From the late 1950s, as Isaac Bashevis Singer became a major figure in American letters—one of the first Yiddish authors to do so—the future Nobel Laureate thought deeply about the fate of Yiddish culture in posterity. In this provocative series of essays, he advocates for Yiddish as a unique symbol of spiritual power in the face of adversity, a symbol forged during centuries of Jewish exile. Diaspora assimilation may continue apace, while a Hebrew-speaking homeland grows in population, and yet Yiddish remains inseparable from Jewishness—because, Singer writes, “what Yiddish has created can never be lost.”

In a lucid translation by David Stromberg, who also provides thoughtful introductions to each piece, Singer’s prose is captured in all its persuasive verve and precision. From his central theme of Yiddish as the animating pulse of Jewish life, Singer shines a light on the gravest threats to wider civilized society. He warns against the dilution of art as a conduit of moral truth; underscores the importance, and difficulty, of seeing people as individuals rather than a faceless horde; and unmasks extremist movements—religious and secular—as “expressions of human folly.”

A fiery love letter to Yiddish, alive with psychological nuance and startling insight, this volume confirms Singer as not only a profound philosopher of human nature, but a social critic for the ages.