Shtetl Life

Medium: Acrylic on Canvas A porter by trade, but not many clients today. This Jew in pre-war Poland is lucky that he has a wagon, while many of his peers...

Medium: Charcoal on Art PaperDimensions: 9.7 x 8 / 24.6 x 20.5 cm Today might be a Sunday morning, since there are almost no customers showing up on Hester Street. Maybe...

This drawing depicts a pre-War scene of Shtetl children playing a game of Chess after Cheder, using the same concentration used at the Gemara, to win and outsmart the next...

Amar Abaya, Amar Rava. Nothing changed since this elderly Yid was a kid in Cheder, except his age, wisdom and life experience. Religious Jews never stop learning the Talmud and...

This pen drawing depicts an older Lower East Side Jew bent over his sewing machine, working endless hours in a garment factory. His eyes are weary and tired from overworking and...

This elderly Jew standing in a street in pre-war Lodz, Poland, has been waiting around for weeks to find a job, any job to feed his family. His lips won't...

This pencil art, depicts 2 elderly Jewish women from pre-war Europe, coming home from Shul after prayers and sharing between themselves their latest woes and troubles.

This pencil drawing shows a Jew in a pre-war Polish town, totally immersed in his daily newspaper, reading about the latest in politics, pogroms and updates on those "Landsleit" who...

This elderly Jew in pre-war Poland got instructions from his Doctor to do daily walks, he is just taking a rest now. So what is the rest is for over...

This pencil drawing shows a Chasiddic Jew walking home from Shul on a winter morning in pre-war Poland. It's wet and cold, and at home awaits a lovely Shabbat meal...

This pre-war Polish Shtetl had a river running close by, that made it really easy with washing clothes. Just try imagining the heavy work of scrubbing and soaking the clothes...

It's a very quiet night in the Shtetl, and our fiddler is just fiddling away, all alone in the glow of the moon. But the neighbors are listening, everyone loves...

How do we keep our balance? Tradition. Balancing one's life in the Shtetl is as easy as walking a tight rope above the Shtetl.

This old Shtetl Jew is awaiting news, any news would do. Could be good news, like a letter arrived from his children in America, or even bad news, like his...

A water carrier was a very hard and backbreaking job, but it stirs a world of imagination in our minds. No story of Shtetl life is complete without mentioning the...

Daily Yiddish newspapers in prewar Europe were a usual sight, from community politics, world news events to sports. People would wait around at the neighborhood newsstand, waiting for the daily...

They just picked up their ration of baked bread, sugar and butter distributed by the Joint, and are taking a break before heading home. What's going on in their head, besides...

This blue pen drawing depicts a Zaidy after morning prayers, learning Chumash & Rashi. Reminds me of my own Zaidy who would learn every day, and everything that he learned...