World Jewish News
Birobidzhan prepares for Scholom Aleichem's Anniversary
16.01.2009
On March 2, 2009, the 150th anniversary of the birth of the great Jewish writer Sholom Aleichem will be celebrated, as reported by Birobidzhanskaya Star newspaper.
Currently the Birobidzhan Regional Library, named after the classic Jewish author1, contains 150 volumes of his works, including 110 books in the Yiddish language. "Today it is the largest collection of Sholom Aleichem’s works in mame-loshn (mother tongue) in Russia," said the Birobidzhan librarians. One of the finest examples from the fund is the collection of short stories "Children of the Pale," published during Sholom Aleichem's lifetime, in 1912. No less unique is the book of selected stories by Sholom Rabinovich (this is his real name), published in 1909 in Warsaw.
"The Sholom Aleichem fund of the regional library is not the only one in the JAR. Nearly every village, settlement, not to mention the city libraries, has the works of this classic of Jewish literature on their shelves," said the Head of the Department of National Literature in the Regional Library Alla Akimenko. According to her, the Council of Jewish National and Cultural autonomy of Birobidzhan will hold a series of activities related to the anniversary of one of the most popular writers in the JAR.
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