wolf, but naming is a form of domestication, and neither a Jewish (Chaim) nor a gentile (Stepan) framework for meaning-making can contain or express his wildness.
Jun 03, 2026
Review
What Were Our Children Reading? Review of Modern Jewish Worldmaking Through Yiddish Children’s Literature by Miriam Udel
In a word, Yiddish children’s literature, per Udel, has a long history, a series of stormy futures past, and a fraught yet fruitful and ongoing aftermath. Throughout the book, Udel maintains the necessary critical distance without losing sight of the vitality present in printed matter for children, the institutions pursuing this work, to say the least of the debates surrounding this highly contested work which suffused each epoch.
May 31, 2026
Review
Review of Shira Gorshman’s Hanah’s Sheep and Cattle, translated by Edith Otchin McCrea
An unflinching account of a woman who lived a passionate and committed life at a time of enormous destruction and chaos.
May 27, 2026
Review
Review of Boom and Chains: A Yiddish Novel Set in Israel/Palestine by Hanan Ayalti. Translated by Adi Mahalel
This is a welcome translation of an important Yiddish novel.
May 15, 2026
Review
Yiddish Veršes: How Musical Imagination Can Become Political
Yiddish Veršes, released in May 2025, is one of the most ambitious projects to bring Yiddish-language literary heritage back into contemporary Belarusian culture.
May 13, 2026
Review
“Hand in Hand Ever After We’ll Be”: Review of Rashel Veprinski’s Novel in Translation
In this roman à clef, a novel based on real life people and events, Veprinski paints a vivid portrait of young love and literary life in New York.
May 06, 2026
Review
Is it Possible to Escape from the Reality of Israel Through Literature? A Bilingual Review of Tsuzamenbrokh (Breakdown) by Emil Kalin
אַ נײַער ראָמאַן פֿון עמיל קאַלין באַקענט אונדז מיט אַ מוזע, אַן אַנטיהעלדינע
A new novel by Emil Kalin introduces us to a muse, an anti-hero
Apr 28, 2026
Review
Review of Salud y Shalom: Conversations with Jewish Veterans of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade by Joseph Butwin
Joseph Butwin’s Salud y Shalom is a long-awaited exploration of the motivations that brought hundreds of Jewish American volunteers to Spain in the late 1930s to fight in the country’s nominally civil war. Through detailed conversations with ten veterans, Butwin elicits fascinating reflections on their experiences and era.
Apr 27, 2026
Review
Models for Left Jewish Politics and Culture? On Benjamin Balthaser's New Cultural History
Balthaser’s book is rich with detail and personal stories, modest, even self-effacing in its presentation, but far-reaching in potential inspiration and implication. I hope the American Jewish left will see itself in the groups that he has ably documented.
Apr 17, 2026
Review
Review: Rabbinical Literature in Yiddish and Ladino, edited by Katja Šmid, David M. Bunis, and Chava Turniansky
The anthology Rabbinical Literature in Yiddish and Ladino, edited by Katja Šmid, David M. Bunis, and Chava Turniansky contributes to the ongoing scholarly discussion on the relationship between vernacular and learned literatures in Jewish communities.
Apr 08, 2026