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My Brother Eliyahu's Drink |
About Sholem Aleichem
Sholem Aleichem literally means ‘peace be upon you’ or, colloquially, ‘how do you do’. It was the pen name chosen by Solomon Rabinovich. Rabinovich chose to write for the Jewish common-man, in Yiddish, their mother tongue. He took the pen name, because he did not want to disappoint his father, who would have preferred his son write in the more formal languages of Russian or Hebrew.
Rabinovich grew up and lived in a number of different shtetls in the Pale of Settlement, the area of Western Russia/Eastern Europe where the Jewish population was permitted to live under Russian law.
As a child, Rabinovich suffered many hardships, including his family’s impoverishment, the passing of his mother from cholera, and his father’s second marriage to a woman who the young Rabinovich disliked. Later, even though he was popular as a writer, he suffered from financial hardships. His stories often feature autobiographical details and plots.
Sholem Aleichem writes for and about the Jewish community, his community— their struggles, tribulations, and challenges. The stories are often tragic but told with the resiliency of humor. Sholem Aleichem touches the very heart of life for the Jewish community at the turn of the century; a people dealing with emigration, assimilation, anti-semitism, and financial hardships, but also their endurance in the face of adversity, their ways of coping with the changing world. Their tales tell of a time and place, but their resilience in the face of adversity, their ways of coping with the changing world make them universal and timeless.
About My Brother Eliyahu's Drink
“Jews, have a taste of paradise: Cold drink with lots of ice!” -My Brother Elyahu’s Drink
Motl is a young boy from Kasrilevka (Sholem Aleichem's fictional village). His story opens with the untimely death of his father the cantor, leaving the family impoverished. The stories follow Motl’s childhood, ultimately leading to his family emigrating from Russia to America.
The issues faced by Motl and his family were relatable to Sholem Aleichem’s audience. The turn of the century was a time of mass emigration from Russia; people chose to migrate to make a better life for themselves and their families. Here, the illustration depicts one of Motl’s youthful misadventures.
In an attempt to improve family finances, Motl’s brother, Elyahu, buys a book filled with “get rich quick” schemes. Motl assists his brother in their attempts to follow the guide to earn money. Their first scheme is to make and sell kvass, a fermented barley beverage.
The kvass scheme goes awry when Motl fills the jug with soapy water from the laundry barrel instead of the freshwater barrel. The story concludes, as so many of Sholem Aleichem’s characters prove, with a spirit of resiliency—on to the next scheme!
Motl is a young boy from Kasrilevka (Sholem Aleichem's fictional village). His story opens with the untimely death of his father the cantor, leaving the family impoverished. The stories follow Motl’s childhood, ultimately leading to his family emigrating from Russia to America.
The issues faced by Motl and his family were relatable to Sholem Aleichem’s audience. The turn of the century was a time of mass emigration from Russia; people chose to migrate to make a better life for themselves and their families. Here, the illustration depicts one of Motl’s youthful misadventures.
In an attempt to improve family finances, Motl’s brother, Elyahu, buys a book filled with “get rich quick” schemes. Motl assists his brother in their attempts to follow the guide to earn money. Their first scheme is to make and sell kvass, a fermented barley beverage.
The kvass scheme goes awry when Motl fills the jug with soapy water from the laundry barrel instead of the freshwater barrel. The story concludes, as so many of Sholem Aleichem’s characters prove, with a spirit of resiliency—on to the next scheme!
To the story: My Brother Eliyahu's Drink
You can also download the story here.
| my_brother_eliyahus_drink.pdf |
