The cultural code of the Shtetl in Grigory Gorin's play "Memorial Prayer"

Kotliar Elena Romanovna PhD in Art History Associate Professor, Department of Visual and Decorative Art, Crimean Engineering and Pedagogical University named after Fevzi Yakubov 295015, Russia, Republic of Crimea, Simferopol, lane. Educational, 8, room 337 allenkott@mail.ru Other publications by this author     Zolotuhina Natal'ya Anatol'evna PhD in Cultural Studies Associate Professor, Department of Fine and Decorative Arts, State Budgetary Educational Institution of Higher Education "Crimean Engineering and Pedagogical University named after Fevzi Yakubov" 295015, Russia, Republic of Crimea, Simferopol, lane Educational, 8, office 337 allenkott@mail.ru

Zolotuhina Arina YUr'evna lecturer, Department of Fine and Decorative Arts, State Budgetary Educational Institution of Higher Education "Crimean Engineering and Pedagogical University named after Fevzi Yakubov" 295015, Russia, Republic of Crimea, Simferopol, lane Academic, 8, room 337 allenkott@mail.ru

One of the main goals of cultural science is to study the multifaceted essence of culture, the peculiarities of its determination, forms and types. Among these forms, national and ethnic self-identification, formed in the process of ontogeny and phylogeny, occupies a special place, including religion, moral, ethical and aesthetic norms, as well as the peculiarities of the semiotics of each ethnic group. Against the background of universal globalization and depersonalization of local groups, the issue of preserving ethnic identity becomes especially relevant ^[9].

The diversity of aspects of ethnic culture is manifested both verbally, through language, and through cultural texts expressed in other ways (visual, auditory, audio-visual), embodied in folk religious and ceremonial traditions, song, music, dance, fine and decorative arts. To identify both common features in pre-cultures or in the process of cultural convergence, as well as unique patterns of identity of each ethnic group, cultural anthropologists study the characteristics of each of the ethnocultures.

The famous Russian cultural critic, ethnogeographer and sociologist Nikolai Yakovlevich Danilevsky (1822-1885) in his key work "Russia and Europe" (1869) identified a number of "cultural and historical types", the defining feature of which is religion. "Religion is the moral basis of any activity" ^{[1, p. 157]}, "Religion was the most essential, dominant (almost exclusively) content of ancient (...) life, and (...) it also contains the predominant spiritual interest of ordinary (...) people" ^{[1, p. 577]}. It can be stated that ethnic identity before the processes of globalization of the twentieth century was historically based on religious dogmas. This idea was also expressed by other ethnographers, in particular, V. V. Stasov ^[13].

N. Y. Danilevsky put forward the idea of cultural unity based on the interaction and integration of cultural subjects: ethnic groups and civilizations. Danilevsky considered the totality of religion, science, art, and social development of local ethnic groups to be a cultural and historical type or civilization, the marker of unification of which was the kinship of languages. N. Ya. Danilevsky argued: "A civilization peculiar to each cultural and historical type only reaches completeness, diversity and richness when the ethnographic elements that make up it are diverse– when they, not being absorbed into one political whole, using independence, form a federation or a political system of states" ^{[1, p. 113]}.

Academician Dmitry Sergeevich Likhachev introduced the term ecology of culture into scientific circulation, putting into it the idea of preserving the socio-cultural space through recognition of the intrinsic value of its constituent cultures, in particular, ethnic ones. "Morality is what turns the "population" into an orderly society, humbles national enmity, forces the "big" nations to take into account and respect the interests of the "small" (or rather, the small)" ^[5].

Symbolic systems are a part of ethnic identity, which are the subject of semiotics study. The foundations of semiology are contained in the works of the Swiss linguist and semiotic Ferdinand de Saussure (1857-1913). He put forward the concept of a "two-sided sign" consisting of a word (signifier) and the meaning of a form (signified).  According to Saussure, the meaning of the sign may vary for different groups of people ^[12],[7].

