JEWels: Teasing Out the Poetry in Jewish Humor and Storytelling
JEWels: Teasing Out the Poetry in Jewish Humor and Storytelling is a 2023 poetry collection published by the Jewish Publication Society and edited by Steve Zeitlin. The book also features commentary by Peninnah Schram.[1] FormatJEWels is a collection of 179 Jewish stories and jokes. Zeitlin presents Jews as "cultural, religious, and historical travelers," whose own experiences and stories influence encounters with others.[2] The book is broken into ten sections, each centered around a theme, these being: stories, traveling, jokes, life in Eastern Europe, Torah, The Holocaust, Jewish-American life, food, relationship to God, and the meaning of life.[3][4] Most of the poems have additional commentary, discussing elements such as historical background and literary style.[4] It concludes with a list of discussion questions.[1] The collection draws from a variety of sources, from 18th-century Hasidic rabbis the Baal Shem Tov and Rabbi Nachman of Breslov to 20th-century comedians (Lenny Bruce and Jackie Mason), writers (Elie Wiesel and Sholem Aleichem), and musicians (Itzhak Perlman), among others.[5] The book largely focuses on Ashkenazi heritage and stories, something Zeitlin acknowledges within the text.[3] Zeitlin said the work combined his interest in Jewish storytelling with his passion for short poems, thus fulfilling a lifelong dream. He called Jews a “portable people,” traveling from place to place — either directed by God, or at times by humans. He endeavored to miniaturize Jewish stories and jokes into poems to make them more portable, so that readers could carry them.[6] Critical receptionThe collection received positive reviews from the Jewish Book Council,[2] The Reporter, which appreciated the wisdom offered by the pieces,[1] and the American Folklore Society, which recommended the book "to anyone interested in Jewish culture in general, and especially to those interested in its rich folklore".[5] References
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