He was born into a family that observed Jewish traditions, but was not alien to the ideas of the Haskalah. Shalom Aleichem's father, Menahem-Nochum Rabinovich, was a wealthy man, but later went bankrupt, his mother traded in a shop. Shalom Aleichem spent his childhood in the town of Voronkovo (Voronka) in the Poltava province (Voronkovo became the prototype of Kasrilovka-Mazepovka in the writer's stories). Then, after dinner, the family returned to Pereyaslavl. Shalom Aleichem received a thorough Jewish education, and until the age of 15 he studied the Bible and the Talmud in the cheder and at home, under the supervision of his father. In - years. studied at the Russian gymnasium in Pereyaslavl, after which he became a private teacher of the Russian language. Then he wrote in Russian the first story "Jewish Robinson Crusoe".
The collections of the "Die Yiddish Folkslibrary" caused controversy in the Hebrew and Russian-Jewish press about the role of the Yiddish language and literature in the life of the Jews. The Almanac strengthened the position of the Yiddish language and literature in it. However, financial collapse prevented Shalom Aleichem from continuing publication.
In the next edition that Shalom Aleichem undertook, the Kolmewasser magazine (see above), he was the sole author. The publication did not last long, but Shalom Aleichem managed to print in it a number of literary-critical articles and the first cycle of stories "London" from the satirical novel he had conceived in the letters "Menahem-Mendl" (the novel is built in the form of correspondence of an unlucky stockbroker with his wife Sheine-Sheindl). For the first time in Jewish literature, the image of the so-called luftmench ("man of the air") appeared; this is a small-town Jew who tirelessly tries to get rich and invariably slips to the social bottom. This novel, which Shalom Aleichem wrote throughout his life, brought him worldwide fame.
The beginning of publication of the Krakow weekly "Der Yud" (-) served as a creative stimulus for Shalom Aleichem. In the first issues of Der Yud, Shalom Aleichem published two new monologues from Tevye the Milkman: Chimera and Today's Children, and a third series of Menahem-Mendl's letters called Millions. He also publishes in the weekly newspapers Die Yiddish Volkszeitung and Freuenwelt (-) and the daily newspaper Der Freind (c). At the turn of the century, stories were also published: “Der Zeiger” (“Hours”), “Purim”, “Hanukkah Gelt” (“Hanukkah Money”) and others, in which already mature skill was felt. At the same time, Shalom Aleichem published the first stories from the cycle “Gants Berdichev” (“All Berdichev”; later called “Naye Kasrilevka” / “New Kasrilovka” /) and the cycle “Di kleine menchelech mit di kleine hasheiges” (in Russian translation: “In small world of small people). In the Warsaw publishing house "Bildung" Shalom Aleichem published the story "Dos farkischefter schneiderl" ("The Enchanted Tailor"), permeated with folklore, humor and elements of mysticism. Later, she entered the same cycle with the stories “Finf un zibtsik toyznt” (“Seventy-five thousand”,), “A vygrishner ticket” (“A winning ticket”,) and others dedicated to the life of the town.
Since the early 1900s Shalom Aleichem was engaged exclusively in literature, his writing skills have noticeably grown. The stories published in Der Yud in the city (including in the form of monologues) “Ven ih bin Rothschild” (“Be I a Rothschild”), “Oifn fidl” (“On the violin”), “Dreyfus in Kasrilevka” (“ Dreyfus in Kasrilovka”), “Der Daych” (“The German”) and many others are examples of that special humor, “laughter through tears”, which became known in world literature as “the humor of Shalom Aleichem” and was most fully manifested in the story “ Motl Pacey dem hazns "(in Russian translation" Boy Motl "). After the Chisinau pogrom (see Chisinau) in the city of Shalom Aleichem, he became the compiler of the collection "Khilf" ("Help"), which the Warsaw publishing house "Tushia" published to help the victims of the pogrom, and entered into correspondence with L. Tolstoy, A. Chekhov ,AT. Korolenko, M. Gorky, inviting them to take part in the collection. Soon, the publishing house "Tushiya" published the first collection of works by Shalom Aleichem in four volumes "Ale verk fun Sholem Aleichem" (Warsaw, ). Another Warsaw publishing house, Bikher far Ale, published a two-volume Derceilungen un monologn (Stories and monologues), two volumes. Shalom Aleichem published the story “Keyver oats” (“Graves of the Ancestors”) from the series “Railway Stories” in the newspaper “Die Naye Velt” (Warsaw).