The American mathematician and philosopher Charles Sanders Pierce (1839-1914) laid the foundations of pragmatics, characterized signs, both artificial (letters) and natural (psychological reactions), from the point of view of logic. Pierce believed that the universe consists of logically constructed signs. According to his theory, a sign is anything that means a certain object. Signs that do not look like the signified object, adopted by a certain group of people, were called symbols by Charles Pierce ^[11].

Umberto Eco (1932-2016), a specialist in medieval semiotics, transformed the concept of a sign into a code, calling the message transmitted by a sign or a group of signs a text ^[14].

Yuri Mikhailovich Lotman (1922-1993), a Russian cultural critic and semioticist, put forward the theory of the semiosphere. According to Lotman, the unique integrity of the semiosphere is made up of the internal diversity of the texts of the constituent cultures ^[10]. In our article, the Shtetl (Jewish place) is considered as an example of the semiosphere.

The purpose of our research is to identify the cultural code of the Shtetl using the example of Grigory Gorin's work "Memorial Prayer".

The keycode is the key to understanding a certain picture of the world.

There are several definitions of the cultural code:

1. The cultural code as a symbolic structure;

2. Cultural code as a system of ordering (using) symbols;

3. The cultural code as a kind of correspondence between the signifier and the signified.

The functions of the cultural code are:

a) deciphering the meaning of individual phenomena (signs, texts, symbols) – in the absence of a code, the cultural text remains closed;

b) the relationship between the signifier (sign) and the signified (phenomenon, meaning, object).

The subject of our article is close to the concept of the S-code (semiotic code), put forward by U. Eco, according to which the representation of the Shtetl image occurs with the help of unique recognizable cultural patterns inherent in the local group of Ashkenazi Jews.

Ashkenazi Jews are an ethnic group whose religion is Talmudic Judaism. The term Ashkenaz, which has been found in Jewish sources since the tenth century, comes from the Hebrew name of medieval Germany. Ashkenazi Jews were Eastern European Jews from Germany who settled as a result of migrations across Poland and the Baltic States. The daily language of communication of the Ashkenazim was Yiddish, a German dialect, and the liturgical language was Hebrew (Hebrew) ^[2].

Jewish towns ("miastechko" (Polish) – "town"), or "shtetlach" (Yiddish), in Eastern Europe were small settlements with a predominant Jewish population. After the partitions of Poland, the Russian Empire inherited vast territories inhabited by about a million Jews. Catherine II restricted the areas in which Jews were allowed to live, marking the beginning of the "Jewish pale of settlement." The traditional way of life of the Jews, based on religious isolation, has formed a unique culture of the Shtetl. Since the reign of Alexander II, the pale of settlement has gradually begun to lose its rigid framework. Since 1859, Jewish merchants of the 1st guild were allowed to live in large cities, in 1861 the ban was lifted for Jews with higher education, the laws of 1865-1867 lifted the ban on Jewish doctors. Temporary residence was also allowed to persons enrolled in the craft workshop. As a result of these indulgences, a stratum of the Jewish intelligentsia was formed ^[8].

In order to preserve the origins of the Shtetl culture, Jewish enthusiasts created collections of Jewish antiquities and collected samples of artistic and musical folklore during ethnographic expeditions. In 1908, the Jewish Historical and Ethnographic Society was established under the leadership of Maxim (Maer-Khil) Moiseevich Vinaver (1862-1926), whose main activity was the collection of documents on the history of the Jews of Russia and Poland. In 1908-1913, a 16-volume Jewish Encyclopedia was published under the editorship of famous Jewish educators Baron David Horatievich Ginzburg (1857-1910), Lev Israelevich (Yehuda Leib Binyamin) Katzenelson (1847-1917), Avraham Yakovlevich Garkavi (1839-1919), Semyon Markovich (Shimon Meyerovich) Dubnov (1860-1941). Based on the collection of Jewish antiquities collected by Semyon Akimovich Ansky (Shlomo Aronovich Rappoport (1863-1920) in 1916, the Jewish Historical and Ethnographic Museum was opened in Petrograd ^[6].

