INTRODUCTION by Leonard Nimoy
Program Descriptions
PROGRAM #1
"On Account of a Hat" by Sholom Aleichem
Read by Peter Riegert A hapless schlemiel making his way home by train in time for Passover experiences an absurd mistaken-identity crisis when he inadvertently dons the hat of a military official.
"Bontshe the Silent" by I.L. Peretz
Read by Harold Gould The soul of a submissive man who accepted abuse and suffering throughout his life is tried in the heavenly court. When he chooses a paltry reward to make up for his lifelong meekness even the angels in heaven feel guilty and embarrassed.
"Gedali" by Isaac Babel
Read by Ron Rifkin An old Jewish shopowner is puzzled because murder and looting occur in his town whether its current masters are Communist or anti-Communist: how then, he asks, can one tell which is the Revolution and which the Counterrevolution? He is troubled because the revolution demands that all the old values, good as well as bad, be discarded.
PROGRAM #2
"The King" by Isaac Babel
Read Jeff Glodblum Benya Krik, a tough and crafty Jewish gangster in Odessa, hosts an elaborate wedding for his sister and at the same time, "takes care" of the new police chief who intends to interfere with Benya's underground operations.
"Gimpel the Fool" by I.B. Singer
Read by Eli Wallach The story of a gently foolish man who, in his own way, comes to terms with the deceptions of the world. The listener must ask: is he really a fool after all?
PROGRAM #3
"My First Goose" by Isaac Babel
Read by Alan Rosenberg A Jewish soldier, assigned to a Cossack regiment, harasses a peasant woman in order to prove himself. He is torn by his jealous admiration for the physical prowess of the Cossacks and the dictates of his conscience.
"A Stranger" by I.J. Singer
Read by Elliott Gould Although Raphael, the Jewish miller, has always considered himself a member of the non-Jewish village in which he lives, he is singled out as a stranger when he refuses to participate in an act of violent retribution against a suspected horse-thief.
"The Loudest Voice" by Grace Paley
Read by Rhea Perlman A Jewish girl with a big voice is given the lead in the Christmas play. Her immigrant parents, and their neighbors whose children are also in the play, try to make sense of this new challenge of becoming American.
PROGRAM #4
"Three Gifts" by I.L. Peretz. Read by Joanna Gleason
Read by Joanna Gleason A soul cannot be admitted to heaven until it has brought the angels three unusual gifts from earth. The terrible nature of the gifts that finally impress the angels -- bloody tokens of Jewish martyrdom -- call into question comfortable notions of heavenly justice.
"The Shawl" by Cynthia Ozick. Read by Claire Bloom
Read by Claire Bloom A Jewish woman in a concentration camp tries desperately to keep her children alive.
"The Fable of the Goat" by S.Y. Agnon
Read by Joseph Gordon Levitt A man tries to discover the source of his goat's plentiful milk supply. His son discovers the goat's secret but when the father slaughters the animal, father and son are separated forever.
"The Golem" by I.L. Peretz
Read by Carol Kane Peretz retells a traditional story of the inanimate creature brought to life to protect the Jews of Prague during times of violence.
PROGRAM #5
"A Meal For the Poor" by Mordecai Spector
Read by Alan King A well-off man observes the Jewish custom of inviting the poor of the town as guests at his daughter's wedding. The poor decide to stage a boisterous strike to demand respect and payment for providing their community services as paupers.
"Kola Street" by Sholem Asch
Read by Ron Leibman Resentment simmers between the coarse, earthy Jewish workers and the learned but defenseless Jewish scholars of a small Polish town. The everpresent threat of anti-Semitism looms large over their tenuous relationship until a simple dispute between rival pigeon breeders erupts into violence.
PROGRAM #6
"The Place" by Edith Konecky
Read by ulie Kavner A teenage girl reluctantly tries on clothes at her father's dress showroom. The teenager grows more and more frustrated as everyone in the shop heaps advice and criticism on her along with the dresses.
"Back From the Draft" by Sholom Aleichem
Read by Jerry Stiller Dodging the draft Russian-style: this story presents the humorous and tortuous attempts of a father to navigate the military bureaucracy in order to prevent his only living son, who already has two, (or is it three?) military exemptions, from being drafted into the Czar's army.
