Niche Lit: The Lost Shtetl by Max Gross

Imagine my surprise finding the words “shtetl” and “Drummondville” in the same sentence! In The Record! Well, that happened just a few weeks ago, in the Aug. 24 headline for an article promoting a talk and concert (klezmer) entitled “Stories of a Small ‘Shtetl’: Jewish History in Drummondville”. Sadly, I didn’t make it to this Sept. 11 event, but reading about local Jewish history that has almost been forgotten sparked my decision to write this week’s book review on the 2020 novel, The Lost Shtetl.

(FYI, A shtetl or shtetel is a Yiddish term for the small towns with large Ashkenazi Jewish populations that existed in Eastern Europe before the Holocaust. Wikipedia)

As the story opens, it is the year 2020. The village of Kreskol, located somewhere in the wilds of Poland, is a town that has been forgotten by history. As a result, not only has it avoided the horrors of the Holocaust, but the villagers don’t even know there was a holocaust. The old ways are the only ways: Yiddish is spoken exclusively, transportation is via horse-drawn cart, rabbis are the local authorities, and trade is conducted only with the local gypsy caravans that pass through periodically. [Souls of discretion and very trade-savvy, the gypsy travelers never alert the Kreskolians about the changes that have occurred outside their forest hideaway.]

Among the many traditions that have remained alive and well in Kreskol is that of arranged marriages, and early on, the reader is introduced to Pesha Rosenthal and her new spouse, Ishmael Lindauer. As with marriages everywhere, they are not all successful, and this one is particularly ill-advised. Ultimately, Pesha appeals to the local rabbis for permission to divorce, and after much discussion, the divorce is granted. Following a brief period of goodwill, the parting turns nasty, and Pesha leaves for parts unknown, which is essentially everywhere, followed by the disappearance of Ishmael. What to do? Yankel Lewinkopf, the orphaned baker’s apprentice (who would not be missed if he left), is summoned and equipped for several days travel. His mission is to get to the town of Smolskie and report the situation to the Polish authorities there.

Several weeks passed, with no sign of any of the missing Kreskol residents, when “an iron chariot appeared in the sky, thrashing its metal wings in the air like the sound of a thousand scythes busily at work.” Is this the long-awaited Messiah, as many believe? No, it is Yankel Lewinkopf, who has returned to Kreskol by helicopter after spending the past several weeks in a mental hospital being questioned about his “delusions” regarding a shtetl that has been lost in the mists of time, but is actually alive and well.

Without going into story-spoiling detail, the rest of the book recounts Yankel’s experiences at the Smolskie mental hospital and beyond, Pesha’s circumstances as a denizen of modern-day Poland, and the fateful sequence of events that await Kreskol when news of its existence eventually comes to light.

First time novelist Max Gross is also the author of From Schlub to Stud: How to Embrace Your Inner Mensch and Conquer the Big City, a combination memoir/dating guidebook, so I was expecting a comic novel when I first picked up The Lost Shtetl. As it turns out, it was much more than that: thoughtful, perceptive, poignant, a bit violent, more than a little raunchy, but also, very funny.

Like Klezmer music, Yiddish and Jewish literature in general occupies a special “niche” (denoting products, services, or interests that appeal to a small, specialized section of the population. Oxford Languages.)

Ashkenazi Jews, those who settled in Eastern Europe following the diaspora, have, like many other nonmainstream groups, established and proudly maintained their own literature and other cultural traditions, such as music, art, and theatre. Particularly in these trying times, when “differences” equal “threats” to so many in western societies, learning about and experiencing other cultural niches can only be applauded and encouraged. Max Gross has been likened to such esteemed Jewish writers as Philip Roth, Bernard Malamud, Sholem Aleichem, Isaac Bashevis Singer, and Michael Chabon. His remarkable and well-received first novel is bound to lead to further efforts, or at least we can hope that is the case!

PS. While we’re on the subject of Jewish life, Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New year, runs from sundown Sept. 25 to sundown Sept. 27 this year. Shana Tova!

The Lost Shtetl is available at the Bibliothèque Lennoxville Library.

Library News

The Library’s “Family Book Club” for readers 8-12 and their families meets Thursday, Sept. 29 to discuss Finding Langston by Lesa Clineransome. Copies available at the Library. Sign up info on our website.

Kids activities in Square Queen continue every Saturday, 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. during the Farmer’s Market.

Our annual fundraising campaign “Adopt-a-book” runs through midnovember. Help us defray the cost of buying new books by making a donation equivalent to the price of an item you choose from our new book display. Donations are tax deductible!