About Sholem Asch
Sholem Asch, one of the great Yiddish novelists of the 20th century, was born in the Polish town of Kutno in 1880. As a young man, Asch abandoned the path of religious education for the world of European literature. After a life-changing meeting with the writer I. L. Peretz in Warsaw, Asch decided to dedicate himself to writing in Yiddish.
Many of Asch’s books focus on the Jewish town and its people, offering a sober and critical portrayal of life in the Jewish community. Asch often chose to recount the tales of marginal figures in Jewish society and shed light on the more hidden and dark corners of human existence. His writings have been translated into many languages and garnered international success. Asch’s most famous work is the trilogy Before the Flood (translated as Three Cities), portraying the lives of the Jews before the Bolshevik Revolution in St. Petersburg, Warsaw, and Moscow (1921–1931), the play God of Vengeance (1907) and the novels Motke the Thief (1916), and Kiddush HaShem (1919).
Asch stood at the center of a controversy, after the publication of his novel “The Nazarene” (1939), where he explores figures from the New Testament. His desire to reconcile the two religions was perceived by many Jews of his time as heresy. From a beloved writer held in high esteem, he became a social pariah. In those years, Asch struggled to find a place to call home, and almost completely stopped writing regularly.
A chance conversation on board a ship with David Ben Ari, Head of the Bat Yam Local Council at the time, opened a new path for him. Ben Ari suggested that Asch settle in Bat Yam, away from the eye of the storm. Here, in a house that would be built especially for him, he could refocus on his writing and the translation of his books into Hebrew. Ben Ari reassured Asch that in the young Hebrew town, he would find an open, tolerant, and multicultural place. Asch was convinced, immigrated to Israel with Mathilde, his wife of many years, and lived in a house he built next to Ben Ari’s house.
Two years after settling in Bat Yam, Asch died during a family visit to London. In her will, Matilde Asch bequeathed the house and everything in it to the city of Bat Yam, to serve as a museum and a home for the legacy of Sholem Asch.