One of the main works of Shalom Aleichem was the novel "Di blondzhnde stern" ("Wandering Stars"), on which Shalom Aleichem worked in -10 years. The first part of the novel "Actors" first appeared in the newspaper "Die Naye Welt" in -10 years, the second part of the "Wanderers" was published in the newspaper "Der Moment" (-11). The novel became, as it were, the completion of Shalom Aleichem's trilogy about the plight of Jewish talents (see above "Josele the Nightingale" and "Stempenya"). "Wandering Stars" is the highest achievement of Shalom Aleichem in the genre of the novel, which was not prevented by some sentimentality of the plot. The novel went through a huge number of editions in Yiddish, English, Russian and many other languages of the world. Numerous dramatizations of the novel entered the repertoire of Jewish theater troupes in America and Europe. In the years I. Babel wrote a script for silent films based on the novel (published as a separate book: "Wandering Stars. Screenplay". M.,). In Russia, the film "Wandering Stars" (directed by V. Shidlovsky) was released.
Shalom Aleichem's novel "Der Blutiker Spas" ("Bloody Joke", Lodz, in the stage version "Shver zu zain a id" / "It's hard to be a Jew" /) , which caused conflicting responses in the press of that time, but later highly appreciated by critics, in particular, Sh. Niger. The plot is based on a hoax: two student friends, a Jew and a Christian, exchanged passports for a joke; as a result, a Christian with a Jewish passport becomes a victim of a blood libel and undergoes painful trials. Shalom Aleichem hoped to publish the novel in a Russian translation, but due to censorship obstacles during his lifetime, this did not materialize. In Russian, the novel appeared only in the city (translated by D. Glickman; republished in the year in the almanac "Year after Year" - an appendix to the "Soviet Gameland" with an afterword by H. Bader (-); in Israel - as a separate book in the translation of the Gita and Miriam Bahrah, T.-A., ).
The American stage in the work of Shalom Aleichem was, despite the fatal illness, extremely intense. In -16 years. Shalom Aleichem intensively worked on the autobiographical novel "Funem Yarid" ("From the Fair"), in which he gave an epic description of his father's house, yard, his childhood, adolescence. According to the plan, the novel was to consist of ten parts. The first two parts of the novel were published as a separate book in New York in the city. The third part began to be printed in February by the Warheit newspaper (NY), but it remained unfinished. Shalom Aleichem considered this novel to be his spiritual testament: “I have invested in it the most valuable thing I have - my heart. Read this book from time to time. Perhaps she ... will teach how to love our people and appreciate the treasures of their spirit.
In the same period, Shalom Aleichem published the second part of his already famous story "The Boy Motle" - "In America". It was also published in the city in the newspaper Warhait. Shalom Aleichem, through the mouth of the orphan Motl, the son of Pacey Cantor, tells about the life of Jewish emigrants in America. Sometimes ironically, sometimes humorously, Shalom Aleichem draws the life and customs of the former inhabitants of Kasrilov, who found shelter in "blessed" America, which the author, with all skepticism, evaluates positively, contrasts Russia, shaken by pogroms, the devastation of shtetls and a disastrous war. Anti-war motives are reflected in the cycle of stories by Shalom Aleichem "Mayses mit toyznt un ein nakht" ("Tales of a thousand and one nights",).
At the beginning of the city, Shalom Aleichem was hired by contract as a contributor to the new newspaper Der Tog, where he published his correspondence twice a week. The chapters of the novel "From the Fair" were also published here. In this newspaper, Shalom Aleichem began publishing the novel "Der Mistake" ("Mistake"), but did not complete the publication due to a break in relations with the newspaper. At the same time, the comedy "Der Groyser Gevins" ("Big Win"; in some stage versions was called "Zwei Hundert Toyznt" - "200 Thousands"), first published in the magazine "Tsukunft" (N.-Y.,). The play is based on the plot of sudden enrichment and related changes in the human character and way of life. The play entered the repertoire of many theater groups and became one of the highest achievements of the Moscow GOSET (S. Mikhoels in the role of Shimele Soroker).