As a result of the large-scale events of the early twentieth century, the traditional life of the towns was destroyed, the pale of settlement was abolished, and young people rushed to large cities. The Shtetl became a "cultural reserve", the object of attention of the figures of the "new Jewish culture", who perceived it as their cultural "cradle". The development of a new national identity of progressive Jewry was also facilitated by the policy of root–building in the 1920s-1930s, within the framework of which national schools, clubs, evening universities, periodicals, and art associations appeared. From this period, fiction, songs, and theatrical productions in the Yiddish language began, previously considered colloquial jargon that was not worth attention. However, it was Yiddish that became the unifying factor and the main part of the cultural code of the Shtetl, expressing its uniqueness. Later, the culture of the towns began to be called Yiddish culture. The Jewish artistic association Kulturliga, including its theater studio under the leadership of writer and public figure Moses (Moshe) Ilyich Litvakov (1875-1938), made a great contribution to the preservation and development of the Jewish authentic Shtetl themes through a new plastic language in the spirit of the times.

The first Jewish theater troupes with productions in Yiddish were Literarishe Troupe ("literary troupe"), Farinigte Troupe ("united troupe") under the leadership of Avraham Yitzhak Kaminsky (1867-1918), the "Girshbein Troupe" under the leadership of Peretz Girshbein (1880-1948) and with the support of poet and writer Chaim Nachman Bialik (1873-1934), etc. In total, by 1912, there were 16 Jewish troupes operating in Russia, but their level was mainly amateur. The history of the Jewish professional theater, which became a bright and at the same time tragic milestone of Soviet Jewish culture, is certainly connected with the State Jewish Theater, abbreviated GOSET ^[4].

The Yiddish Jewish Theater, originally called the State Jewish Chamber Theater (GOSEcT), was opened in 1918 in Petrograd, and since 1920 moved to Moscow. The theater was headed by director and playwright Alexei Mikhailovich Granovsky (real name Abram Mikhailovich Azarch, 1890-1937). At the same time as the theater, an artistic theater studio was opened with him, in which talented young actors studied. The theater staged plays based on the works of Jewish writers, such as the founder of Yiddish literature Mendele Moyher-Sforim (Sholem-Yakov Abramovich, 1836-1917), Sholom Aleichem (Solomon Naumovich Rabinovich, 1859-1916) Sholom Ash (1880-1957), Pepper Davidovich Markish (1895-1952), and others, as well as plays on topical issues for that time of the theme. Thanks to the talented material and its subsequent dramatic processing in the libretto, for example, by the famous playwright Abraham Goldfaden (1840-1908), as well as the brilliant acting of the actors, many of Goset's performances became widely known, were covered in the press, and sold out. Among them are such famous plays as "Mazel-Tov" and "Tevye the Milkman" by Sholom Aleichem, "The God of Revenge" by Sh. Ash, "Night at the Old Market" by A.M. Granovsky, "Herschele Ostropoler" by M. Gershenzon. In addition to the Jewish ones, classical plays were also staged in the theater, for example, "King Lear".  The play of outstanding actors of his time, Solomon Mikhailovich Mikhoels (Shlomo Vovsi, 1890-1948) and Benjamin (Benjamin), brought special fame to the theater Lvovich Zuskin (1899-1952). GOSET's performances were vital, understandable for people from Shtetls, their characters were written off from traditional residents of small towns, imbued with grotesque, sparkling humor combined with dramatic background, causing an acute emotional reaction from the audience. The recognizable character of the shtetl was also recreated with the help of decorations, which were worked on by such famous artists as Robert Rafailovich Falk (1886-1958), Mark Zakharovich (Movsha Khatskelevich) Chagall (1887-1985), Alexander Grigoryevich Tyshler (1898-1980) ^[4]. 

