In the Early Modern period, the Jewish people did not develop theater arts comparable to that of other cultures. One reason often given to explain this absence of theatrical tradition is the virulent denunciations of theater by the rabbis, who likened it to idolatry and heresy, and condemned it as being incompatible with monotheism. The biblical injunction (Ps.1:1): “Blessed is the man that sits not in the seat of the scornful” has often been cited as condemning the theater, interpreting the Hebrew word leẓim, not as mocking or impious, but as buffoon or jester, and by extension, actor. Ahuva Belkin attempts to explain this cultural fact while at the same time challenging the argument that Jews did not create any theatrical tradition. From the Middle Ages on, Ashkenazi society produced many forms of popular entertainment, the most accomplished of which was the Purim-shpil. Belkin's work, which makes use of the pioneering studies of Yiddish theater by B. Gorin, Y. Shatsky, I. Shipper, and Ch. Shmeruk, offers much new and original material.