"The Zelmenyaners" is the first complete English translation of a classic of Yiddish literature and is regarded as one of the great comic novels of the 20th century. The story follows a Jewish family in Minsk that is torn apart by the new realities of the Soviet Union. In captivating and often hilarious detail, four generations are portrayed as they confront the profound changes brought about by the demands of the Soviet regime and its collectivist, radically secular ideology. The intergenerational conflicts, including disputes over the introduction of electricity, radio, and electric streetcars, are depicted with humor, pathos, and a finely controlled satirical pen. Moyshe Kulbak, a contemporary of the Soviet Jewish writer Isaac Babel, continues in this work the exploration of change in Jewish life that Sholem Aleichem began a generation earlier.