_The Mendele Review_: Yiddish Literature and Language (A Companion to _MENDELE_) ______________________________________________________ Contents of Vol. 05.014 5 November 2001 The Crisis at the Hebrew National Archives "Gnazim"(1) 1) About this issue (ed.) 2) A Petition to save the National Archives "Gnazim" 3) Howe-Greenberg and the Proletpen poets (ed.) 4) Frume Halpern: A "Proletarian" Writer (ed.) 5) "Proletarian" Prose Illustrated: "Blume" by Frume Halpern 6) Publications Received: a. _Forverts_ b. _Yugntruf_ ERRATUM:The email address of Lawrence Rosenwald given in the last issue of _TMR_ was erroneous. It should be lrosenwald@wellesley.edu. 1)---------------------------------------------------- Date: 5 November 2001 From: Leonard Prager Subject: About this issue The "Gnazim" archives of the Hebrew Writers' Association is presently closed to the public due to a labor dispute.(2) The six "Gnazim" employees (like the other ten employees of the Association) have not received salaries for many months. The elected officers of the Association have been accused by other members of misusing funds and of other irregularities -- internal disputes are not a rare phenomenon in the Writers' Association. The Histadrut workers' federation has entered the fray to protect the employees' rights. While the inner conflicts rage, the work of the national institution responsible for the preservation and cataloging of the letters and manuscripts of generations of writers and thinkers is frozen. If paralysis continues long enough, permanent damage may result and the nation as a whole will suffer a palpable cultural loss. Publication of the petition below is more than a fraternal act on the part of the TMR. As lovers of Yiddish, we are interested parties. The papers of 730 writers -- amounting to over six million items -- are held in the "Gnazim" archives. Among these many items are thousands and thousands which are either written in Yiddish, are written by a writer who wrote Yiddish, or concern a Yiddish-related subject. In short, "Gnazim" is a vital station on the map of the Yiddish researcher. Perhaps as many as several hundred writers and thinkers whose papers are collected in the Gnazim archives have a Yiddish dimension. Glancing at the "Gnazim" _Madrikh leKhativot arkhioniot veOsafim_, Agudat haSofrim haIvrim beMedinat Yisrael, 2000 [Guide to the Archival Sections and Collections, Hebrew Writers' Association, 2000], I find Yiddish writers of the first importance. The following names should amply substantiate the claim that "Gnazim" is a treasure house not only for Hebrew language and literature, but for Yiddish language and literature as well. "Gnazim" boasts papers of the classic triumvirate, Mendele, Sholem-Aleykhem and Perets. Other important figures whose papers are stored at "Gnazim" include Yehuda-Leyb Avide [Zlotnik/Yehuda Elzet], Immanuel Olsvanger, Moyshe Altman, Sholem Ash, Khayim-Nakhmen Byalik, Mikhe-Yoysef Berditshevski, Y.-D. Berkovits, Uri-Tsvi Grinberg, Shimen Dubnov, Moyshe-Leyb Lilyenblum, Avrom Lyesin, Kadye Molodovski, Aleksander Mukdoyni, Dov Noy, Shmuel-Yoysef Agnon, Dov Sadan, Ka-Tsetnik [Yekhiel Dinur], Yitskhok Kipnis, Levin Kipnis and scores of others. Clearly, students of Yiddish culture will join with all those calling for the reopening of the "Gnazim" archives and the continuation of its vital work. However, there is one sentence in the petition issued by "Gnazim"s friends that Yiddish-lovers would wish to modify: "It is the Hebrew language that marks the boundaries of our territory as the Jewish People." Certainly the Hebrew language has played a crucial and often a central role in the inner life of world Jewry -- alongside diasporan Jewish languages (Yiddish, Jewish-Aramaic, Judezmo, Jewish-Persian, Jewish-Arabic, etc.) and coterritorial vernaculars (Polish, German, Russian, English, Spanish). The petition (see bvelow), however, does not exaggerate the importance of "Gnazim"s rich holdings for the history of the modern Hebrew-language renaissance. TMR readers are requested to fax signed copies of this petition to Makhon "Gnazim" (972)-3-691-9681, or to send signed copies by mail to Makhon "Gnazim," 6 Kaplan St., Tel Aviv 64734 (via airmail from abroad). Email letters of support may also be sent: Makhon "Gnazim": gnazim@zahav.net.il. Please bring this petition to the attention of as many friends as possible. Outside Israel it would be helpful to contact the nearest Israeli cultural attache. TMR will on its part follow the dispute and report developemtns to our readers. We look forward to a resumption of activities at "Gnazim" at the earliest possible date. ----------- 1. "Gnazim" is named after the Hebrew writer Asher Barash. It is housed in Bet hasofer al shem tshernikhovski [The Tshernikhovski Writers' Center] and is located at Rekhov Kaplan 6, Tel-Aviv. "Gnazim's email address is gnazim@zahav.net.il. 2. The story has been covered in the Israeli national press. See a. Shiri Lev-Ari, "Spiritual Matters," _HaAretz_, 29 August 2001, "Galerya;" b. "Power Struggles, Friction, Suspicions of Financial Irregularities in the Hebrew Writers' Associatuion," [Iton kharedi], September 2001; c "Labor Dispute in Hebrew Writers' Association: Employees Wages Not Paid Since July," [title, date and page not shown]; d. Shiri Lev-Ari, "Employees of the Hebrew Writers' Association Threaten to Strike Because They Have Not Been Paid," _Haaretz_, 25 October 2001, p. d4; Dan Miron, in "Mador 24 sha'ot," _Yediot Aharonot_ 4 November 2001, p. 5 [Miron calls for separating "Gnazim" from the Writers' Association and making it financially independent.] 2)---------------------------------------------------- Date: 5 November 2001 From: Leonard Prager Subject: ) A Petition to save the National Archives "Gnazim" ("signed" by Itamar Ben-Avi, Khayim Bialik, Uri Tsvi Grinberg, and Shaul Tshernikhovski) ----------------------------------------------------------------------- A PETITION TO SAVE THE NATIONAL ARCHIVES "GNAZIM" The national archival institution "Gnazim" was recently closed to the public because of total blockage of funds, apparently due to internal problems in the Writers' Association. The staff and the volunteers of "Gnazim" wish to warn the public of the dangers facing the institution's treasures If the project of microfilming and scanning writers' manuscripts and the bibliographical project are not continued. The archives' six million items are in danger of destruction. The national archival institution "Genazim" is the central institution for gathering and preserving the spiritual progeny of Hebrew writers and thinkers of the past two and a half centuries. No other institution anywhere in the world documents the history, generation by generation, of the Hebrew language as reflected in the works of its writers. It is the Hebrew language that marks the boundaries of our territory as the Jewish People. Our struggle for survival as a people is primarily spiritual. A people that scorns its culture cannot survive. (Signed by) Uri Tsvi Grinberg Itamar Ben-Avi Shaul Tshernikhovski Khayim Bialik [tr. -- ed.] 3)---------------------------------------------------- Date: 5 November 2001 From: Leonard Prager Subject: Howe-Greenberg and the "Propletpen" Poets David Weintraub recently, and surely well-meaningly, wrote: "The Dora Teitelboim Center for Yiddish Culture is currently developing a book of translations of the Proletpen, the left-wing rebels poets of the 30s, 40s and 50s (the poets and poems that Howe and Greenberg assiduously left out)."