Unknown Sholem Aleichem

On January 30, the Jewish Community Center of St. Petersburg hosted two events at once: the opening of an exhibition of Anatoli (Tankhum) Kaplan’s graphic works, dedicated to the artist’s 120th birth anniversary, and the presentation of Alexander Frenkel’s Russian book “The Unknown Sholem Aleichem”. The exhibition presents Kaplan’s illustrations for the works of this great Yiddish classic. Another exhibition of works by the same artist, dedicated to the liberation of Leningrad from the Nazi blockade, opened on January 26 at the St. Petersburg State Museum of History.

Alexander Frenkel is the director of the St. Petersburg Jewish Community Center, a literary critic, historian and translator. In addition to a number of academic studies, his book contains several of Sholem Aleichem’s works translated by the author for the first time into Russian. In his speech at the presentation, Frenkel emphasized that despite Sholom Aleichem’s worldwide popularity, much of his work still remains little known and unexplored.

Velvl Chernin: Biography

Velvl Chernin was born in 1958 in Moscow. Graduated from the Faculty of History of the Moscow State University.

Velvl Chernin

His first poem was published in 1983 in the Moscow journal Sovetish Heimland. Made Aliya to Israel in 1990. Received PhD in the Department of Jewish Literature of Bar Ilan University. Lives in Kfar Eldad in Gush Etzion.

Published in Yiddish 9 books of poetry, a book of essays and a collection of science fiction and fantasy stories, as well as an anthology of poetry translations from other languages. He publishes poems in Hebrew as well. He translated into Russian works of Avrom Goldfаden, Shоlom Aleichem, Zalman Shneur, Israel Yehoshua Singer, Chaim Gradе and more. Editor of Yiddish poetry anthologies in translations into Ukrainian and Hebrew.

Author of scientific works on the history of Yiddish literature. One of the founders and editors of the book series “Bibliotek fun der haynttsaitiker yidisher literatur” and the literary magazine Yidishland. Worked as a literary consultant, author and translator of texts in Yiddish theaters of Russia, Ukraine and Israel.