“When I first stepped into literature twenty-five years ago, I wanted t...” — S. Ansky Quote

“When I first stepped into literature twenty-five years ago, I wanted to work on behalf of the oppressed, the working masses, and it seemed to me, mistakenly, that I would not find them among the Jews.”

“Bearing an eternal longing for Jewishness, I threw myself in all directions and left to work for another people. I am not one of those lucky ones raised in their own environment, whose work is normal.”

“All a Jew has to do is recite a few proverbs or anecdotes to consider himself an expert on 'Jewishness.'”

“There's also a certain rhythm to the way Jews talk that might be funny.”

“Growing up in the suburbs of Chicago and living in New York, it didn't even strike me as a possibility that a place could really exist without tons of Jews.”

“Israel has been a stage on which American Jews have played out their fantasies of toughness - often from Martha's Vineyard.”