The Bloody Hoax

by Sholom Aleichem, Aliza Shevrin (Translator)

Tells the story of a poor Jew and a wealthy Gentile who exchange places for year, exploring the prejudice and fear that they encountered while in their "new" identities

Genres: Russia

396 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1991

About the author

Russian-born American humorist Sholem Aleichem or Sholom Aleichem, originally Solomon Rabinowitz, in Yiddish originally wrote stories and plays, the basis for the musical Fiddler on the Roof .

He wrote under the pen name, Hebrew for "peace be upon you."

From 1883, he produced more than forty volumes as a central figure in literature before 1890.

His notable narratives accurately described shtetl life with the naturalness of speech of his characters. Early critics focused on the cheerfulness of the characters, interpreted as a way of coping with adversity. Later critics saw a tragic side. Because of the similar style of the author with the pen name of Mark Twain, people often referred to Aleichem as the Jewish version of Twain. Both authors wrote for adults and children and lectured extensively in Europe and the United States.

Reviews

[Jessica Russak-Hoffman · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved loved loved THE BLOODY HOAX! The Prince and the Pauper but with a Blood Libel? What a fantastic twist! Popov and Rabinovic are a Russian gentile of noble blood and a Jew who switch places for a year because Popov believes Jews are exaggerating when they say they have a hard time getting into university and succeeding in society. He's determined to prove Rabinovic wrong. Popov quickly discovers residence permits, police raids, university quotas, and libels, and all through it Sholom Aleichem shows us the stubborn way in which Popov holds onto his noble privilege, his inability to believe the police would be anything but honest, and his nagging belief that maybe, just maybe, the Christian blood in matzoh thing is real, until he manages to disprove this myth for himself. Even when he is accused of killing a Christian boy to make matzoh, Popov believes the truth will come out and he'll be freed. SPOILER: He is not freed by the truth that the "blood ritual" is a myth, but by his noble wealthy father saving him from trial and the case being dropped because he is not a Jew. There is no happy ending here for the Jews. Aleichem knows this. Even while Rabinovic lived as a gentile for the year, he felt guilty about it the whole time. In the end he is a Jew and Popov is not and that's the way it is. One of my favorite moments in this book reminded me of Jews on twitter: after the blood ritual accusation, the local Jews make fun of it by debating, Talmud-style, the ins and outs and laws of picking a Christian child, how to kill him, what the best recipe might be, etc. It is 2021 and nothing has changed since the 19th century when it comes to insane accusations and myths and the way we as Jews joke about it to cope.

[Anna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really well written... but the aftertaste remains: и морду России всё равно набить хочется

[Kārlis Jakadels · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tāda parasta mierīga grāmata, no sākuma līdz beigām..

[Anna Nevidoma · Rating 4 out of 5]

the ending was really disappointing for me. i thought the final will be epic ☹️

[nikivar · Rating 3 out of 5]

You can't fight racism highlighting the advantages of one race above another. The author did very this thing. I don't like it.