(1) This on the face of it is a fairly straightforward statement, but in fact it is somewhat problematic. Firstly, what is implied is that Howe and Greenberg unjustly -- presumably for ideological or aesthetic reasons -- excluded from their anthologies a body of Yiddish verse which merited inclusion. The statement may also lead one to believe that the "Proletpen" was a fixed and fully identifiable group and that we understand what is meant by describing its members as "left-wing" and "rebels." "Proletpen" was the name of the pro-Communist and pro-Soviet Proletarian Writers' Association. In 1930 they published a miscellany entitled _Yunyon skver: zamlbukh funem farband fun proletarishe shrayber in amerike ("proletpen"). This miscellany is a product of the same circles that issued the Yiddish-English-Russian _Spartak_ [New york, 1926], _Yung-kuznye_, _Yugent_ [Yugnt], _Signal_ and _Yidish amerike_. The proletarian writers' group "Union Square" was founded in 1926. _Yunyon skver_'s title refers to the locale which is opposed to all that is suggested by "East Broadway." Communist Party headquarters were located in Union Square; the _Forverts_ was on East Broadway. Ber Grin was a co-editor and contributors include Vilyem Eybrems {= william Abrams}, and Arn Kurts. The organ mentioned above, _Signal: khoydesh zhurnal for proletarisher literatur un kritik_ [New York, 1933-1936], attracted many liberal-left writers who later broke with the Communist Party and renounced Marxism. Among its contributors, in fact, were Eliezer Greenberg, Irving Howe's partner in selecting and editing the poems included in _A Treasury of Yiddish Poetry_; other contributors included Kadye Molodovski and A. Tabatshnik -- also to be found in the Howe-Greenberg poetry anthology. Among _Signal_ contributors were Lamed Shapiro, Peysekh Markus, Moyshe Nadir -- all represented in the Howe-Greenberg _A Treasury of Yiddish Stories_. Peysekh Markus, let it be understood, was editor of the pro-Communist _Masn_ [New York 1934] and wrote regularly for the New York _Di frayhayt_ -- but later found his way into a Howe-Greenberg anthology. _Signal_, like several other literary journals of the period (e.g. _Inzikh_) adopted the Soviet spelling codex, except for final letters, and attacked "bourgeois" writers such as Sholem Asch and Shmuel Niger. Asch was the most successful Yiddish writer before Isaac Bashevis Singer arrived on the Yiddish literary scene and one of the most daring and original Yiddish authors -- consider his _Got fun nekome_. Niger is arguably the finest of our Yiddish literary critics. Philip Rahv also contributed to _Signal_, a striking instance of one who, as editor of _Partisan Review_ moved as far away from pro-Soviet sympathies and "proletarian" literature as is conceivable. The explicitly anti-Stalinist high-level journal _Inzikh_ published a number of the writers who at one time or another contributed to _Signal_ -- e.g. Borekh Glazman, Eliezer Grinberg, Moyshe Nadir, A. Raboy, Lamed Shapiro. In short, writers changed their political allegiances and shifted from newspaper to newspaper, from journal to journal. _Yidish amerike : khoydesh-zhurnal far literatur un kritik_ [1949] was edited by Ber Grin, L. Miler [= E.Meler], Y.-A. rontsh -- and Howe's partner, Eliezer Greenberg! This journal was the organ of the Jewish Poets' Club of America (founded in 1947), which in its opening editorial claimed to be a continuation of _Yung-kuznye_, _Yugnt_, _Yunyon-skver_ and _Signal_. It defined itself as "proletarian" and acknowledged the paternity of Mendele, Sholem-Aleykhem and Perets and, in America, of Vintshevski, Edlshtat, Bovshover and "partly" of Roznfeld. It identified with the _Morgn-frayhayt_ and _Yidishe kultur_. it wished to be the artistic platform of the writers' collective and to stress the American experience. Among the contributors to _Yidish-amerike_, not surprisingly, is Arn Kurts -- but also Yoysef Rolnik, whom Howe and Greenberg were not assiduous enough to exclude from their _Treasury of Yiddish Poetry_. In the Forties, we also find Vilyem Eybrems (William Abrams) editing the short-lived _Mir_, the same Eybrems who served on the editorial board of _Signal_ with Arn Kurts, whose name together with those of Ber Green and Y.