The significance of Shalom Aleichem's work for Jewish literature is enormous. In the works of Shalom Aleichem, more than in the work of any other Jewish writer, the desire and ability of the Jewish people to be reborn is expressed. Shalom Aleichem was able to show Jewish life as a "Jewish comedy", and not as the tragedy of dispersion, which was written about by most of his predecessors and contemporaries. At the same time, the works of Shalom Aleichem contain a pronounced tragic element, but it arises against the background not of hopelessness, but of the breadth of opportunities that life provides. The reader comes to the conclusion that destructive forces will give way to creation.
The early biography of the writer is described in detail in the unfinished autobiographical novel From the Fair. The writer was born on March 2, 1859 in a poor patriarchal Jewish family. He spent his early childhood in the village of Voronkovo (now Borispolsky district of the Kyiv region of Ukraine). The mother died when the boy was 13 years old. At the age of 15, inspired by Robinson Crusoe, he wrote his own Hebrew version of the story and decided to become a writer. He took the pseudonym "Sholom Aleichem" ( peace to you is a traditional Jewish greeting.
After graduating from school in 1876, he taught the daughter of a wealthy Jewish businessman, Golde (Olga) Loeva, for three years. Feelings flared up between teacher and student. At that moment, the rich father of his beloved was not ready for such a socially unequal marriage, and Sholom Aleichem lost his job in Loev's house. Only six years later, in 1883, against the will of her father, she became his wife and bore him six children. After the death of his father-in-law, Sholom Aleichem became the heir to a colossal fortune, but he did not manage to profitably dispose of this money, invest it in business in order to increase family capital. Sholom Aleichem is known as a person who has changed many completely diverse professions, from an itinerant tutor to a player on the stock exchange. It was the passion for stock speculation, which he indulged in in Odessa, that let down the novice financier. Sholom Aleichem also sponsored the release of magazines that printed fiction in Yiddish. Thus, soon the grandiose inheritance was completely and irrevocably squandered. However, by this time (the beginning of the 20th century) he was gaining fame as the author of poetic works and prose texts in Yiddish. Sholom Aleichem adored public performances, he constantly organized them, without exaggeration, all over the world, so he soon gained the fame of an established writer with a worldwide reputation.
Since 1883, he writes almost exclusively in Yiddish (with the exception of a few stories and publications in Russian and Hebrew). His goal is to enlighten the common people, but few knew Hebrew. Having received an inheritance after the death of his father-in-law, he publishes an almanac Dee Yiddish Folk Libraries, Jewish People's Library) in Yiddish, helps young authors by paying them large fees.
Sholom Aleichem sympathized with the Zionist movement (although he did not fully share its ideals), in 1888 he joined the Palestinephile organization Hovevei Zion, and in 1907 he was a US delegate to the VIII Zionist Congress in The Hague. Critics call him Jewish Mark Twain. Later, when they met, Mark Twain remarked that he considered himself the American Sholom Aleichem.
Sholem Aleichem's granddaughter - American writer and educator
real name Solomon Naumovich (Sholom Nakhumovich) Rabinovich
Jewish writer and playwright
short biography
(Yiddish שלום עליכם - Sholem Aleichem, literally peace to you; real name Solomon Naumovich (Sholom Nokhumovich) Rabinovich; March 2, 1859, Pereyaslav, Poltava province, Russian Empire - May 13, 1916, New York, USA) - Jewish writer and playwright, one of the founders of modern fiction in Yiddish (along with Mendele Moyher-Sforim and I.-L. Peretz ), including for children. He also wrote in Hebrew and Russian.
The early biography of the writer is described in detail in the unfinished autobiographical novel From the Fair. The future writer was born on March 2, 1859 in a poor patriarchal Jewish family. He spent his early childhood in the village of Voronkovo (now Borispolsky district of the Kyiv region of Ukraine). The mother died when the boy was 13 years old. At the age of 15, inspired by Robinson Crusoe, he wrote his own Hebrew version of the story and decided to become a writer. He took the pseudonym Sholom Aleichem ( peace to you is a traditional Jewish greeting.
