Writ­ten (and seri­al­ized in the Min­sk-based Yid­dish month­ly Shtern) between 1929 and 1935, Moyshe Kulbak’s The Zel­menyan­ers: A Fam­i­ly Saga, is the fun­ni­est Yid­dish nov­el about Sovi­et cen­tral plan­ning you’ll read this year.

As Sasha Senderovich writes in his excel­lent fore­word to Hil­lel Halkin’s new trans­la­tion, The Zel­menyan­ers was ​“con­ceived, pub­lished, and cir­cu­lat­ed in an era of unprece­dent­ed social trans­for­ma­tion.” Kul­bak depicts that trans­for­ma­tion through the con­flicts which arise between the gen­er­a­tions of the (extreme­ly fer­tile) Zel­menyan­er fam­i­ly, all of whom live togeth­er in a tra­di­tion­al style hoyf or courtyard. 

Even the hoyf isn’t immune from change. In a char­ac­ter­is­ti­cal­ly poet­ic move, Kul­bak has the body of the hoyf grow (and age) just as the fam­i­ly does. For exam­ple, when Sovi­et elec­tri­fi­ca­tion (and elec­tric light) comes to the Zel­menyan­er fam­i­ly, every­one is touched, none more so than the build­ings of the hoyf, through which the pow­er lines bring light, and a radio anten­na atop the roof brings glimpses of a chang­ing world.

Though it’s def­i­nite­ly com­ic satire (and laugh out loud fun­ny), the tone of The Zel­menyan­ers is always more sweet than sour. Kul­bak brings a poignan­cy to his obser­va­tions of a fam­i­ly, and a place, for which he clear­ly feels much affection.

Be sure to check out the Jew­ish Book Coun­cil’s ​“Yid­dish Lit­er­a­ture” book club read­ing list.