RE: romancing the shtetl, another long reply

[FISCHER, RACHEL <RFISCHER...>]

like seth, i don't see as much romanticizing of the shtetl as ari's article 
says. it's probably just my own experience. although, at klezkamp someone did 
compare it to shtetl. i don't know how a hilton could compare.

i grew up with the stories of fiddler on the roof, "the american story" (the 
one about fivel the mouse who's family has to leave russia because of the 
pogroms. does anyone remember that?) and stories my mother told me about what 
my great-grandmother who had alzheimers talked about. my great-grandmother 
fell in love with a christian and was forced to come to the u.s. to marry her 
cousin. she also talked about cows who grazed on roofs. that always did puzzle 
me. but being a feminist and political activist, i always associated shtetls 
with a place where injustices were committed. like ari said in his article 
there still are "shtetls" in america and all over the world. cows grazing on 
roofs always did perplex me though. i study klezmer music and hope to study 
yiddish because it's apart of my culture and want to learn more about it.

rachel


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