Y.L Peretz was a chil prodigy: he had a quick, logical mind and was very emotional. His father wouldn’t let teacher beat him; he was very against corporal punishment. He was a liberal and something of an anarchist. When speaking about the army draft, he told people not to be frightened and not to comply---just refuse to go. Y.L came from a rationalist background (non Hasidic). He appreciated time of solitude to think, otherwise known as hisboydedut. One time his father slapped him was when he came home with mud on his shoes. He had been in a dark state of mind and looked for solitude so that he could scratch away at his soul in private. His father did not believe in the Hasidic customs. Y.L had a lot of run ins with nature as a young boy. First, his father got permission from his teacher for him to spend an hour outside every day at school. In addition, an inspector stole their clothes as punishment once while they were swimming in the swimming hole. He was also attacked by a dog and beared a scar. These experiences portray how nature forces its way into the soul of a Jewish boy. Y.L. therefore had negative associations with nature from his childhood. His acquaintance with animals was negative and got into trouble for going off by himself.
Y.L. Peretz also wrote the poetic story of Monish. Monish was a pious Jewish boy. This story was autobiographically inspired. It commented specifically on the crisis of the Jewish artist who succumbed to the powerful attraction of Christian culture. |