SOURCE: "Stories for Jewish Children," in Sholom Aleichem: A Non-Critical Introduction, Mouton, 1974, pp. 143-60.

In the following essay, Gittleman examines Aleichem's portrayals of Jewish mothers and sons in his short fiction and finds similarities in Philip Roth's novel Portnoy's Complaint.

"If only you realize what we're doing for you. Do him a favor and he doesn't appreciate it. Don't jump, don't run. Walk like a human being."

—Mother to her child in "The Ruined Passover"

1. Portnoy In Kasrilevke

It may seem somewhat strained . . . to make reference to a rather sensational bestseller in America which appeared in 1969, but, for better or worse, there is no denying that Philip Roth's Portnoy's Complaint¹ has a certain attraction to the student of Sholom Aleichem who has had the opportunity to consider the image of the Jewish child, particularly the son, in the collected works. Roth's now infamous hero, Alexander Portnoy, is the...