Contemporary Reception and Reviews by Rachel K. Fischer
Locating reviews of Sholom Aleichem's writing is very difficult unless one is fluent in Yiddish. The majority of the contemporary reviews were published in the Yiddish language. However, some books about him do mention these reviews. Later in his life, his work was translated into English and published in American periodicals. Some articles, published before his death and referring to his death, in English, can be found in historical newspaper databases.
As the saying goes, "if you have two Jews in a room, there will be three opinions." So as one can imagine, the reviews of Sholom Aleichem's writing always varied along political lines. His writing confronted issues related to liberalism, orthodoxy, socialism, zionism, and anti-semitism.
Anna Halberstam-Rubin remarked, in Sholom Aleichem: the Writer as Social Historian, that it was difficult for Sholom Aleichem to publish some of his work because of how critical he was of the government. Additionally, certain Jews, like Israel Levi wanted to shun the use of Yiddish and felt that Yiddish was worthless in quality, and harmful to Jewish tradition and values. At one point, Yiddish theater, and the public use of Yiddish, was banned in Israel. Sholom Aleichem wrote publicly against these individuals, which led Levi to attempt to censor him with the Russian government.
Sol Gittleman provided an account of the revues of Sholom Aleichem’s Yiddish theater performances in the United States in his book titled Sholom Aleichem. His performances in New York's Yiddish theaters were only slightly successful during the 1906 trip to America. He was not as good of a playwright as he was a writer of short stories. The Orthodox reviewers gave him a warm reception. They could obviously identify with the Orthodox characters more than less religious and secular Jews could. The socialist Jews felt that the plays lacked reality. Der Forverts, which still exists today, was the harshest critic. These reviews caused the productions to fail at the box office.
Despite such bad reviews, Sholom Aleichem was a successful author. He was compared to Charles Dickens and Mark Twain. One can see the reference to Mark Twain in the ad from The Sun, in the image below. With these remarks, one can imagine that many other good reviews did exist while he was alive.
OnNovember 22, 1905, the New York Times published a letter that Rabinowitz wrote to someone else about the horrible conditions for Jews in Russia, and how scared he was. It calls him "one of the best-known Jewish writers in Russia". This short article was seen as so important, that it was republished in other newspapers, even in such remote locations as the Aberdeen Daily News from Aberdeen, SD.
On December 3, 1914, the New York Times published an article on Rabinowitz's arrival in New York for a lecture tour. It remarked about the reception he received by stating that 1000 Jews waited to greet him at the pier. This shows how well received and famous his writing was. It continued to report on his experiences and opinions on the war in Russia. On December 15, 1914, the New York Tribune published an article about Rabinowitz's lecture tour, calling him "Yiddish Twain". The article stated that he was so popular that people had to be turned away. It continued to mention how he criticized wealthy Jewish Americans.
Upon his death, newspapers published tributes to Rabinowitz. On May 15, 1916, the Boston Herald estimated that 50,000 Jews would attend his funeral. An article in the Jewish Daily News from May 16, 1916, was very moving. It stated that reading Sholom Aleichem's stories "was an experience never to be forgotten". On May 17, 1916, Rabbi I.L. Bril published an article in the Jewish Daily News on his impressions and experiences of personally meeting Rabinowitz. He stated, "To listen to one of his readings was an education even to the Jew who thought he knew his people". Also on this day, the Jewish Daily News published an article with the epitaph that Rabinowitz wrote for himself. After his death, reviews of Sholom Aleichem's work continue to appear as plays were performed and new editions of his work were published in English.
Aleichem, Sholom. Dearly bought freedom. (1905, November 27). Aberdeen Daily News. Retrieved from http://www.genealogybank.com.
Bril, I. L. (1916, May 17). When I met Sholom Aleichem. Jewish Daily News. Retrieved from http://www.genealogybank.com.
East side honors "Yiddish Twain". (1914, December 15). New York Tribune. Retrieved from http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov.
Fuchs, J. (1917, May 16). The American career of the late Sholom Aleichem. Jewish Daily News. Retrieved from http://www.genealogybank.com.
Sholom Aleichem's epitaph. (1916, May 17). Jewish Daily News. Retrieved from http://www.genealogybank.com.
Sholom Aleichem in "Tog". (1915, January 7). The Sun. Retrieved from http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov.
Solomon Rabinovitz was favorite with Jews here. (1916, May 15). Boston Herald. Retrieved from http://www.genealogybank.com.
Solomon Rabinowitz here. (1914, December 3). The New York Times. Retrieved from http://www.genealogybank.com.
The passing of Sholom Aleichem. (1916, May 16). Jewish Daily News. Retrieved from http://www.genealogybank.com.
Yiddish drama at opera house. (1920, May 24). Boston Herald. Retrieved from http://www.genealogybank.com.
Image credit: The image at the top of the page is from the Argentinian publication of Tevye the Dairyman from 1961.