Pogroms. Fiddlers. Poverty. Coziness. Tradition! Are those the words that come to mind when you hear “shtetl?” Rutgers-based historian Jeffrey Shandler’s recently-published volume will shed some light on why these images spring to mind, and not, say, any old town—which is, after all, the actual meaning of “shtetl“). Shandler has delved into Yiddish culture more broadly before, but Shtetl is […]
