Nostalgia for the Old Home in Eastern Europe in Contemporary Hasidic Theatrical Plays in Yiddish

• In Event: Behind the Scenes of Jewish Narratives: Yugoslav Peripheries, Hasidic Shadows and Polish Phantasms

Abstract

My paper explores an underresearched aspect of contemporary Yiddish culture: theatrical plays produced by and for Hasidic communities in the United States and the United Kingdom. In particular, it focuses on the portrayal of the “Old Home”—the Eastern European context from which these communities originated. By examining plays that depict Eastern Europe from the 18th century to the Holocaust, I investigate the role of memory and nostalgia in shaping contemporary Hasidic identity and culture.

Author

• Wojciech Tworek, U of Wrocław (Poland)