-A. Rontsh will be found in all the so-called "leftist" journals. Yankev Stodolski wrote in _Mir_ that Biro-Bidjan was "a symbol of our true liberation." Irving Howe, founding editor of the democratic socialist magazine _Dissent_ was a passionate anti-Stalinist. But it was not because of ideological reasons that many of the "proletarian" poets were overlooked. In his judgement and that of Eliezer Greenberg -- who knew Yiddish better than Howe but did not match Howe in literary sophistication and refinement of taste -- these poets were inferior practitioners of their craft. Their intentions, sincere or otherwise, to serve the Social Muse was costly to their art. American Yiddish poetry does have its authentic proletarian poets, those cited by the Jewish Poets' Club: Bovshover, Edelshtadt, Roznfeld and Vintshevski. Howe-Greenberg in _A Treasury of Yiddish Poetry_ include only Roznfeld, who was the best of the group. Anthologists must be selective for reasons of space. But of course editors always bring a measure of subjectivity to their work and other editors, as devoted and disciplined as Howe and Greenberg, would likely make somewhat different selections. Revaluations of the canon are always welcome and it is conceivable that quality poems have been ignored. However, in my own reading experience I have found that Howe and Greenberg's selections are generally apt and felicitous. Moreover, we should think twice before describing a group of poets who conformed to the fellow-traveler culture of the Thirties and Forties as "rebels." They conformed to an ideology which operated as an intellectual straight jacket. History was to show that their "leftism" could be seen as a virulent form of reaction. Yet here too we must make distinctions: being pro-Communist in the Thirties was not the same as being pro-Communist in the Forties; being pro-Communist in the Forties was not the same as being pro-Communist after the destruction of Yiddish culture in the Soviet Union in the late Forties. Writers changed their political and esthetic allegiances and it is not easy to identify the Yiddish "proletarian poets." The work of the best of those generally associated with "the left" is often far from the naturalist/realist politicized and "socially conscious" verse called for in their manifestoes. If one scans the 1933 _Revolutsyonerer deklamator; zamlung_ issued by the International Workers Order and edited by Vilyem Eybrems and Kalman Marmor, we find many of the poets included in the Howe and Greenberg _A Treasury of Yiddish Poetry_: Izi Kharik, Itsik Fefer, Shmuel Halkin, Moyshe-Leyb Halpern, Shmuel Halkin, Dovid Hofshteyn, Perets Markish, Leyb Kvitko, Moris Roznfeld. This group includes many of the finest poets in the Yiddish language. In 1933 they were sufficiently "revolutionary" to be included in an IWO anthology. I repeat: Howe and Greenberg did not exclude them. Preparing a "Proletpen" anthology in 2001 will be no light task. ------ 1. _Mendele_ vol. 11.017 [October 4, 2001]. 