Background
Shalom Asch was born Szalom Asz in Kutno, Congress Poland, one of ten children of Moszek Asz (1825, G�
bin – 1905, Kutno), a cattle-dealer and innkeeper, and Frajda Malka, née Widawska (born 1850, Łęczyca).
(Preface By ABRAHAM CAHAN Editor of the Jewish Daily Forwa...)
Preface By ABRAHAM CAHAN Editor of the Jewish Daily Forward and author of Yehi; The White Terror and the Red The Rise of David Levinsky etc. THE birth of Yiddish literature in Russia and the beginning of the g Teat Jewish exodus from that country to America are two effects of one and the same cause. The same anti-semitic crusade that forced the Children of Israel to go beyond the seas in search of a safe home, aroused them to a new sense of their racial self-respect and to an unwonted interest in their native tongue. Prior to the anti-J ewish riots of 1881 educated Jews were wont to look upon their mother tongue as a jargon beneath the dignity of cultured attention. Yiddish, more especially in its written form, was the language of the untutored. People with modem training spoke and wrote Russian. As for the intellectual class of the Talmudic type, it would carry on its correspondence and, indeed, write its essays, verse and fiction, in the language of I saiah. One wrote Yiddish to ones mother, for the mothers of those days were not apt to understand anything else. (Typographical errors above are due to OCR software and don't occur in the book.) About the Publisher Forgotten Books is a publisher of historical writings, such as: Philosophy, Classics, Science, Religion, History, Folklore and Mythology. Forgotten Books' Classic Reprint Series utilizes the latest technology to regenerate facsimiles of historically important writings. Careful attention has been made to accurately preserve the original format of each page whilst digitally enhancing the aged text. Read books online for free at www.forgottenbooks.org
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(This book: The Apostle by Sholem Asch is a novel based on...)
This book: The Apostle by Sholem Asch is a novel based on the life of St. Paul. The story of Paul opens seven weeks after the crucifixion of Christ. We here a faint whisper circulating through the ranks of the poor in seething Jerusalem: The Messiah has come.
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(Unlike some other reproductions of classic texts (1) We h...)
Unlike some other reproductions of classic texts (1) We have not used OCR(Optical Character Recognition), as this leads to bad quality books with introduced typos. (2) In books where there are images such as portraits, maps, sketches etc We have endeavoured to keep the quality of these images, so they represent accurately the original artefact. Although occasionally there may be certain imperfections with these old texts, we feel they deserve to be made available for future generations to enjoy.
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Shalom Asch was born Szalom Asz in Kutno, Congress Poland, one of ten children of Moszek Asz (1825, G�
bin – 1905, Kutno), a cattle-dealer and innkeeper, and Frajda Malka, née Widawska (born 1850, Łęczyca).
He received a traditional Jewish education until, as a young man, he followed that with a more liberal education obtained at Włocławek, where he supported himself as a letter writer for the illiterate Jewish townspeople.
At the age of 18 he left for Wocawek to become a Hebrew teacher. His reading was extensive in Hebrew, Yiddish, Russian, Polish, and German literatures, and he started writing in Hebrew. In 1899 he showed his work to the noted Yiddish writer H. L. Peretz, who advised him to turn to Yiddish as a medium of expression. From that time on, most of Asch's writing was done in Yiddish. In 1900 he published his first short story, "Moishele. " Subsequently his sketches, short stories, and plays appeared in Jewish weeklies and periodicals. Like his childhood, they were steeped in sadness. When Asch met the Polish writer M. M. Shapira, whose daughter Matilda he later married, his literary horizons broadened. The short story "The Little Town" (1905) opened a new chapter in Yiddish literature. The emphasis on poverty shifted now to the idyllic and romantic atmosphere of the small town, despondency gave way to faith, and satire turned to humor. A year earlier Asch had written his first play, He Left and Returned. His two following plays, The Days of Messiah and God of Vengeance, were performed in several European languages. Asch's reputation grew in the literary centers of the world. At the outset of World War I Asch emigrated to the United States; several years after the war he returned to Poland. Later he took up residence in France, then moved again to the United States, where he became a citizen in 1938. For many years Asch was a member of the Jewish Agency for Palestine. He later resided in England, then moved to Israel in 1954 with the intention of settling there for the rest of his life. During a visit to his daughter in London he died in 1957. Scope of the Work Asch was extremely versatile in his literary forms, and the subjects that absorbed him covered a wide range. He wrote about life in little towns in Poland and in metropolitan New York, about social and religious problems, and about Zionism and the Nazi holocaust. His outstanding works-Motke the Thief, God of Vengeance, Kiddush Hashem (The Sanctification of God's Name), Sabbetai Zvi, The Mother, and Three Cities-depict the exaltations and degradations of environmental influences. The survival under adversity and the idealism and indestructible spirit of his people are transformed by his pen into sublime drama, comedy, and tragedy. In his Christian trilogy-The Nazarene, The Apostle, and Mary-he tried to bring out the common elements in Judaism and Christianity. Asch started by depicting the provincial Jewish town and ended by opening international, intercultural, and interfaith vistas to Jewish literature. He was a writer of the highest order, both an idealist and a realist. His works have been translated into all major languages.
(Unlike some other reproductions of classic texts (1) We h...)
(A collection of stories portrays the lives of the Eastern...)
(Preface By ABRAHAM CAHAN Editor of the Jewish Daily Forwa...)
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Quotations:
"An illness is like a journey into a far country; it sifts all one's experience and removes it to a point so remote that it appears like a vision. "
"Not the power to remember, but its very opposite, the power to forget, is a necessary condition for our existence. "
"The lash may force men to physical labor, it cannot force them to spiritual creativity. "
"The sword conquered for a while, but the spirit conquers for ever!"
"Writing comes more easily if you have something to say. "
In 1903, he married Mathilde Shapiro, the daughter of the Polish-Jewish teacher and poet Menahem Mendel Shapiro.