At the same time as the State University in Moscow, another Jewish theater, Gabima, was functioning, created by Naum Lazarevich Tsemakh (1887-1939) in 1913 in Vilna, subsequently moved to Moscow and patronized by the founder of the Moscow Art Theater Konstantin Sergeevich Stanislavsky (real name Alekseev, 1863-1938). The head of the theater studio "Gabima" was a student of K. S. Stanislavsky, Evgeny Bagrationovich Vakhtangov (1883-1992). The concept of "Gabima", in contrast to GOSET, consisted in staging performances in Hebrew, a liturgical, "sublime" language, unlike Yiddish, which was considered a "slang" spoken language. Due to the fact that Hebrew was understandable to a small number of people, many of the actions and plots in the performances were solved not through words, but with the help of pantomime, an imaginative and plastic acting language brought up by the Stanislavsky professional acting school. Among the productions of "Gabima" were the plays "The Primordial Ball" and "The Eternal Jew" by David Pinsky (1872-1959). However, the worldwide fame of "Gabima" was brought by the production of "Gadibuk" by Semyon Ansky, directed by E. V. Vakhtangov. Hana Rovina (1888-1980) became the performer of the main role of Leia, the artistic design of the play belonged to Nathan Isaevich Altman (1889-1970), the music was written by Julius (Yoel) Dmitrievich Engel (1868-1927) ^[4].

After a significant break in the Soviet era, when the national theater ceased to exist due to discrepancies with the general program of socialist realism, the theme of Sholom Aleichem's works was revived in the theater in 1989, when the play "Memorial Prayer" was written and staged ^[3] by Grigory Israelevich Gorin (real name Ofstein, 1940-2000). Grigory Gorin was a famous playwright, satirical writer, keenly sensitive to the word, whose ancestors also came from Eastern European towns, so it was not by chance that he managed to revive the memory of the shtetl, to recreate an ironic and dramatic picture from the life of the inhabitants of the town.

The play was first staged on the stage of the Lenkom Theater in 1989 by the artistic director of the theater, the famous director, actor, screenwriter Mark Anatolyevich Zakharov (1933-2019). The performance was met with great public interest, and in 1993 his famous TV version was released with the outstanding actor Evgeny Pavlovich Leonov (1926-1994) in the title role of Tevye the milkman. Later, the role of Tevye was also played by the equally famous actor Vladimir Alexandrovich Steklov (born 1948). The popularity of the play, thanks to the poignant, lively and understandable human history described in it, has not weakened to this day, it is staged on the stage of various theaters, from metropolitan to provincial.

Cultural patterns, or shtetl codes, are derived in the play from the very beginning, and the first of them is a description of the characteristic environment of the place in which the action takes place. In the monologue of the milkman Tevye, the village of Anatovka is described, in which Jews and Orthodox lived side by side for many years, "lived together, worked together, only each went to his own cemetery to die." The traditional area of life of an Eastern European town consisted of a central square, on which a synagogue was located, and sometimes a church, if there was a sufficient number of Orthodox population. The square was used as a market square on fair days, and in large towns it also housed a check-in (inn) for merchants who came to the fair.

The synagogue was not only a place for prayer, but also a "meeting house" where Jews gathered to discuss important issues related to community life, which included charity, ideological or property disputes, brit milah (circumcision), bar bat mitzvah (coming of age), chupa (weddings), burials. Traditional education was of great importance in the Shtetls: Jewish boys (and by the end of the 19th century, many girls also) attended a traditional heder school, where they studied writing, arithmetic, and also studied Scripture. The Talmud Torah, a place for studying sacred books, operated at the synagogue in large towns. There were also yeshivas – rabbinical schools in larger cities ^[9].

