THE BOOK FAIR

Review:

“In the Storm”, centers on three Jewish families living in the same village, of their differences in religious observance, of the generational gap between parents and children, and of their estranged views socially and politically.

The parents of vastly different economic backgrounds, raise their children to acquire the same education at the gymnasium (school), and to further study at the University in Petersburg. 

The children however, differ in their ideas of social revolution and political progress.  Where Sasha works for the betterment and the particular plight of the poorly treated Jews, Tamara’s struggle focuses on the overall condition for all of mankind.  Masha aims her cause at rallying for a constitution.

The families are inextricably caught up in the fervor of the 1905 Constitution, and its retraction by the Tsar, Nicolas the 11, after which Bloody Sunday and terrible pogroms ensued.

 

Sholom Aleichem’s sensitive descriptions, well defined characters, and historical backdrops, set his writing apart.

 

Note:

Nicolas 11, infamous for his brutality, typically used pogroms as a venting mechanism for the peasants, who were easy to rouse, as they regularly blamed Jews for their economic woes.

 

About the Author:

Sholom Aleichem, born Solomon Naumovich Rabinovich, in Pereyaslav, in the Kiev Province of the Ukraine, Russia, in 1845, was a Yiddish play write and author of many books.  Sholom Aleichem wrote in both Hebrew and Russian, and is most notably famous for his “Tevye” stories and “Fiddler on the Roof”.  “In The Storm” was first published as a serial publication in a magazine.