Idle Chatter

One of the Stories

Edited by Dariusz Dekiert Edited by Irmina Gadowska Edited by Krystyna Radziszewska

Book cover: Idle Chatter

Extent: 108 pages

Publisher: Harrassowitz Verlag

Subjects: Jewish Studies, Literary Studies, Religious Studies

Language: English

Hardback (Published)

(June 2025)

ISBN: 9783447123358

10.39 x 8.27 inches

Price: $73.00

In stock

This is a publication devoted to the Lodz Yiddish avant-garde. It is a translation of Moyshe Broderzon’s poetic text Siches chulin.


Idle Chatter. One of the Stories is a publication devoted to the Lodz Yiddish avant-garde. It is a translation of Moyshe Broderzon’s poetic text Siches chulin. Aine fun di geshichten, published in Moscow in 1917 by Chawar Publishing House. This adaptation of the folk tale Maase shel Jerushalmi [The Tale of the Jerusalemite] was published with illustrations by Eliezer (El) Lissitzky, whom Broderzon met during his stay in Moscow in the years 1914-1918. In addition to friendship, both authors were united by a fascination with Jewish tradition and folklore, as well as an awareness of the significance of the Yiddish language for shaping national identity in the diaspora. The design of the first, limited edition of Siches chulin with its unusual form – a scroll with text and hand-colored lithographs enclosed in a wooden box – clearly referred to the old, illuminated scrolls of the Book of Esther, and the illustrations themselves corresponded stylistically with the works of Jewish folk art.

  • Edited by Dariusz Dekiert
  • Edited by Irmina Gadowska
  • Edited by Krystyna Radziszewska