"The Spinoza of Market Street" is yet another masterful short story from literary great Isaac Bashevis Singer. The story is set in Warsaw in the days leading up to World War I. There Dr. Nahum Fischelson lives alone in an attic room overlooking Market Street. From on high he observes the crowd below, showing equal disdain for merchants and thieves alike. Rather than mingle with the people, he devotes his time and energy to explicating the philosophical works of Benedict de Spinoza.

This short story from the collection Gimpel the Fool, and Other Stories is infused with the wit and imagination, the humor and wisdom, that characterizes all of Isaac Bashevis Singer's work. Theodore Bikel reads this tale in classic Yiddish storyteller cadence, injecting special warmth and resonance.

This short story from the collection Gimpel the Fool, and Other Stories is infused with the wit and imagination, the humor and wisdom, that characterizes all of Isaac Bashevis Singer's work. Theodore Bikel reads this tale in classic Yiddish storyteller cadence, injecting special warmth and resonance.

The Magician can dazzle the crowds with his sleight of hand, climb to any height, open any lock. Fearlessly, he does death-defying tricks in theaters all over Poland. At home, his sweet Jewish wife waits for him to return from the city. In the city, his adoring mistresses wait for him to return from home. He holds the key to all hearts, but his own is beset with confusion.

At the end of the 19th century, Jewish writers began writing in Yiddish and creating for the first time popular literature that brought alive the small dramas, struggles, and joys of ordinary life. Sholem Aleichem was one of the very few modern writers who spoke for an entire people. This collection of stories includes the title piece and seven other tales.