Menahem-Mendl (Yiddish: מנחם מענדל) is a series of stories in Yiddish by Sholem Aleichem about hilarious exploits of an optimistic shlemiel[1] Menahem-Mendl, who dreams of getting rich. They are presented as an exchange of letters between him and his ever-scolding wife Sheyne-Shendl, and later published as epistolary novels.
Character
From the story The Roof Falls In, in which Tevye the Milkman meets Menahem-Mendl we learn that his full name is Menachem-Mendl Boruch-Hersh Leah-Dvossi's and he is a distant relative of Tevye,[2] hailing from Kasrilevka (as also hinted in Sholem Aleichem's story "Eighteen from Pereshchepena"[3][4]).
However in the Menahem-Mendl stories we meet him mainly in Yehupetz (a portrayal of Kiev in Sholem Aleichem stories[5]) before goes to America.[6]
Menahem-Mendl is "arguably the most famous representation of the Luftmentsh, "man of the air", a Yiddish economic metaphor for Jewish poverty: petty traders, peddlers, various paupers, i.e., people with no definite occupation. He is a naive person, constantly scolded by his down-to-the earth wife, who stays at home and despises the enterprises of her husband. In early 20th century Menahem-Mendl became an archetype petty entrepreneur and his name was used metaphorically.[7] In his quest to fortune Menahem-Mendl fails in all his endeavors: as a currency and stock speculator, as a shadkhn (marriage broker), as writer, and as an insurance agent.
Hillel Halkin in the preface of his translation of Menahem-Mendl notices that unlike Tevye, Mehahem-Mendl does not have a real-life prototype, despite Sholem Aleichem in his own preface to the 1910 edition wrote that Menahem-Mendl is a real person, with whom "the author was personally and intimately acquainted, having lived through a great deal with him for nearly 20 years". Halkin suggests that this statement is a tongue-in-cheek reference to the writer himself, who indeed was engaged in stock speculations, among other occupations, and traveled a lot, although the stories are in no way autobiographical.[6]
Publication history
The stories were written during 1892-1913 in various publications. In 1909 the first book was printed under the title מנחם מענדל, reprinted in 1910 in a significantly abridged ferm. In 1913, 45 more letters were printed in the Yiddish daily Haynt, and from which the second volume was published.
The first book was first translated in English as The Adventures of Mehahem-Mendl in 1969 by Tamara Kahana,[8] the second one was first translated as The Further Adventures of Menachem-Mendl: (New York―Warsaw―Vienna―Yehupetz) in 2001.
The (translation of the) 1910 edition the stories are grouped in six chapters:[8]
I: London:[note 1] The stock exchange in Odessa (לאנדאן (אדעסער בערזע))
II: Papers: The Yehupetz stock exchange (פאפירלעך (יעהופעצער בערזע))
V: No luck!: Menahem-Mendl, marriage broker (עס פידלט נישט (מנחם-מענדל - א שדכן))
VI: Terrible luck!: Menahem-Mendl, agent. (שלים-שלים-מזל (מנחם-מענדל - אן אגענט))
It also has a vitriolic postscript commentary from his shviger (mother-in-law).[8]
In 2002 the translation of the second edition of the first book by Hillel Halkin was published as The Letters of Mehaknem-Mendl and Shayne-Sheyndl by Yale University.[6]
^ ab"Londons" refer to perishable goods, as Menakmen-Mendl explains to his wife: "...Londons, you should know, are highly perishable. You buy and sell them on a pledge without seeing them..."
“Sholem aleichem, Reb Tevye!” I heard someone call from behind me. “How are you?”
I turned and could have sworn I knew him. “Aleichem sholem,” I said. “Where do I know you from?”
“From where? From Kasrilevka,” the man said to me. “I’m a friend of yours. I mean, I’m your second cousin once removed. Your wife Golde is my second cousin.”
“Say now,” I said, “can you be Boruch-Hersh Leah-Dvossi’s son-in-law?”
“You got that right,” he said to me. “I am a son-in-law of Leah-Dvossi’s, and my wife’s name is Sheyne-Sheyndl Boruch-Hersh Leah-Dvossi’s son-in-law. Now do you remember who I am?”
“Be quiet a minute,” I said. “I believe your mother-in-law’s grandmother Sora-Yente and my wife’s aunt Frume-Zlate were cousins, and if I’m not mistaken, you are the middle son-in-law of Boruch-Hersh Leah-Dvossi’s. But do you know, I’ve forgotten your name, it’s just flown out of my head. What is your name? What do they actually call you?”
“They call me Menachem-Mendl Boruch-Hersh Leah-Dvossi’s—that’s what they call me at home in Kasrilevka.”
