Mildred Cohn shattered gender and religious barriers to revolutionize biochemistry, developing techniques with far-reaching applications in medicine and agriculture.

In this lecture, Professor Wisse introduces both Tevye the Dairyman and the man who created him: Sholem Aleichem. In 1894, Sholem Aleichem published “Tevye Strikes it Rich,” the first in what would become of a series of short stories...

Sholem Aleichem’s fourth installment in Tevye the Dairyman, “Hodl,” was published in 1904, as imperial Russia was undergoing the first pangs of revolution. Reflecting the political milieu of the time, Sholem Aleichem incorporates a young...

TODAY’S (MODERN) CHILDREN In this third story, “Today’s Children,” we finally begin to explore the famous romances of Tevye’s daughters and the effect they have on Tevye. Tevye is eager to marry off his girls to wealthy and learned men....

BEHIND THE SCENES BACKGROUND WITH RUTH WISSE - IN DEPTH AND COMPREHENSIVE REFLECTIONS

In the second of the Tevye stories, Tevye encounters a character already familiar to Sholem Aleichem’s readers: Menachem Mendl, the luckless, reckless, but ever-optimistic Jew who leaves behind his wife in the shtetl to play the markets...

ASSAULT: INTERMARRIAGE The fifth episode in Sholem Aleichem’s Tevye stories records the shattering of Tevye’s relationship with his once-favorite daughter, Chava. Chava falls for a Chvedka, a decent man—Sholem Aleichem even compares him...

When Sholem Aleichem published the sixth of his Tevye stories, Jews in Eastern Europe were in dire straits. Violence against Jews was escalating, and pogroms led to a large, fleeing refugee population. During this time—1906-1907—Jewish...

CONCLUSION: LEKH-LEKHO Five years after the publication of “Tevye Leaves for the Land of Israel,” the situation of Russia’s Jews was continuing to worsen. On top of widespread pogroms, they were being expelled from many Russian towns,...

In 1909, after returning from a stay in America, Sholem Aleichem released the penultimate chapter of the Tevye narrative: “Tevye Leaves for the Land of Israel.” This story tells the tale of Beilke, Tevye’s youngest daughter, and upends...

As an American one thing that comes across as exotic about Poland, is the fact that the country is made up of its own people. Unless you’ve grown up in a homogeneous society like that, its difficult to imagine.



But Whats...

Modern Hebrew is one of the two official languages of Israel. But for 1,700 years it wasn't spoken. This radio story describes how new words are added to the Hebrew language today. It also explores the history of Hebrew, its decline over...