Unanswered Questions
25 questions with no upvoted or accepted answers
6
votes
0
answers
56
views
Why were the young students called Sea Cats in "A Lost Lag B'Omer"?
In Sholom Aleichem's short story "A Lost Lag B'Omer", there's this paragraph:
We called the young primer students the Sea Cats because they were short little tots, just learning the aleph-...
- 27.8k
5
votes
0
answers
33
views
Is there any significance to the dances that the girls perform in "Satan in Goray"?
Before Reb Itche Mates and Rechele's wedding, we have this scene, after the description of the "jester" for the wedding:
The girls nudged one another and giggled. They performed first the ...
- 27.8k
4
votes
0
answers
59
views
How can we approach analyzing Singer's treatment of race in his works?
While reading A Friend of Kafka (1970), a book of short stories by Isaac Bashevis Singer, a few passages struck me as odd, especially concering race (and the use of the word "Negro" in ...
- 27.8k
4
votes
0
answers
30
views
Why does Krol Rudy care about spilling the blood of animals so much?
In Isaac Bashevis Singer's The King of the Fields, Krol Rudy mentions that he doesn't want the blood of animals to be spilled:
An odd thought began to take shape in his mind; when he died, he would ...
- 27.8k
4
votes
0
answers
50
views
Is Schloimele gay-coded in Singer's "Schloimele"?
Schloimele, in Isaac Bashevis Singer's short story of the same name, is described as having feminine qualities when he's first introduced:
The door opened and a pink-cheeked young man with cherry-...
- 27.8k
3
votes
0
answers
50
views
Lack of closure as a theme in the works of Isaac Bashevis Singer
While reading the works of Isaac Bashevis Singer over the past couple months, I've gotten the impression that Singer will often - especially in short stories - leave you with a sense that not ...
- 10.2k
3
votes
0
answers
50
views
Why does "Satan in Goray" mention that Levi supports Sabbatai Zevi so many times?
The first time that Satan in Goray tells us that Levi, Reb Benish's son, is a supporter of Sabbatai Zevi is in part 1, chapter 9:
Levi, the rabbi's son, invited him for supper, for in his controversy ...
- 27.8k
3
votes
0
answers
49
views
What does "head cut off with no knife" mean in "Satan in Goray"?
When discussing Rechele and Itche Mates's failure to consummate their marriage, the ladies of the town use this phrase:
When the seventh day of the Seven Days of the Marriage Feast was passed, ...
- 3,629
3
votes
0
answers
42
views
Why does Singer refer to the name of God in "Satan in Goray"?
Towards the end of Part One of Satan of Goray, there's this scene with Reb Itche Mates:
Meanwhile Reb Itche Mates waited in the dark room in Reb Godel Chasid's home. All day long he sat swaying over ...
- 27.8k
3
votes
0
answers
30
views
What do the "Evil Spirits" have to do with a house becoming leprous?
In Isaac Bashevis Singer's short story "Stories From Behind the Stove", one character associates the "Evil Ones" with being capable of anything, giving a leprous house as an ...
- 27.8k
3
votes
0
answers
89
views
Why is "The Heritage of the Deer" specifically mentioned here in Isaac Bashevis Singer's "Guests on a Winter Night"?
In Isaac Bashevis Singer's short story "Guests on a Winter Night", the aunt of our main character is telling him about his great-grandparents:
She said to me, "Your great-grandfather, ...
- 79.6k
3
votes
0
answers
33
views
What's the significance of the colors in this song in "The Magician of Lublin"?
In chapter 5 of The Magician of Lublin, when Yasha is in Piask, he overhears this song:
Musicians, sawing small fiddles, chanted a long drawn-out melody. From a wagon of peasant girls jammed together ...
- 27.8k
3
votes
0
answers
61
views
What do the names of Yasha's animals in "The Magician of Lublin" say about him?
In Isaac Bashevis Singer's The Magician of Lublin, our main character Yasha named his horses "Kara" and "Shiva", and refers to them as "Dust" and "Ashes:
He need ...
- 10.2k
2
votes
0
answers
57
views
Yentl and the Butterfly lovers
(Question after the background)
A woman passes as a man in order to study when women aren't supposed to.
She falls in love with another student.
Reveals to him she is female and he also loves her.
But ...
- 51.8k
2
votes
0
answers
19
views
What's the point of having both Cybula and Krol Rudy assault Yagoda in the beginning of "The King of the Fields"?
In the beginning of Isaac Bashevis Singer's The King of the Fields, both Krol Rudy, the leader of the "farmers", and Cybula, the leader of the hunters, sexually assault Yagoda, who is ...
- 27.8k