4)------------------------------------------------------------ Date: 5 November 2001 From: Leonard Prager Subject: Frume Halpern: A "Proletarian" Writer The opening story of Frume Halpern's collected tales, _gebentshte hent_ ['Blessed Hands'] (which gives the volume its title) is an autobiographical tale about a masseuse. Halpern is not a proletarian writer simply because in real life "she worked with her hands" (surgeons and artists also do so) and because (like so many Yiddish worker-writers) she wrote in her free time. She is a proletarian writer in her total dedication to a single theme: miserable human lives crushed by fate or the social order. In "Blume" Halpern paints the picture of a female Bontshe Shvayg whose life is one continuous catastrophe. Halpern sees her story of Blume as a monument to one who would otherwise go unacknowledged in the universe. As writer-savior of the needy, the oppressed and the unlucky, the authior is the unconscious heroine of her literary efforts. Halpern's stories appeared in the Communist _Morgn-frayhayt_ and the pro-Soviet _Zamlungen_ (New York, 1954-1965, edited by Ber Grin and Moyshe Kats). She is not without talent but in stories like "Blume" she reaches heights of bathos. She gives us, for example, an exploitative boss who makes single-parent Blume work extra hours on the Sabbath and holidays for the privilege of keeping her suckling child next to her at her loom. Doubtless such employers existed, but in the overwheloming accumulation of hard luck that beclouds Halpern's narrative, this detail somehow loses its force. A glimmer of light, albeit unrealized, is provided by her ideological orthodoxy. The Soviet Eden is invoked in the lines: "hot dokh shoyn in dayne yorn eyn groyser teyl fun der velt oyfgehelt. ven nit di tsebushevete khaye, volt dort dos lebn nokh likhtiker geven..." ['yet already in your lifetime a large part of the world began to grow bright. Were it not for the raging beast, life there would be even brighter...'](pp. 63-4). In the hope that their hard work and sacrifices would further the ideals of social justice and equality, individuals like Frume Halpern devoted their lives to the service of others. They fervently believed that they were practicing a higher type of art in cultivating the social theme. They believed that they were "progressive" and that the Soviet Union was a great source of light. Author of so many sad stories, Frume Halpern (who died in 1966 and is one of many forgotten Yiddish authors), may never have grasped the tragedy of her own and of her comrades' misguided faith. 5)------------------------------------------------------------ Date: 5 November 2001 From: Jan Jonk Subject: "blume" fun frume halpern blume(1) fun frume halpern es hot zikh gekholemt a kholem: du bist tsu mir gekumen aza vi ikh hob dikh gezen mit a sakh yorn tsurik. breyt, tsegosn. mit dayn kurtsn haldz un oyfgehoybene barkes. dayne tunkele oygn hobn, vi ale mol, geglantst, geshmeykhelt un geven a bisl faykht. dayne bloylekh-shvartse hor, loyz, nit farkert, zaynen gefaln veykh oyf dayn shtern, vos hot geglimert un farshtelt di nit geshiktkayt fun dayn blik. dayne fule, ongeblozene bakn, ongeblozene mit a frishe roytkayt, un dayne fule lipn - in ale iz gelegn di nit-harmonishe liblekhkayt, vos hot tomed getsoygn tsu dir. vi aza bistu, blume, gekumen tsu mir. host tsu mir geshmeykhlt, ober dayn shmeykhl iz geven a farshotnter, an umklorer, aza vos yede rege hot men im andersh gekent oystaytshn. mir hot zikh gedakht, az der doziker shmeykhl mont epes un zogt in der zelber tsayt: aza, vi du host mikh gekent, aza bin ikh umgekumen. hob gornit bakumen fun lebn un gornit gegebn dem lebn. iz geven epes a shaykhes tsvishn blumen un dem umbakantn soldat? a geviser, khotsh nit-logisher farglaykh iz yo geven. bay mir in der makhshove hot gehaltn in eyn boyern: geven a blume, vos hot zikh a lebn gerangelt. zi iz geven a mame, vos hot lib gehat ire kinder; zi hot gearbet fun ire same kindershe yorn; mit ire tsvey hent geholfn bavegn dem rod fun der tsayt un aleyn nit farshtanen, vos zi hot der velt tsu shtayer gegebn. blume iz umgekumen un iz fun keynem nit baveynt gevorn, fun keynem nit dermont gevorn, vi es volt nit geven keyn blume! ikh trakht: blume aleyn volt gezogt: ver un vos bin ikh men