Kiddush Ha-Shem: An Epic of 1648

About the Book

Kiddush ha-Shem is a Hebrew term used in Jewish history for a Jew who chose to offer his own life for the sake of his faith. The novel Kiddush ha-Shem was first published in 1919 (and translated into English in 1926). One of the earliest historical novels in modern Yiddish literature, it is a story of Jewish martyrdom during the Chmelnitsky uprising in mid-17th century Ukraine and Poland....

About the Author

Sholom Ash ---

Sholom Ash was a prolific novelist. Early in his career he wrote in Yiddish to appeal to Jewish readers. Most of his novels celebrate faith in God to redeem humanity from worldly pleasures and pain. Early works such as The Small Town (1904) and his play God of Vengeance (1918) established Ash as a master of realistic fiction. The world he portrays is so sordid and decaying that belief in a higher being is humanity`s only alternative to despair. Ash’s most controversial work is probably his biblical trilogy comprised of The Nazarene (1939), The Apostle (1943), and Mary (1949). Although Ash insisted that he sought to improve relations between Jews and Christians through the trilogy, many Jewish readers charged Ash with furthering hatred against them during World War II. Throughout his life, Ash traveled extensively, and his novels portray the plight of Jews in several nations. His works have remained in publication through the continuing interest accorded them by Jewish readers everywhere.

Contents

PART I

An Excerpt from the Book

FOR THE FAITH AND FOR THE TORAH Chmelnitzki continued to negotiate with the Polish Field Marshall Dominick with regard to submitting to the Polish Crown, and at the same time continued to send his Cossack hordes to destroy defenseless towns in order to pay his Cossacks with the loot. To maintain the friendship of the Tatars he had to enrich the harems of the Khan with beautiful young Jewesses. A horde of ten thousand Cossacks, led by one of his brigands named Krivonos, fell upon the cities and ...