Sholom Aleichem

Sholom Aleichem (translated from Hebrew as a greeting "Peace be with you") was the pseudonym of Sholom Yakov Rabinovitz. He was born on February 18, 1859, in Pereyaslav near Kiev, Ukraine, in the Russian Empire. His father was a religious scholar and the family was trilingual. After his mother died of cholera, when he was only 12 years of age, his father encouraged his writing, even through the hard times. Young Sholom Aleichem attended a Russian secular high school, but never attended university. He was drafted into the Russian Army and upon being discharged became a rabineer for 3 years. Throughout his entire lifetime, he was not wealthy. He had a humble, modest disposition, a quiet voice, and was described by many as a man of great wisdom and wit. It was the humbling experience of his life in Russia under the Czars that led to his special style of "laughing through tears" humor.