Traditional occupations in shtetls, due to the prohibition of Jews from owning and cultivating land, were crafts that were generally accepted by both Jews and Christians: milkman, baker, tailor, carpenter, water carrier, tinker, glazier, etc., as well as specific professions related to the observance of Jewish traditions: rabbi, soifer – copyist Torahs, moel – a man who performs circumcision, shamash – a synagogue attendant, melamed – a teacher in a heder, a butcher – a butcher who conducts painless slaughter of cattle, etc. Representatives of each profession, as a rule, inherited it from their parents, so a certain range of activities of the inhabitants of the towns was archetypal, almost the same for geographically different shtetls. In large shtetls, there were also professional communities – artels, whose members not only interacted in a common cause, but also built their own synagogues and solved community issues ^[2]. In the play "Memorial Prayer", however, a small place is shown in which each specialist was in the singular.

The play depicts the images of a rebbe (rabbi) and a priest (priest): "wise people were, they knew the answers to all questions." The image of a rabbi who finds answers to all questions that arise in Scripture, from ideological to everyday life, is not accidental. For a Jew, the rabbi himself was not considered endowed with holiness, but the general reverence for scholarship implied great respect for people who studied the Torah and Talmud, which, according to Jews, contain the immutable truth. Rabbis were specially trained in the techniques of analysis and synthesis in relation to the texts of the holy books in yeshivas: Thus, Pilpul's dialectical method consisted in searching for contradictions in the texts of Scripture and their subsequent logical explanation ^[9].

Mandatory for any settlement, be it a Jewish town or an Orthodox village, was the figure of a constable – a representative of the local government. "There was also a policeman in the village. One for all! Because people's faith may be different, but the power is the same!" The sergeant, on the one hand, uses his position: "Men! Whose goose is running unattended, Orthodox or Jewish?".. "Yours, Your Honor!" ^[3]. However, when a pogrom occurs, and later, when Tevye accompanies Pepper and Godl into exile, the sergeant feels sorry for their family, takes warm sheepskin coats and food for them on the road.

The images of the main character, Tevye the milkman, and his wife Golda represent ordinary people who are traditional for Shtetls, spending their days at work, but gifted with subtle worldly wisdom, a deep understanding of the meanings of life that they see in a traditional Jewish family, mutual support, love, raising daughters, as well as in daily work. "And he had five daughters, two cows and one horse, so old that it could only carry a cart down the mountain. And when the road went uphill, Tevye harnessed himself to the cart, and then he even took off his hat, and from the outside it was already difficult to understand who was walking – a Jew or an Orthodox. And what difference does it make if a person drags his cart with the last of his strength..." ^[3].

Adherence to the long-standing communal Jewish traditions is an unshakable rule for them, the foundation on which their whole life rests. Tevye says: "I am a Russian man of Jewish origin, of the Jewish faith."^[3] For him, the inviolable tradition, a tribute to the continuity of the ancestors, was the veneration of the Sabbath, evening prayer and a meal with his family. Tevye also mentions the ancestors whose graves are located in the cemetery, the oak tree planted by his father, the roots from which he himself came out, both religious and philosophical, and everyday objects, which together constitute a microcosm of Jewish parochial life. At the same time, Tevye realizes the importance of work for the sustenance of the family, but does not put wealth first, he does it for the sake of his daughters, whom he wishes a better life. Tevye quotes Scripture: "... and rich gold coins do not swallow, and poor stones do not eat..." ^[3]. The image of Tevye is a traditional, code archetype of the Jewish artisan, a resident of the Shtetl, sincere in his wise simplicity.

