The Podolian Nights Tales of Nachman of Bratslav

A new translation of the classic tales based on Eastern European folk tradition and rabbinical wisdom, which continue to offer inspiration, advice and enjoyment

This collection of classic rabbinical tales, first composed in the early 19th century in what is now Ukraine, have offered spiritual guidance and wise advice to readers of all faiths for over 200 years.

Drawing equally on Yiddish folk stories and their author’s profound Talmudic scholarship, tales such as “The Lost Princess”, “The Fly and the Spider” and “The Clever Man and the Simple Man” still entrance readers with their originality, profundity, and verve. These 13 tales were composed as a way for their author, a rabbi, to communicate spiritual truths in an accessible way to his flock. They earned him an eminent reputation throughout the Eastern European Jewish community of his time, but their insights have touched readers beyond the boundaries of faith, time and place since they were first written down.

Some stories are as pithy and simple as a fable. Others, like “The Seven Beggars”, unspool layers of ingenious complexity, nesting stories within stories and teachings within teachings, drawing the reader on in a quest for spiritual understanding – and a desire to know how things turn out. Now appearing in a new translation, these stories remain deep sources of psychological wisdom, spiritual comfort, and narrative delight.

Rabbi Nachman of Bratslav (1772-1810) was born in what is now Ukraine, into a rabbinical family. Initially rejecting the family legacy of leadership in the Jewish community, he later accepted his role and became an influential spiritual teacher, reinvigorating the Hasidic tradition to which he was heir. He is particularly remembered for his creative parables, which draw on the folktales of Eastern Europe to communicate spiritual and moral lessons applicable to people of all faiths.

Jordan Finkin is a rare book and manuscript librarian, and co-director of Hebrew Union College Press. He translates from Yiddish, German and French.

Robert Adler Peckerar is the executive director of Yiddishkayt, a Yiddish cultural and Educational organization based in Los Angeles. He previously translated The Book of Paradise, published by Pushkin Press.

• First Tale • Of the Loss of a Princess
• Second Tale • Of a King and an Emperor
• Third Tale • Of a Lame Man
• Fourth Tale • Of a King who Decreed the Conversion of the Jews
• Fifth Tale • Of a Prince of Jewels
• Sixth Tale • Of a Humble King’s Portrait
• Seventh Tale • Of a King’s Journey
• Eighth Tale • Of a Rabbi and his Only Son
• Ninth Tale • Of a Wise Man and a Simpleton
• Tenth Tale • Of a Wealthy Merchant and a Poor Man
• Eleventh Tale • Of a Prince and a Handmaid’s Son
• Twelfth Tale • Of a Master of Prayer
• Thirteenth Tale • Of Seven Beggars