This issue of the magazine includes:

• Interview: Velvl Chernin

Ethnographer, literary scholar and Yiddish poet Velvl Chernin was born in Moscow in 1958. In the 1980s, he was on the staff of Sovetish heymland—the only magazine published in Yiddish in the Soviet Union during that period. Fifteen years ago, he immigrated to Israel. In this interview, he discusses the status of Yiddish language and literature in the modern world and pays special attention to the works of the post-War generation of Yiddish writers and journalists—the generation of which Chernin himself is one of the most bright and active representatives.

• Problem: The Passion of Solzhenitsyn’s Critics

St. Petersburg historian Evgeny Moroz analyzes three new books that strongly criticize Two Hundred Years Together—Alexander Solzhenitsyn’s much talked-of book on the history of Russian-Jewish relations. At the end of his polemical article, Evgeny Moroz writes: “With all my heart I agree with the critical words about Solzhenitsyn, but have to conclude regretfully that his critics are not entirely right either. Even the convincing exposure of the distortion technology that was used in Two Hundred Years Together doesn’t ensure a complete understanding of Russian and Jewish history and unfortunately, many authors who decided to correct Solzhenitsyn, also erred from the truth.”

• Synopses: New Books from Moscow Publishers

Brief reviews present two books published in Moscow in 2005. One is a monograph by young Russian scholar Galina Eliasberg, about the life and works of Jewish historian, literary critic and public figure Israel Zinberg (1873–1939). Another is an anthology of short stories and poetry about the Holocaust compiled by Israeli scholar and translator Zoya Kopelman.

• Jewish Calendar of Significant Dates: May–June 2006

• Bibliography: 50 New Books