The image of Golda represents the code of aidisha-mama (Jewish mother), the guardian of the family, a woman with an indomitable core, doing everything in her power for her husband and children. At the same time, Golda is sharp-tongued, able to stand up for herself and her family, and at the same time, she always listens to the opinions and desires of her husband and daughters, that is, understands them, even when their opinions do not coincide with her own. Feminine wisdom combined with strong character and simplicity make this image especially attractive. An interesting point is that Golda is engaged in folk medicine, practicing spells against diseases, which was also the archaic purpose of a woman. However, her more modern, literate daughters are skeptical about this activity. The climactic scene, demonstrating Golda's dedication, is the moment when, being terminally ill, she dies, mentally transferring her soul to her granddaughter, who is being born, named later in her honor. Thus, family traditions, the precepts of the ancestors are revived in a new life.

The image of Menachem Mendl, a relative of Tevye, derived in the play, differs in a completely different character, however, also typical for shtetls. Menachem-Mendl is a pronounced sanguine man, dressed in urban fashion, who traveled outside of Anatovka and was in large cities. He is an entrepreneur by nature, engaged in a variety of activities: he was an insurance agent, engaged in fraud on the stock exchange, for which he was imprisoned, and later decided to become a shadkhon (matchmaker). It should be noted that for all his energy, Menachem does not bring any business to mind, he lacks the necessary knowledge and skill, but failures do not affect his optimistic view of the future.

In contrast to Menachem, the image of the butcher Lazer is an example of a wealthy Jew, rude, not distinguished by flexibility of mind, but who managed to make a profit from his business. Lazer has a good house and prosperity, so when Menachem-Mendl woos Tevye's eldest daughter, Zeitl, for him, Tevye, guided by concern for his daughter's future, agrees. However, the play describes another archetypal theme of different worldviews of fathers and children, and by the time the play is set (obviously, this is the beginning of the twentieth century), the father and mother can no longer completely control the future of children. So, Zeitl does not agree with his father's will and marries a poor tailor Motl, a simple craftsman like Tevye himself. The drama of the situation for parents, and at the same time their wisdom consists in understanding and making decisions of children who differ from the parental worldview. If in the situation with Zeitl and Motl the question concerned only material prosperity, then the events described below related to Tevye's daughters, Godl and Khava, hurt Tevye and Golda's heart. It is significant that, despite the refusal, Lazer does not harbor a grudge against Tevye and Zeitl, he, like the other characters in the play, is generous.

The image of the revolutionary student Perchik is an example of a new code, formed in the European manner of a Jew who rejects the foundations of traditional Jewish life. The foundations of secular Jewish education were laid by the Jewish Enlightenment – Haskalah, when young Jewish youths began, against the will of their parents, to gradually leave the towns and enter universities. Pepper's late father kept a tobacco shop in Anatovka, but he did not smoke himself and, out of his sincerity, did not advise others, as a result of which his business did not become profitable. His son perceives the new revolutionary ideas of universal equality with the same sincerity, participates in revolutionary riots, for which he becomes persecuted by the law. After meeting Pepper at Tevye's house with his second daughter, Godl, feelings arise between them, and Godl goes into exile with Pepper to Siberia. Of course, this was a blow for Tevye and Golda, this was not the fate they wanted for their daughter. However, they come to terms with this turn of fate, releasing their daughter into the unknown. Golda sadly replies to Tevye: "What can I say? She has her own character, will she listen to me? We need to pack warm clothes!" ^[3].

However, the biggest blow for Tevye was the apostasy of the third daughter, Hava, who, having fallen in love with the Christian Fedor, marries him, having converted to Christianity. This means for Tevye a complete collapse, the loss of his daughter, akin to her death. He renounces his daughter, intending to serve a memorial prayer for her. However, the father's heart, filled with love, still encourages Tevye to worry about his daughter, he secretly inquires about her well-being. Tevye's reconciliation with his daughter occurs when the Jews are evicted from Anatovka, and Hava and her husband also decide to leave with their father and sisters, despite the fact that the eviction does not concern the crosses. In this situation, the sergeant who brought the royal decree of eviction is not at all happy about this and sympathizes with the Jews. It is also interesting the revelation of Stepan the carpenter, who previously confessed his former love for Golda, and said that previously such an alliance between a Christian and a Jew was impossible, but today the young go their own way. Thus, along with the revolutionary Pepper, the image of Hava represents the code of a new Jewish youth who goes against the precepts of their ancestors, which is always painful for both sides, however, both parents and children love each other, and this love helps parents accept differences in the worldview of children, putting their well-being and happiness first.

