Reviews
Review
Is it Possible to Escape from the Reality of Israel Through Literature? A Bilingual Review of Tsuzamenbrokh (Breakdown) by Emil Kalin
אַ נײַער ראָמאַן פֿון עמיל קאַלין באַקענט אונדז מיט אַ מוזע, אַן אַנטיהעלדינע
A new novel by Emil Kalin introduces us to a muse, an anti-hero
Apr 28, 2026
Review
The Vanguard of Their Peoples: Reflections following Gali Drucker Bar-Am, I Am Your Dust: Representations of the Israeli Experience in Yiddish Prose, 1948-1967, translated by Natalie Melzer
We are discovering that the story of Yiddish in Palestine/Israel is vast, complex, and utterly fascinating, and it’s being written not (yet) by a novelist or filmmaker, but by a group of scholars, librarians, archivists, and translators who stitch the narrative together like a patchwork. Gali Drucker Bar-Am’s book—published in Hebrew in 2021 and in English translation in 2024—adds an important chapter to the story.
Jun 26, 2025
Review
Translating Israeli Literature into Hebrew - Where Yiddish Meets the Land
The stories in this collection are an invitation to reexamine what Israeli literature is: to expand the category of Israeli literature beyond just the Hebrew language and in so doing to disrupt expectations about that literature.
Dec 12, 2024
Review
Review of Seeds in the Desert by Mendel Mann, translated and with an introduction by Heather Valencia
These stories take place in Israeli cities, towns, and villages, in the post-war Soviet Union, and in Poland of the interwar period. However, it is often very difficult to tell where the stories actually take place, because they express an experience of dislocation and total disorientation.
May 20, 2020
Review
Translingualism Today: A Review of Naomi Brenner’s Lingering Bilingualism
Naomi Brenner’s new book complicates the story of the Hebrew-Yiddish “language wars” and argues that Jewish translingualism continues well into the 20th century.
Sep 18, 2016