After graduating from school in 1876, he taught the daughter of a wealthy Jewish businessman, Golde (Olga) Loeva, for three years. Feelings flared up between teacher and student. At that moment, the rich father of his beloved was not ready for such a socially unequal marriage, and Sholom Aleichem lost his job in Loev's house. Only six years later, in 1883, against the will of her father, she became his wife and bore him six children. After the death of his father-in-law, Sholom Aleichem became the heir to a colossal fortune, but he did not manage to profitably dispose of this money, invest it in business in order to increase family capital. Sholom Aleichem is known as a person who has changed many completely diverse professions, from an itinerant tutor to a player on the stock exchange. It was the passion for stock speculation, which he indulged in in Odessa, that let down the novice financier. Sholom Aleichem also sponsored the publication of magazines that printed works of art in Yiddish. Thus, soon the grandiose inheritance was completely and irrevocably squandered. However, by this time (the beginning of the 20th century) he was gaining fame as the author of poetic works and prose texts in Yiddish. Sholom Aleichem adored public performances, he constantly organized them, without exaggeration, all over the world, so he soon gained the fame of an established writer with a worldwide reputation.
Since 1883, he writes almost exclusively in Yiddish (with the exception of a few stories and publications in Russian and Hebrew). His goal is to enlighten the common people, but few knew Hebrew. Having received an inheritance after the death of his father-in-law, he publishes an almanac Dee Yiddish Folk Libraries, Jewish People's Library) in Yiddish, helps young authors by paying them large fees.
Sholom Aleichem sympathized with the Zionist movement (although he did not fully share its ideals), in 1888 he joined the Palestinephilist organization Hovevei Zion, and in 1907 he was a US delegate to the VIII Zionist Congress in The Hague. Critics call him Jewish Mark Twain. Later, when they met, Mark Twain remarked that he considered himself the American Sholom Aleichem.
After 1891 the writer lives in Odessa. During 1903-1905 he lives in Kyiv, in a house on Mariinsko-Blagoveshchenskaya Street (now - Panas Saksagansky Street), 27, in an apartment on the third floor (a memorial plaque with a bust of the writer was installed on the house in 1988). During these years, he was actively engaged in literary and social activities, for example, he prepared a publication in favor of the victims of the Chisinau pogrom. After the pogroms in 1905, he left with his family for Switzerland, then to Germany. Sholem Aleichem is believed to have crossed the ocean four times. However, tuberculosis, an incurable disease of the writer at that time, began to make itself felt more and more strongly, although until the very end Sholem Aleichem showed invincible energy and an inexhaustible thirst for creativity, constantly arranging creative tours with public readings and oral presentations. With the outbreak of the First World War in 1914, as a Russian citizen, he was interned and deported from Germany to neutral Denmark. Moved to New York, where he lived the last years of his life. He died of tuberculosis in 1916 in New York City and is buried in the Old Cemetery (Old Mount Carmel) in Queens.
Sholom Aleichem's granddaughter is the American writer and educator Bel Kaufman.
Memory
- On the occasion of the centenary of the writer's birth, a collection of works in six volumes in Russian was published in Moscow.
- The musical Fiddler on the Roof, based on the stories of the writer about Tevya the milkman in 1964 in New York, became the first commercially successful English-language production about the life of Eastern European Jews.
- In 1997, a monument to the writer was unveiled in Kyiv.
- In 2001, a monument to the writer was erected in Moscow.
- A crater on Mercury is named after Sholom Aleichem.
- In the administrative center of the Jewish Autonomous Region - the city of Birobidzhan, the central street and the regional scientific library are named after Sholom Aleichem, and a monument to the writer is erected on one of the squares (called "Arbat"). In addition, his name was given to one of the universities of the city - the Amur State University.
- In Dnipro, one of the central streets of the city (formerly Jewish) is named after Sholom Aleichem, on which the Golden Rose synagogue is located
- In Kharkiv, Alma-Ata, Belaya Tserkov, Beltsy, Brovary, Vinnytsia, Grodno, Drohobych, Zhytomyr, Berdichev, Brody, Lvov, Skvir, Chernivtsi, Poltava, Kyiv, Korosten, Lida, Rogachev, Kherson, as well as in several cities of Israel in Streets are named after Sholom Aleichem.