"The Rabbi's Son" by Isaac Babel
Read by Ron Rifkin A rabbi's son joins the Communist party and leaves home to fight for the Revolution, but the break from his past is tortured and incomplete. When he is killed, his comrades find among his belongings Communist Party Resolutions with Hebrew verse written in their margins and a portrait of Lenin side by side with one of Maimonides, a Jewish philosopher.
PROGRAM #7
"Chava" by Sholom Aleichem
Read by Walter Matthau For those who are familiar with Tevye's cry, "Tradition!" from the popular musical "Fiddler on the Roof", the original story of "Chava", from which "Fiddler" is adapted, may come as something of a surprise. By turns comic and heartwrenching, Tevye carries on a running monologue with God in an attempt to make sense of his beloved daughter Chava's break with the only way of life he understands.
"The Man Who Slept Through the End of the World" by Moishe Nadir
Read by Mayim Bialik A man sleeps through the end of the world and wonders what will become of him. What happened to his wife and home? More important, is it possible to find a malted in the void?
PROGRAM #8
"My Father Sits in the Dark" by Jerome Weidman
Read by Peter Friedman An exasperated young man tries to understand why his immigrant Jewish father sits up late at night in the dark kitchen. What could he possibly be thinking about?
"In The Mail Coach" by I.L. Peretz
Read by Leonard Nimoy A traveler meets two men who tell similar stories about unhappy Jewish wives. Is it the same woman they are speaking about, or could there be many Jewish women who long for a different life?
PROGRAM #9
"The Search" by Sholom Aleichem
Read by Jerry Stiller It is Yom Kippur, the holiest day of the year, and the whole town is praying. A visitor suddenly stops the services with cries of "Thief!" When the Rabbi orders that the synagogue be sealed and the congregants searched, they find something far worse than stolen money in the pockets of the town's prize scholar.
"The Whore of Mensa" by Woody Allen
Read by Jeff Goldblum A private eye is hired to bust a prostitution ring of women selling intellectual and emotional encounters. They will discuss Proust with a man in a hotel room for a price.
"Matza for the Rich" by Abraham Reisen
Read by Fyvush Finkel Workers in a bakery are thrown into an uproar as they make preparations to bake a demanding rich lady's matza order. They fantasize about the generous tip she will leave -- if she leaves one at all.
PROGRAM #10
"If Not Higher" by I.L. Peretz
Read by Isaiah Sheffer A skeptic, eager to disprove the popular belief that the Rabbi of Nemirov ascends to heaven every year, secretly follows him on his mysterious journey. He becomes the Rabbi's disciple when he discovers that the Rabbi ascends even higher than heaven without ever leaving the village.
"The Cafeteria" by I.B. Singer
Read by David Margulies A Yiddish writer in New York strikes up a friendship with a survivor from Stalin's Siberia. Can he possibly believe her fantastic stories?
PROGRAM #11
"The Last Kopeck" by Shimon Frug
Read by David Paymer Jewish town tries to rid itself of the very last kopeck it possesses in order to bring about the coming of the messiah. How hard can it be for a poor town to spend one kopeck? Harder than you might think!
"A Ghetto Dog" by Isaiah Spiegel
Read by Lauren Bacall The Nazis force a wealthy old woman and her beloved dog to share a room with a streetwise prostitute in the Lodz Ghetto. The two women finally understand the horror of their fate when the old dog must be surrendered to the Germans.
PROGRAM #12
"Tuition for the Rebbe" by Abraham Reisen	>
Read by Peter Riegert A poor father struggles between his desire to be honest and the need to pay for his son's education. How wrong is it to deceive in order to keep his child in school?
"Conversion of the Jews" by Philip Roth
Read by Elliott Gould A twelve year old boy in Hebrew school stages an outrageous rebellion by publicly challenging his rabbi with difficult questions about God and the Jews.
PROGRAM #13
"Munie the Bird Dealer" by Moishe Kulbak
Read by Alan Alda A meek bachelor is accustomed only to the company of his birds. When a matchmaker brings him together with an unpredictable bride, new desires are awakened in him then quickly extinguished.
"Goodbye and Good Luck" by Grace Paley
Read by Rhea Perlman A down-to earth woman with a generous heart and a great sense of humor recalls her lifelong on-again off-again affair with a charismatic Yiddish actor.

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