zol mikh baklogn? bay ir lebn hot zi dokh azoy veynik gemont. zi hot nit gehat keyn tsayt tsu monen, nit gehat keyn tsayt zikh aleyn dermonen, un dokh! -- hot dokh bontshe shvayg oykh fun lebn gornit gemont, fundestvegn hot zayn neshome "derlangt azh tsum kise-hakoved!" vi bontshe shvayg bistu, blume, un vi aza vestu blaybn! emes, bontshe iz geven a sakh mazldiker fun dir. er iz fareybikt gevorn fun a fareybiktn, un im iz bashert geven tsu shtarbn mit a mentshlekhn toyt. ober du, blume, bizt fun di fareybikte farzen gevorn un bist nit geshtorbn, nor di vilde khaye in mentshn-geshtalt hot dikh, in eynem mit etlekhe toyznt yidn fun dayn shtetl, arayngeshlept in shul, vu di flamen hobn alemen farshlungen. nit keyn matseyve vil ikh dir deriber shteln. bist aleyn der monument! ... ikh ze dikh, blume, vi ikh hob dikh gezen mit fil, fil yorn tsurik. ikh ze dikh baym shpul-redl. dayn rekhte hant dreyt dos redl shnel, az es iz shver tsu khapn mitn oyg, velkhe iz dos redl un velkhe di hant, fun gikhkayt fayft dos redl vi a vint. geyt di arbeyt gut, der fodem rayst zikh nit, zaynen dayne oygn halb-farmakht, un di fule bakn blien vi a zun volt zey bashtralt; rayst zikh der fodem iber, plontert zikh, efnstu breytlekh dayne oygn un pintelt mit nasn umgeduld. ikh gedenk dos lidl, vos du host gezungen, ven di arbet iz nit gegangen glat: oy, in droysn geyt a regn, in droysn blozt a vint - nit ru, mamenyu, in dayn keyver, nor tu zikh mien far dayn kind! ikh gedenk dikh a bisl shpeter. host shoyn gehat a meydele lebn dir un oykh a shtarkn, kapriznem hust, vos hot dikh nit opgelozn beys der arbet. nokh dem vi du flegst zikh farhustn hostu zikh farentfert elehey host emetsn vey geton. dayn kind, nokh keyn yor nit alt, iz gezesn oyf der erd, arumgeringlt mit peklekh vol, kedey es zol zikh kholile nit tseshlogn oyb es falt. dos kind, vi du -- oykh a fule, mit likhtike eygelekh un bekelekh vi friling-knospn. a frishe likhtikayt hot dos kind geshpreyt arum zikh. iz es geven zat, shpilevdik, hot dayn ponem gezunikt; iz di kleyne gevorn mid, genumen raybn mit di fule hentlekh di eygelekh un nokh dem genumen shrayen, -- hot dayn ponem ongehoybn farvolkent vern un dan hostu tsum kind geredt vi tsu a groysn... geredt hostu, blume, tsum kind: "bald, bald! sertse! bald, mamele! ot nem ikh dikh. ikh bin shoyn fartik." un az di kleyne hot zikh nit gelost aynnemen, geshrign oyf di hekhste tener, hostu zi genumen oyf dayn shoys, ir farshtupt dos meylekhl, un azoy hostu mitn kind oyf di hent vayter gedreyt dem rod, un derbay yeder mol gevorfn a blik tsu der tir, tsi der balebos kumt nit arayn. im iz nit geven tsum hartsn, vos dos kind nemt bay der mamen tsu 'zayn' tsayt. ikh gedenk: host mir a mol dertseylt: dayn mame iz geshtorbn, ven du bist nokh keyn tsvelf yor nit alt gevorn. du host der mames ort farnumen. bist gevorn a mame tsu di breklekh kinder, finf yesoymim. dayn tate, a balegole. er hot lib gehat dem bitern tropn. dayn man hot dir der tate gebrakht fun ergets vayt. er iz geven nit keyn shlekhter mentsh, oykh a furman. nor az dos tsveyte kind iz bay aykh geboyrn gevorn, hot er gezogt, az er benkt nokh zayne tate-mame. er iz avek un host im shoyn mer nit gezen. ikh gedenk oykh: du zitst baym redl. shnel-shnel dreystu dem rod, a kuntsike geshvindkayt. di kleyne lebn dir kvelt on fun dayne kuntsn. zi patsht mit di hentelekh, shpritst mitn piskele, plaplt un shoklt zikh, gikh-gikh, vi zi volt veln onyogn der mames hent. plutslung vakst oys der balebos. oyf zayn ponem --a beyzkayt, oyf dayn ponem - a gelblekhe blaykhkayt. er geyt tsu noent. es dakht zikh, az bald-bald un er vet nemen shisn mit fayer vi a vulkan, ober vi zayne oygn bagegenen mit di shpilevdike eygelekh fun kind, azoy bald farkerevet er oyf tsurik un oyf zayn ponem a shmeykhl vos er vil bahaltn. far der toyve tsu lozn haltn lebn zikh