Sholem Aleichem, << SHOH luhm ah LAY kehm >> (1859-1916), was the pen name of Sholem Rabinowitz, the most widely read of all Yiddish writers. He wrote humorous short stories, novels, and plays about life in the Pale of Settlement. The Pale of Settlement was an area in western Russia where until 1917 Russian Jews were required to live. Sholem Aleichem’s works also deal with Jewish immigration to the United States. His technique of “laughter through tears” emphasized the dignity, generosity, and shrewd self-appraisal of his poverty-stricken characters. Major works include the four series of stories Menakhem-Mendl (1892), Motl the Cantor’s Son (1907), The Railroad Stories (1911), and Tevye the Dairyman (1911). The Tevye stories inspired the popular American musical Fiddler on the Roof (1964). His best-known play, It’s Hard to Be a Jew, was written in 1914.
Sholem Aleichem was born on March 2, 1859, near Kyiv, Ukraine (then a part of the Russian Empire), and immigrated to the United States in 1914. He died on May 13, 1916.
