Moshkeleh the Thief: A Rediscovered Novel

Moshkeleh the Thief: A Rediscovered Novel by Sholom Aleichem

This is a short, self-deprecating novel that give insights into the lives of Eastern European Jews from a century ago. Moshkeleh is a known as the thief and is somewhat outcast from Jewish society. However, people still come ot him when they have problems. The beautiful daughter of a bartender ran away and took up with a Christian in a monastery. The relatives ask Moshkeleh to go bring her back. Little do they know that he has had a crush on her. He goes to the monastery, saying he is an outcast and wants to join them. He meets the girl (who is somewhat homesick) and takes her away. They get married and move elsewhere. She writes back to family to tell them the news. In the story, the author makes plenty of interjections about the story and Jewish life in general during the story.