The speech of Tevye and other Jews contains another shtetl code: it is a characteristic ironically figurative, allegorical manner of utterance, in fact, partially tracing paper from expressions in Yiddish, but with the expansion of the use of the Russian language by Jews, the same manner begins to be recognizable by other Russian-speaking people. For example, Tevye says: "... however, God, what am I telling you about the Holy Scriptures? Who of us read, and who dictated?" ^[3]; Pepper: "I come from the village, Reb Tevye, where many questions are asked and answered with a question" ^[3]; Golda –Menachem: "How does a poor woman know what such a successful businessman does? Probably selling air or last year's snow. I saw your wife, her eyes were filled with tears – probably from happiness" ^[3]; Menachem is a matchmaker: "I found him an option in Berdichev, from a good family, she, however, limps a little, but there is charm in this too - she will not run away to the side..." ^[3].

The last code of the shtetl, displayed in the play, is the image of an empty town, boarded up windows of the Tevye house, and persecuted Jews going on an eternal journey far from the Promised Land. It is a sad picture of saying goodbye to their native places, the land of their ancestors, scattering, when the only thing people hold on to is their closest family members. The history of the Shtetls actually leads to their gradual disappearance, with the relocation of Jewish youth to other cities and countries. The Shtetl, as a sacral household microcosm, remains only in the memory of the people who came out of it, being a cultural foundation reproduced in literature, painting, music, and theater. It is in this form that the memory of the shtetl has reached our days ^[9].

The greatest humanism attaches special importance to the play and its characters, which applies to all the main characters, regardless of their social status, worldview and occupation. Love, kindness, sincerity, erasing all external boundaries, sparkling humor and light sadness of the inhabitants of the shtetl is a distinctive feature of the work of Sholom Aleichem, and the brilliant play by Grigory Gorin "Memorial Prayer" based on his motives.

Conclusions. Thus, after conducting a study, we can draw the following conclusions.

Shtetl-Jewish towns in the pale of settlement were distinguished by a special sacral household culture associated with the traditions of Judaism and the centuries-old compact residence of the Jewish population, whose spoken language was Yiddish. Subsequently, this culture was called "Yiddish".  Since the time of the Jewish Enlightenment, as well as social upheavals at the turn of the XIX - XX centuries, young people have been leaving the towns and they are gradually falling into desolation. Preserving the origins and cultural foundation of the shtetls, from which many outstanding figures of science, literature and art emerged, has become an urgent task, to which writers, artists, musicians, and theater figures have made a great contribution. Thus, the play by G. Gorin "Memorial Prayer", written based on the works of Sholem Aleichem, is not only an outstanding example of a work of art, emphasized by the excellent performance of the actors, but also the quintessence of the cultural codes of the bygone shtetl, it is:

1. The code of the sacred household environment of a place with characteristic components (synagogue, residential buildings, heder, market, cemetery);

2. Codes of characteristic representatives of traditional shtetls (rabbi, Jewish artisan, wealthy Jew, Jewish entrepreneur, Jewish scientist, Jewish woman-"aidishe mama");

3. Codes of the "new Jewry" (Jewish student, Jewish revolutionary, Jewish outcast);

4. The code of the Yiddish language and the tracing paper removed from it - a characteristic ironic parochial speech;

5. The code of the eternal journey of the Jews far from the Promised Land. 

Thanks to the unique figurative and artistic language and deep knowledge of the material by the author, our contemporaries can also feel the special world of the Eastern European shtetl, which indicates continuous cultural continuity, which is the basis of positive interethnic discourse.