Episode 410: Boom and Chains: A Yiddish Novel in Translation

Adi Mahalel visited with "The Shmooze" to speak about his translation of Hanan Ayalti’s "Boom and Chains". The novel provides a rare glimpse of the Jewish political left before the creation of the State of Israel and vividly illustrates the physical and mental toll of making a life in Mandatory Palestine. In conversation we discuss how author Hanan Ayalti’s own journey resembles that of Zalmen, the novel’s main character, and reflects his disillusionment with early Labor Zionism.

Episode 410

April 30, 2026

Amherst, MA