Sabbath

Set in the Polish-Jewish shtetl of Wolbrom in the 1930s, where Josef Erlich spent his youth, his account of how the character Feivel and his family observe the Sabbath has the flavor of a documentary narrative rather than a novel in the strictest sense. In this book - translated into English for the first time from the Yiddish - the author describes in intricate detail the religious observance and folkways of this holiest of days from the order of communal prayer to the preparation of the meals. It is a rich archive for readers unfamiliar with the Orthodox religious tradition as it was practiced for centuries in Europe and as it continues to be practiced among pious descendants today.