dos kind, hostu gemuzt optsoln mit nokh shoen arbet, mit nokh shverer pratse, host moyre gehat farn balebos, ober host nit gevolt, er zol kukn oyf dayn kind, host moyre gehat far a beyz oyg! es iz modne: ikh gedenk dikh a shtendik-shmeykhlendike, ikh gedenk dikh a shtendik gikhe. shnel hostu gearbet, shnel geredt. host zikh far mir keyn mol nit baklogt vegn aynzamkayt. veys ikh nit, tsi du host in di nekht zikh yo oder nit gevorfn oyf dayn orem betl, gebenkt nokhn man un tfile geton, er zol zikh umkern; oder host gor gesholtn, farsholtn di sho vos er hot zikh arayngemisht in dayn troyerik lebn. in mayn zikorn hot zikh ayngekritst dos shtibl in velkhn host gevoynt. dos shtibl hot oysgezen vi a shtal. es iz geshtanen hintern shtot, tsvishn shikoyrim. es hot zikh gedakht az nit gute loyern dort arum un arum. tsvishn ot-dem shtibl un der tunkeler, shtoybiker fabrik hostu dayne yunge yorn tseteylt. shabosim un yontoyvim hostu opgearbet, kedey gut makhn di tsayt, vos dayn balebos hot dir bavilikt aropnemen far dayn likhtik kind. nit far dir, blume, hobn di himlen gebloyt un di zun gelikhtikt; nit far dir hobn di shtern shimerirt, feygelekh getrilt; bist geven opgerisn fun der sheyner natur, dayn lebn -- eynfarbik; ayngetunken in der groyer noyt. oremkayt, noyt, zaynen nit tomed freydloz, ober umetik un groy iz geven dayn lebn, vi alts volt zikh tsu dir gekert mit der tunkeler zayt. kegn shikzal hostu zikh nit gevert, vi a mol bontshe shvayg, khotsh host gelebt in an ander tsayt, hot dokh shoyn in dayne yorn eyn groyser teyl fun der velt oyfgehelt. ven nit di tsebushevete khaye, volt dort dos lebn nokh likhtiker geven... ikh bin nit geven bay dayn umkum, shteystu far mir a lebedike un vi aza shtel ikh dir a matseyve -- a monument far dir vos di velt hot ir baym lebn nit gezungen keyn loyb. ... un nit in di himlen, far kise-hakoved, far di goldene melokhim, dermon ikh dikh, fargesene blume! nor far di mentshn fun dayn min, far di mentshn fun an ander tsayt! romanizert fun Jan Jonk ---------------------- (1) blume halpern, _gebentshte hent; dertseylungen_, nyu-york: ikuf, 1963, zz' 60-64. 6)---------------------------------------------------- Date: 5 November 2001 From: Leonard Prager Subject: Publications Received a. _Forverts_: Some Yiddish-lovers have not yet learned that Yiddish now boasts a well-edited and attractively printed _international_ weekly. The Yiddish _Forverts_ under the editorship of Boris Sandler deserves a wide readership. The Israel edition is printed in Israel and arrives promptly in one's mailbox Friday morning, or at the very latest, Sunday morning. In Israel subscriptions are received at Tatspit, Box 4385, Jerusalem 91043. Tel (972)-[0]2-5618579/6248442. Fax (972)-[0]2-5636043, b. _Yugntruf_: Editor-in-chief Leah Robinson manages to keep the three-and-a-half-decade old _Yugntruf_ perky and unpredictable. She can conjure up an issue that surprizes and delights older readers. In Numer 96 (april 2001) Bashevis "kafeteryevet" [Sholem Berger] and Yankl Kontsn disarmingly declares (in his "Dayn bobe, mayn bobe"): "mayn yidish iz on shoyresh/ mayn yidish shvebt in ergets/ hefker...." Yugntruf -- Youth for Yiddish/200 West 72nd St., Suite 40/New York, N.Y. 10023-2824/USA. Tel. (212)-7876675. ----------------------------------------------------- End of _The Mendele Review_ 05.014 Leonard Prager, editor Subscribers to _Mendele_ (see below) automatically receive _The Mendele Review_. Send "to subscribe" or change-of-status messages to: listproc@lists.yale.edu a. For a temporary stop: set mendele mail postpone b. To resume delivery: set mendele mail ack c. To subscribe: sub mendele first_name last_name d. To unsubscribe kholile: unsub mendele ****Getting back issues**** _The Mendele Review_ archives can be reached at: http://www2.trincoll.edu/~mendele/tmrarc.htm