Peretz, Isaac Leib (1852-1915)

Polish writer who wrote in Yiddish. His early works were written in Hebrew, but he later turned to Yiddish as an appropriate medium for his accounts of the Jewish people of Eastern Europe. He urged his people to be outward-looking, while retaining a constant awareness of the importance of their long history and culture. This point is emphasized clearly in his play Di goldene keyt/The Golden Chain. Peretz was called the founder of modern Jewish literature because he raised Yiddish to a new standard, influencing many younger writers, including Sholem Asch.