Bintel Briefs Way Ahead of Times
Image by Liana Finck
The explosive popularity of the Yiddish advice column published in the Forverts from 1906 paved the way first for a genre and then an entire industry. Although it seems self-evident to us now, writing to a newspaper for advice was a revolutionary idea.
The Bintel Brief (literally “bundle of letters”) was the brainchild of iconic Forverts editor Abraham “Ab” Cahan, who also answered the early letters.
In her graphic novel, part of which will be serialized in the Forward, beginning with this excerpt, Liana Finck interweaves Cahan’s story with those stories contained in the letters.
Over the coming months bundles of stories will be tied together by a fantastical reimagining of how Cahan touched hearts and built a community with the Bintel Brief.
‘The Bintel Brief Exhibit’ opens at the Sixth and I synagogue in Washington, D.C., on January 11.
Liana Finck’s work is supported by a grant from the Six Points Fellowship for Emerging Jewish Artists, a partnership of Avoda Arts, JDub Records and the Foundation for Jewish Culture and made possible with major funding from UJA-Federation of New York.
A message from our Publisher & CEO Rachel Fishman Feddersen
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.
We’ve set a goal to raise $260,000 by December 31. That’s an ambitious goal, but one that will give us the resources we need to invest in the high quality news, opinion, analysis and cultural coverage that isn’t available anywhere else.
If you feel inspired to make an impact, now is the time to give something back. Join us as a member at your most generous level.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