- In the center of the city of Kyiv (on the corner of Velyka Vasylkivska Street, formerly Krasnoarmeyskaya), a memorial plaque hung from pre-war times, on which it was written that the great Jewish writer Sholom Aleichem lived here. When Kyiv was under Nazi occupation, the board was dismantled. With the end of the war, the board was hung up again. At the direction of the first secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Ukraine, Vladimir Shcherbitsky, the board was changed to another without mentioning the writer's Jewish affiliation. After the restoration of the house, the board was removed again.
- Memorial plaque made of marble in Kyiv on the street. Sholom Aleichem No. 15. (since 1959) Arch. I. L. Shmulson.
- In the early 1930s, Sholom Aleichem Street existed in Khmelnitsky. In 1940, the street was returned to its previous name - Podkamenetska, and in 1946 it was renamed Karl Marx Lane.
- The Jewish Music and Drama Theater named after Sholom Aleichem is currently operating in Kyiv. Head Avigdor Yurievich Freidlis
- Monument in Odessa on Zhukovskaya street
Artworks
Novels
- Taybele (1884)
- Child's Play (Kinder-spire, 1886)
- Yosele-Nightingale (1886)
- Sender Blank and his family (Sender Blank un zain gesindl, 1888-1903)
- Stepenu (1888)
- Into the storm (In storm, 1907)
- Wandering Stars (Blonde Stern, 1909-1911)
- Bloody Joke (Der Blutiker Spas, 1912-1913)
- From the Fair (Funem yarid, 1916)
Tale
- Two Stones (Zwei Steiner, 1883)
- Menachem Mendl (1892-1903)
- Tevye the Milkman (Tevye der Milhiker, 1894-1914)
- Moshkele the thief (Moshkele ganev, 1903)
- Home for Easter (1903)
- Haman and his daughters (1903)
- Boy Motl (Motl pacey dem hazns, 1907-1916)
- Song of Songs (Shir ashirim, 1909-1911)
- Summer Novels (Zumerdike Romanen, 1914-1915)
Novel cycles
- Stories for Jewish Children (Mayses far Yidish Kinder, 1887-1910)
- Cheerful (1901-1905)
- Kasrilovka (1901-1915)
- Monologues (1901-1916)
- Railway stories (1902-1911)
Plays
- The doctors! (1887-1907)
- Gathering (1890)
- Yaknehoz, or the Great Stock Exchange Game (Yaknehoz, oder der groyser berzen-spire, 1894)
- Congratulations! (1899)
- People (1908)
- Big Win (Dos groise gevins, 1915)
Collected works
- Collected works in six volumes. Ed. collegium M. S. Belenky, S. Z. Galkin, Vs. V. Ivanov, N. G. Lurie, B. N. Polevoy. Translation from Hebrew. Critical biographical essay by R. Rubina. Design by the artist G. A. Kravtsov. M. Fiction. 1959-1961.
- Collected works. Foreword M. Bazhan. v.1-6. M., 1971-1974.
- Selected works. T. 1-8. M., 1910-1913.
Screen adaptations
- 1926 - Wandering Stars (dir. Grigory Gricher-Cherikover)
- 1928 - Laughter Through Tears / Laughter Through Tears (dir. Grigory Gricher-Cherikover). The film is based on the short story "Boy Motle"
- 1939 - Tevya / Tevya (dir. Maurice Schwartz / Maurice Schwartz)
- 1971 - Fiddler on the Roof (dir. Norman Jewison)
- 1985 - Tevye the milkman, teleplay (dir. Sergey Evlakhishvili)
- 1991 - Wandering Stars (dir. Vsevolod Shilovsky)
- 1993 - Memorial prayer, television version of the performance of the Lenkom Theater (dir. Mark Zakharov)
- 2017 - Peace to your home! (Based on the play by Grigory Gorin "Memorial Prayer", dir. Vladimir Lert)
Gallery
Monument in Birobidzhan
Sholem Aleichem, Shalom Aleichem(Yiddish שלום-עליכם, real name Solomon (Sholom) Naumovich (Nokhumovich) Rabinovich; 1859, Pereyaslav - 1916, New York) - Jewish writer, playwright and educator, one of the founders of Yiddish literature, including children's literature. The writer's works have been translated into many languages, including Russian and English.
