ABSTRACT
The notion "Jewish humor" immediately evokes the name of Shalom Aleichem. This great narratist is the representative of the humor of the Jewish village, the shtetl. Jewish humor is unique in its ability to find a jest amongst the tears and make tragic situations tolerable, Shalom Aleichem, the champion of capsulated Jewish humor, was blessed with the virtue of seeing the light within even the most tragic of human events. Shalom Aleichem's story "On Account of a Hat" at first glance stretches the reader's credulity. It appears farfetched and remote from the modern reader's experience. On the universal level Sholern Aleichem has presented the "fool" in each of us, struggling with our identities, unwilling to leave old ones behind or don new ones completely, trying vainly to merge both. Shalom Aleichem has also made an important statement about the Jew in Russia and the world.
