A pashkevil ( yi, פּאַשקעוויל; he, פשקוויל pl. pashkevilim ) is a
broadside or
poster
A poster is a large sheet that is placed either on a public space to promote something or on a wall as decoration. Typically, posters include both textual and graphic elements, although a poster may be either wholly graphical or wholly text. ...
that has been situated on a public wall or location in an
Orthodox Jewish
Orthodox Judaism is the collective term for the traditionalist and theologically conservative branches of contemporary Judaism. Theologically, it is chiefly defined by regarding the Torah, both Written and Oral, as revealed by God to Moses ...
community, and most commonly within
Hareidi enclaves.
Pashkevilim are sometimes distributed anonymously; however, many are posted with rabbinic endorsements or the name of an activist group appended to the bottom.
Function
Per
Samuel Heilman
Samuel C. Heilman is a professor of Sociology at Queens College of the City University of New York who focuses on social ethnography of contemporary Jewish Orthodox movements.
Personal
Heilman was born in May, 1946, to Henry and Lucia Heilman, ...
, the pashkevilim:
''...make clear what is virtuous or acceptable behavior and what is not. They serve as expressive media that show what those who prepare and post as well as those who allow the poster to be displayed (the latter by attending to its meaning and not removing or covering it) consider to be acceptable or worthy of notice… The informed observer can thus use such signs as a window through which to glimpse what is appropriate behavior as well as what is on the mind of the community, its interests and concerns.''
Given the unique sociological insight to be garnered from their study,
Israel's National Library has begun to acquire private collections of pashkevilim to be preserved in a special section available for academic research.
Pashkevilim are mostly used to protest vehemently against a person the writer disagrees with.
Controversy
The authority of pashkevilim can at times be subject to much dispute. The medium is frequently used as an anonymous means of publicly attacking or undermining a person or group (which is sometimes in violation of the Jewish laws of
loshon hora), though many other uses by official rabbinates or other open reliable organizations will use this method for whatever purpose. It is to be noted though, that at times, an anonymously written/signed Pashkevil can be falsely written under a forged signature/name.
Etymology
A column in the ''Jewish Daily Forward'' claims the word as a Yiddish term (''pashkevil'') borrowed from Polish ''paszkwil'', which itself came from the French ''pasquil'', from the Italian ''pasquinata'' (as does the English term "
pasquinade
A pasquinade or pasquil is a form of satire, usually an anonymous brief lampoon in verse or prose, and can also be seen as a form of literary caricature. The genre became popular in early modern Europe, in the 16th century, though the term had ...
" for a satire or lampoon).
On Language by Philologos: A Nude Who Inspired Modesty
Jewish Daily Forward, August 01, 2003. The term has also been explained as a Yiddish word mean "protest or cry for help".
See also
*Wall newspaper
A wall newspaper or placard newspaper is a hand-lettered or printed newspaper designed to be displayed and read in public places both indoors and outdoors, utilizing vertical surfaces such as walls, boards, and fences. The practice dates back to ...
*Street literature
Street literature is any of several different types of publication sold on the streets, at fairs and other public gatherings, by travelling hawkers, pedlars or chapmen, from the fifteenth to the nineteenth centuries. Robert Collison's account of ...
*Pasquino
Pasquino or Pasquin (Latin: ''Pasquillus'') is the name used by Romans since the early modern period to describe a battered Hellenistic-style statue perhaps dating to the third century BC, which was unearthed in the Parione district of Rome ...
*Moshe Koppel
Moshe Koppel is an American-Israeli computer scientist, Talmud scholar and political activist.
Koppel was born and raised in New York, where he received a traditional Jewish education. He studied at Yeshivat Har Etzion, received a B.A. from Yes ...
* Dazibao
References
External links
Pashkevil Collection
National Library of Israel
{{Commons category, Pashkavils
Haredi media
Posters