Contents
| I | Keidansky Decides to Leave the Social Problem Unsolved for the Present | [1] |
| II | He Defends the Holy Sabbath | [7] |
| III | Sometimes He is a Zionist | [13] |
| IV | Art for Tolstoy's Sake | [23] |
| V | "Three Stages of the Game" | [33] |
| VI | "The Badness of a Good Man" | [41] |
| VII | "The Goodness of a Bad Man" | [53] |
| VIII | "The Feminine Traits of Men" | [65] |
| IX | The Value of Ignorance | [75] |
| X | Days of Atonement | [85] |
| XI | Why the World is Growing Better | [95] |
| XII | Home, the Last Resort | [105] |
| XIII | A Jewish Jester | [117] |
| XIV | What Constitutes the Jew? | [129] |
| XV | The Tragedy of Humor | [139] |
| XVI | The Immorality of Principles | [149] |
| XVII | The Exile of the Earnest | [157] |
| XVIII | Why Social Reformers Should be Abolished | [165] |
| XIX | Buying a Book in Salem Street | [173] |
| XX | The Purpose of Immoral Plays | [183] |
| XXI | The Poet and the Problem | [193] |
| XXII | "My Vacation on the East Side" | [199] |
| XXIII | Our Rivals in Fiction | [211] |
| XXIV | On Enjoying One's Own Writings | [219] |
DISCOURSES OF KEIDANSKY
I Keidansky Decides to Leave the Social Problem Unsolved for the Present
The lecture at the Revolutionary Club, Canal street, was over, the audience rose, one by one, and ere their departure, those who made it up, lingered on for awhile and stood in little groups of two, three and four, and earnestly discussed the things that had been, and particularly the things that might have been, said on the subject. The peroration was delivered with fervor and gusto by one of the "red ones" of the Ghetto. It was on "The Emancipation of Society from Government," a theme packed with meaning for those present, and as almost everybody was willing to be interviewed on his or her impressions, there was quite a little exchange of opinion afterwards. The speaker, besieged by a small circle of questioning dissenters and commentators, was holding an informal, compulsory reception. A few hard workers of the sweat-shops, who slumbered peacefully during the discourse, came up towards the platform to tell the speaker how well they liked it.
It was during this hobnob medley of varying voices that I introduced Keidansky to a lady, a friend of mine, who, having heard of the wicked things he says, and the queer things he does, desired very much to meet him.