The early biography of the writer is described in detail in the unfinished autobiographical novel From the Fair. The future writer was born on March 2, 1859 into a poor patriarchal Jewish family in the village of Voronkovo (now Boryspil district) near Kyiv. His mother died when the boy was 13. At the age of 15, inspired by Robinson Crusoe, he wrote his own Hebrew version of the story and decided to become a writer. He took the pseudonym Sholom Aleichem (peace be upon you is a traditional Jewish greeting). After graduating from school in 1876, he taught the daughter of a wealthy Jewish businessman, Golde (Olga) Loeva, for three years. Feelings flared up between teacher and student. Unfortunately, at that moment, the rich father of his beloved was not ready for such a socially unequal marriage, and Sholom Aleichem lost his job in Loev's house. Only six years later, in 1883, against the will of her father, she became his wife and bore him six children. After the death of his father-in-law, Sholom Aleichem became the heir to a colossal fortune, but he did not manage to profitably dispose of this money, invest it in business in order to increase family capital. Sholom Aleichem is known as a person who has changed many completely diverse professions, from an itinerant tutor to a player on the stock exchange. It was the passion for stock speculation, which he indulged in in Odessa, that let down the novice financier. Sholom Aleichem also sponsored the publication of magazines that printed fiction in Yiddish. Thus, soon the grandiose inheritance was completely and irrevocably squandered. However, by this time (the beginning of the 20th century) he was gaining fame as the author of poetic works and prose texts in Yiddish. Sholom Aleichem adored public performances, he constantly organized them, without exaggeration, all over the world, so he soon gained the fame of a well-established writer with a worldwide reputation.
From 1883 he writes almost exclusively in Yiddish (with the exception of a few stories and publications in Russian and Hebrew). His goal is to enlighten the common people, but few knew Hebrew. Having received an inheritance after the death of his father-in-law, he publishes the almanac Die Yiddishe Folksbibliotek (Jewish People's Library) in Yiddish, helps young authors by paying them large fees. It soon collapses.
Critics call him the Jewish Mark Twain for his similarity of style and love of literature for children. Later, when they met, Mark Twain remarked that he considered himself the American Sholom Aleichem.
After 1891 the writer lives in Odessa. After the pogroms in 1905, he left with his family for Switzerland, then to Germany. Sholem Aleichem is believed to have crossed the ocean four times. However, in the first decade of the twentieth century, the writer's incurable illness, tuberculosis, began to make itself felt, although until the very end Sholom Aleichem showed invincible energy and an inexhaustible thirst for creativity, constantly arranging creative tours with public readings and oral presentations. In 1914, as a Russian subject, he was expelled from Germany. Moved to New York, where he lived the last years of his life. Died of tuberculosis. Buried in Queens Cemetery.
Sholom Aleichem is a Jewish address that ordinary people exchange when they meet. "Peace be with you" is what it means. Such a fictitious name was chosen by a young author who wrote about ordinary people in their native language - Yiddish. Before you is Sholom Aleichem - a writer. The photo shows a man with kind penetrating eyes and humor, which he transferred to the pages of his stories, novels and novels.
Childhood
Sholom Nokhumovich Rabinovich was born in 1859 into a poor family in Pereyaslavl in Little Russia. Then the family moved to the town of Voronkovo, also in Ukraine. The childhood of a teenager from the age of 13 was poisoned by his stepmother. In winter, in the frost, he often sat on the street near the house, where he was not allowed. Now, if a cart or a cab drove up, then the boy could take them to an unfriendly house, where there were several closets with bunks for guests. Then he could warm himself. But in winter, rich guests travel, who do not stay at Nokhum Rabinovich's guesthouse. They prefer the Naum Yasnogradsky hotel. The freezing Sholom dreams of finding a treasure that is buried somewhere in Voronkovo, and now, after the family has gone bankrupt, they live again in Pereyaslavl. So Sholom lived in a large ruined family, where there were brothers, sisters, and stepmother's children. The Jews had a great respect for learning, they always had a reverent attitude to the book. Therefore, everyone, even the poorest boys, went to school (this was considered optional for girls). The first "work" he wrote was a list of his stepmother's curse words, which he arranged alphabetically. It is at home that Sholom Aleichem looks at the changing guests. His biography is replenished with acquaintance with many people who will then go to the pages of his books. After school, the young man graduated from college and dreamed of continuing his studies in Zhitomir at the institute and becoming a teacher.
