Kasrilevka or Kasrilevke () is a fictional ''

shtetl or ( ; , ; Grammatical number#Overview, pl. ''shtetelekh'') is a Yiddish term for small towns with predominantly Ashkenazi Jews, Ashkenazi Jewish populations which Eastern European Jewry, existed in Eastern Europe before the Holocaust. The t ...

'' introduced by

Yiddish Yiddish, historically Judeo-German, is a West Germanic language historically spoken by Ashkenazi Jews. It originated in 9th-century Central Europe, and provided the nascent Ashkenazi community with a vernacular based on High German fused with ...

author

Sholem Aleichem Solomon Naumovich Rabinovich (; May 13, 1916), better known under his pen name Sholem Aleichem (Yiddish language, Yiddish and , also spelled in Yiddish orthography#Reform and standardization, Soviet Yiddish, ; Russian language, Russian and ), ...

. Located "exactly in the middle of that blessed Pale", it is an idealized town of "little Jews" (''kleyne mentshelekh''), who met their misfortunes with humor and the ultimate belief in justice. It has become an archetype ''shtetl''. Other famous imaginary places of Sholem Aleichem are Yehupetz (for

Kyiv Kyiv, also Kiev, is the capital and most populous List of cities in Ukraine, city of Ukraine. Located in the north-central part of the country, it straddles both sides of the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2022, its population was 2, ...

) and Boiberik (for Boyarka)."Signposts to the Middle of Nowhere"
''

The Forward ''The Forward'' (), formerly known as ''The Jewish Daily Forward'', is an American news media organization for a Jewish American audience. Founded in 1897 as a Yiddish-language daily socialist newspaper, ''The New York Times'' reported that Set ...

'', March 17, 2010 The name of the ''shtetl'' is derived from the Yiddish word ''kasril'' / ''kasrilik'', an optimistic

pauper Pauperism (; ) is the condition of being a "pauper", i.e. receiving relief administered under the Irish and English Poor Laws. From this, pauperism can also be more generally the state of being supported at public expense, within or outside of ...

, as Sholem Aleichem wrote: "However, there is still another name – ''kasril'', or ''kasrilik''. That name is spoken in a different tone altogether, almost a bragging tone. For instance, 'Oh, am I ever a ''kasrilik''!' A ''kasrilik'' is not just an ordinary pauper, a failure in life. On the contrary, he is a man who has not allowed poverty to degrade him. He laughs at it. He is poor, but cheerful."Sholom Aleichem
"The Town of the Little People"
/ref> Dan Miron remarks that this term is based on the Hebrew name Kasril (Modern Hebrew: , Katriel) ("God is my crown" or "God surrounds and supports me") The prototype of Kasrilevka was the Ukrainian town of Voronkov of the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...

(now village Voronkiv,

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

) where Sholem Aleichem grew up. Dan Miron, "The Literary Image of the Shtetl", ''Jewish Social Studies'', New Series, Vol. 1, No. 3, 1995, pp. 1-43, Kasrilevka continues the tradition of humorous Jewish towns, such as the fictional Chelm of the " Wise Men of Chelm" popularized by Isaac Bashevis Singer and Kabtzansk "Kabtzansk" is loosely meaning "Pauperville", from , "pauper", "beggar" of

Mendele Mocher Sforim Mendele Mocher Sforim (, ; lit. "Mendele the book peddler"; January 2, 1836, Kapyl – December 8, 1917 .S. Odessa), born Sholem Yankev Abramovich (, ) or S. J. Abramowitch, was a Jewish author and one of the founders of modern Yiddish and Heb ...

. A detailed glimpse at Voronkov, the prototype of Kasrilevka, may be found in ''Funem Yarid: lebns-bashraybungen'' (, ''Back from the Fair: Descriptions of Life'', 1915), Sholem Aleichem's unfinished autobiographical novel. Still, ''Funem Yarid'' describes not a real Voronkov, but something resembling Kasrilevka. Dan Miron makes a comparison of the real Voronkov from the memoir ''My Brother Sholom Aleichem'' of writer's brother Wolf Rabinovich , with its fictionalized image. Early Sholem Aleichem's

feuilleton A ''feuilleton'' (; a diminutive of , the leaf of a book) was originally a kind of supplement attached to the political portion of French newspapers, consisting chiefly of non-political news and gossip, literature and art criticism, a chronicle ...

s published in ''Dos Yidishe Folksblat'' in 1886-1887 anticipated Kasrilevke.

Stories involving Kasrilevka

Kasrilevke is the place for numerous author's novellas, short stories, sketches and plays and its description, rich in detail, was a considerable part of his work. *'' Dreyfus in Kasrilevke'' (1902) *''A Yom Kippur Scandal'' *'' Motl, Peysi the Cantor's Son'' *''The Town of the Little People'' *''Kasrilevka'' was the title of the 1935 collection of Sholem Aleichem's stories printed in Yiddish in Moscow *"Der Zeyger" (1900; "The Clock That Struck Thirteen," 1900) *"Kasrilevker Tramvay," "Kasrilevker Hoteln," "Kasrilevker Restoranen," "Kasrilevker Vayn un Kasrilevker Shikirim," "Kasrilevker Teater," "Kasrilevker Sreyfes," and "Kasrilevker Banditn" ("

Tram A tram (also known as a streetcar or trolley in Canada and the United States) is an urban rail transit in which Rolling stock, vehicles, whether individual railcars or multiple-unit trains, run on tramway tracks on urban public streets; some ...

," "Hotels," "Restaurants," "Wine and Drunkards," "Theater," "Fires," "Bandits,") collected in English as ''A Guide to Kasrilevke, 1973) *"Ven Ikh Bin Roytshild" (1902; "If I Were

Rothschild Rothschild () is a name derived from the German ''zum rothen Schild'' (with the old spelling "th"), meaning "to the red shield", in reference to the houses where these family members lived or had lived. At the time, houses were designated by signs ...

", 1979) *"Oysgetreyselt" (1902; "A

Yom Kippur Yom Kippur ( ; , ) is the holiest day of the year in Judaism. It occurs annually on the 10th of Tishrei, corresponding to a date in late September or early October. For traditional Jewish people, it is primarily centered on atonement and ...

Scandal," 1979) *''Inside Kasrilevke'' translated by Isidore Goldstick (1948) includes:Review of ''Inside Kasrilevke'', Literary Essays and Reviews: Collected Works of A.M. Klein, edited by Usher Caplan and M.W. Steinberg, Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2019, pp. 67-70. **''Dos Naye Kasrilevke'' (New Kasrilevka) **''Kasrilevke Nisrofim'' (The Burned-Out People of Kasrilevke) **''Kasrilevke Moshav Z'kenim'' ( Home for the Aged in Kasreilevke) *Relatives of Tevye the Dairyman, including his wife Golde and their distant relative Menachem-Mendl hail from Kasrilevka, as hinted in the story "Eighteen from Pereshchepena".''Tevye the Dairyman and The Railroad Stories'', 2011,
"Eighteen from Pereshchepena", p. 24
/ref> *''The Further Adventures of Menachem-Mendl: (New York—Warsaw—Vienna—Yehupetz)''

Notes

References

{{reflist Fictional populated places in Russia Shtetls Sholem Aleichem Jewish comedy and humor