A Bintel Brief

A Bintel Brief Series

This series delves into the heart-wrenching and deeply human world of letters sent by Eastern European Jewish immigrants to a newspaper. Each volume uncovers a tapestry of hope, despair, love, and loss as these newcomers navigated their new lives. It offers an intimate window into the American Dream of the early 20th century through the eyes of those striving to attain it. This collection stands as a poignant testament to the past and the enduring spirit of human resilience.

Isaac Metzker

214 pages
8 hours of reading

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For more than eighty years the Jewish Daily Forward's legendary advice column, "A Bintel Brief" ("a bundle of letters") dispensed shrewd, practical, and fair-minded advice to its readers. Created in 1906 to help bewildered Eastern European immigrants learn about their new country, the column also gave them a forum for seeking advice and support in the face of problems ranging from wrenching spiritual dilemmas to petty family squabbles to the sometimes hilarious predicaments that result when Old World meets New. Isaac Metzker's beloved selection of these letters and responses has become for today's readers a remarkable oral record not only of the varied problems of Jewish immigrant life in America but also of the catastrophic events of the first half of our century.

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A Bintel Brief