Wandering
But young Sholom Aleichem must earn his living. He wanders around small places, working as a tutor. Nobody messes with him. He is often offered a floor instead of a bed, and his hunger irritates his hosts, who glare as food disappears from the table. At night, it even happens to cradle small children. Finally, Sholom was lucky. At the age of 17, he ended up in a very rich house, where he teaches a fourteen-year-old girl. Everything is fine. But, as it has been described more than once in the literature, the teacher and the student begin to have tender feelings for each other. This is noticed by the father, who is well versed in people. This will be Sholem Aleichem. The photo shows a kind but impractical person.
The girl's father immediately realized that the young man did not have the vein of an entrepreneur. Such a son-in-law is not suitable. From this glorious dreamer, even a good assistant in business will not work. Therefore, secretly at night the whole family leaves. Waking up in the morning, Sholom Aleichem, whose biography suddenly takes a terrible turn, finds that he is completely alone in the house. He left the payment in a conspicuous place, and that's it. Where to look for your love is unknown.
Marriage
Sholom wandered around Little Russia for more than one year, until he persuaded his beloved to run away from home. They married against the wishes of her parents. And two years later, the father-in-law died, and a huge fortune fell on the young family in 1885. An inexperienced player on the Kyiv and Odessa stock exchanges quickly lost the entire inheritance in five years. He is not a businessman - simple-hearted Sholom Aleichem. His biography, as his father-in-law had foreseen, would take a different path.
Becoming a writer
In 1888, Sholom Aleichem, using the rest of his funds, began to engage in publishing activities. Collections of the "Jewish People's Library" appear from the press. He searched for Jewish talents throughout vast Russia and found them in shops, in shoe shops, and in funeral homes. He paid very high fees and financially supported elderly writers. He began writing and publishing himself. His novels "Stempenyu" and "Iosele the Nightingale" are published. And in 1894, he begins a new, main novel in his life, Tevye the Milkman. So Sholom Aleichem, a Jewish writer, is gradually born.
Jewish pogroms
In 1903-1905, the writer's family did not live well on literary fees in Kyiv. It is large and has six children. And now in the south and south-west of the country there is a terrible wave of Jewish pogroms. People are tortured before death, tortured.
Innocent people are beaten with stones, shovels, axes, women and girls are raped. Jewish houses and shops are being destroyed, property is being destroyed, synagogues are being destroyed, sacred books are being destroyed. And the police are silent, as if nothing is happening, and if they react, it is very sluggish. At this time, the writer actively writes pamphlets, feuilletons and stories dedicated to these nightmares ("Gold", "Shmulik", "Joseph"). From these horrors, the writer's family leaves first for Switzerland, and then for the USA. So Sholom Aleichem becomes a wanderer. The biography flips through new pages.
Over the ocean
The first time in the "country of freedom" is going well. He is advertised by both the Jewish press and American publications, comparing him to Mark Twain. But this quickly stops. Less than a year later, the publication of his new book, Boy Motle, is suspended, and the writer and his family are forced to return to Russia.
At home
There is no money in the family, and the writer travels around the country reading his books. In 1908 he contracted tuberculosis. He has been engaged in literary activity for 25 years, he is loved and appreciated, and publishers profit from his works.
The family is in poverty. And now Jews all over the country are collecting money to buy the rights to publish his books. This was successful, and they were transferred to the author. The sick writer is sent for treatment to Germany. There he finds a world war. He and his family are sent to Russia. But due to hostilities, it is impossible to return to it.
America again
Here he will spend two years until his death, dreaming of returning to his native land and being buried next to his father in Kyiv. He already has grandchildren. Bel Kaufman, who wrote Up the Down Stairs, is his own granddaughter, who left many fond memories of her grandfather.
In 1916, Sholom Aleichem dies far from his homeland in America. The biography, summarized, has come to an end. I must say that he will be buried with a huge crowd of people in a cemetery in New York. And his books live and are read with no less interest than at the time when they were written.
