Kasrilevka
Kasrilevka or Kasrilevke () is a fictional "shtetl" introduced by a Yiddish author Sholem Aleichem. Located "exactly in the middle of that blessed Pale", it is an idealized town of "little Jews" ("die kleine mentsheleh"), who met their misfortunes with humor and the ultimate belief in justice. It has become an archetype "shtetl". Other famous imaginary places of Sholem Aleichem are Yehupetz (for Kiev) and Boiberik (for Boyarka). The name of the "shtetl" is derived from the Yiddish word "kasril" / "kasrilik", an optimistic pauper, as Sholem Aleichem wrote: "However, there is still another name – kasril, or kasrilik. That name is  spoken in a different tone altogether, almost a bragging tone. For instance, "Oh, am I ever a kasrilik!" A kasrilik is not just an ordinary pauper, a failure in life. On the contrary, he is a man who has not allowed poverty to degrade him. He laughs at it. He is poor, but cheerful." The prototype of Kasrilevka was an Ukrainian town of Voronkov of the Russian Empire (now village , Ukraine), where Sholem Aleichem grew up. The town continues the tradition of humorous Jewish towns, such as the fictional Chelm of the "Wise Men of Chelm" popularized by Isaac Bashevis  Singer and Kabtzansk of Mendele Mocher Sforim. A detailed glimpse at Voronko, the prototype of Kasrilevka, may be found in "Funem Yarid: lebns-bashraybungen" (, "Back from the Fair: Descriptions of Life," 1915) - the unfinished Sholem Aleichem's autobiographical novel. "Fumen Yarid" describes not a real Voronkov, but something resembling Kasrilevka. Dan Miron makes a comparison of the real Voronkov from the memoir "My Brother Sholom Aleichem" of writer's brother Wolf Rabinovich , with its fictionalized image. Early Sholem Aleichem's feuilletons published in "Dos Yidishe Folksblat" in 1886-1887 anticipated Kasrilevke. Stories involving Kasrilevka. Kasrilevke is the place for numerous  author's novellas, short stories, sketches and plays and its description, rich in detail, was a considerable part of his work.