Story Summary:
A Yiddish King Lear is about hard choices, hopes, dreams, racial persecution, and love! It tells of the moment Judith realized that her grandfather, Oscar Markowitz, an actor in the Yiddish Theatre at the turn of the 20th Century was her role model as a Storyteller. Remembering her grandfather’s background, gave her the courage to pursue her dreams. A Yiddish King Lear is set in the emotional, artistic and actual geographic crossroad of Second Avenue in New York City in the early 1900’s and in the 1970’s.
Discussion Questions:
- Who in your family is an unsung hero or heroine? How has this person influenced your life and/or helped you make important decisions? What might you like to learn more about this person?
- If you have ever moved, gone to a new school, relocated to a new country or community, what have you brought with you? Why are these things important? These things can be memories, values, traditions – intangibles. A few special objects are often passed down from one generation to another and are cherished. Does your family have any of these items? If so, tell their stories! You can also discuss what you left behind and how that affects you.
- Describe a time when you have either experienced feeling like “the other” or perhaps excluded others. What prompted these situations?
Resources:
- Yiddish Theatre in Romania: http://www.yivoencyclopedia.org/article.aspx/theater/yiddish_theater
- Avrom Goldfaden, called the Father of Modern Yiddish Theater, and Yiddish Theater in United States: http://jwa.org/encyclopedia/article/yiddish-theater-in-united-states
- Pogroms: Government sanctioned race riots against Jews. Anti-Semitism in Romania 1880-1910.: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Jews_in_Romania
Themes:
- Education and Life Lessons
- European American/Whites
- Family and Childhood
- Jewish Americans/Jews