YIDDISH LITERATURE IN AMERICA: 1870-2000
Selected, Edited, and with an Introduction
by
Emanuel S. Goldsmith
Translated by
Barnett Zumoff
with
Shane Baker, Emanuel S. Goldsmith, Chava Lapin,
and Jeffry Mallow
Between 1870 and 2000, the years covered by the present volume, Yiddish literature blossomed from its modest beginnings into a world literature that is the qualitative equal of any of the world's great literatures. Poetry and prose poured out of dozens of great authors in a way rarely seen in previous literary history. Largely unknown to many readers, a large proportion, perhaps the majority, of this Yiddish literature was written in America rather than Europe. A proper, comprehensive anthology of the American Yiddish literature did not exist until Emanuel Goldsmith published, in 1999, his monumental two-volume, 1300-page anthology in the original Yiddish. The current English translation, by Barnett Zumoff, presents about one-fourth of this material so that the reader who does not know Yiddish can have the pleasure of sampling this great literature. Selections from great authors such as Sholem Aleichem, Moris Rozenfeld, Dovid Edelshtat, Avrum Reyzn, Sholem Ash, Yehoyesh, Ana Margolin, Tsilye Drapkin, Mani Leyb, Moyshe-Leyb Halpern, Kadya Molodovsky, Rokhl Korn, H. Leyvik, Yankev Glatshteyn, Itsik Manger, Reyzl Zikhlinsky, and Yitskhok Bashevis Zinger will delight the reader, and will hopefully stimulate him or her to delve further into the world of Yiddish literature.
About the Translator
Barnett Zumoff is an internationally renowned teacher and researcher in the field of Endocrinology, who has published 250 papers in that field. He currently holds the titles of Professor of Medicine at Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York and Adjunct Professor of Medicine at Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York. In addition to these accomplishments in the field of Medicine, he has had a long and productive career in the field of Yiddish cultural activity. He was a long-time President of the Forward Association and also the Workmen's Circle, and is currently co-President of the Congress for Jewish Culture and vice-President of the Folksbiene. He has published 16 books of translation from Yiddish literature.
About the Editor
Emanuel S. Goldsmith is Professor of Yiddish and Jewish Studies and Rabbi of Congregation M'vakshe Derech in Scarsdale, NY. He has lectured widely on modern Jewish literature and thought, and is a recognized authority on the writings of Mordecai M. Kaplan, having co-edited both The American Judaism of Mordecai Kaplan andDynamic Judaism: The Essential Writings of Mordecai Kaplan. His other publications include Thinkers and Teachers of Modern Judaism and Events and Movements in Modern Judaism. On the subject of Yiddish literature, his signal contributions include Modern Yiddish Culture: The Story of the Yiddish Language Movement and the two-volume anthology Yiddish Literature in America 1980-2000(in Yiddish).
PRAISE FOR YIDDISH LITERATURE IN AMERICA
In this splendid book, Emanuel Goldsmith as Editor and Barnett Zumoff as Translator, have combined their enormous talents to create a first-ever anthology of Yiddish literature in America - fiction, poetry and essays.
Professor Curt Leviant, Editor, Masterpieces of Hebrew Literature: Selections From Two Thousand Years of Jewish Creativity
Finally, an anthology of Yiddish poetry, prose and essays that introduces the English reader to the richness of Yiddish literature in America. This collection includes well-known authors like Sholem Aeichem and I.B. Singer and others like Yoni Fayn, Melekh Ravitsh and Dora Teytlboym largely unknown in English translation. Barnett Zumoff's careful and fluid translations take readers on a literary and cultural odyssey that will educate, surprise, and delight!
Sheva Zucker, author of Yiddish: An Introduction to the Language, Literature & Culture, Vols. 1 and 2; editor of the Yiddish magazine Afn Shvel
An indispensable compendium, filled with treasures reflecting brilliant encounters between Old World and New.
Jeremy Dauber Professor, Columbia University, Yiddish Studies Department
An important contribution to the field, bringing unknown treasures of Yiddish literature and thought to new readers, and for that we all owe them a debt of gratitude.
Aaron Lansky, President, National Yiddish Book Center, Amherst, MA
Selected, Edited, and with an Introduction
by
Emanuel S. Goldsmith
Translated by
Barnett Zumoff
with
Shane Baker, Emanuel S. Goldsmith, Chava Lapin,
and Jeffry Mallow
Between 1870 and 2000, the years covered by the present volume, Yiddish literature blossomed from its modest beginnings into a world literature that is the qualitative equal of any of the world's great literatures. Poetry and prose poured out of dozens of great authors in a way rarely seen in previous literary history. Largely unknown to many readers, a large proportion, perhaps the majority, of this Yiddish literature was written in America rather than Europe. A proper, comprehensive anthology of the American Yiddish literature did not exist until Emanuel Goldsmith published, in 1999, his monumental two-volume, 1300-page anthology in the original Yiddish. The current English translation, by Barnett Zumoff, presents about one-fourth of this material so that the reader who does not know Yiddish can have the pleasure of sampling this great literature. Selections from great authors such as Sholem Aleichem, Moris Rozenfeld, Dovid Edelshtat, Avrum Reyzn, Sholem Ash, Yehoyesh, Ana Margolin, Tsilye Drapkin, Mani Leyb, Moyshe-Leyb Halpern, Kadya Molodovsky, Rokhl Korn, H. Leyvik, Yankev Glatshteyn, Itsik Manger, Reyzl Zikhlinsky, and Yitskhok Bashevis Zinger will delight the reader, and will hopefully stimulate him or her to delve further into the world of Yiddish literature.
About the Translator
Barnett Zumoff is an internationally renowned teacher and researcher in the field of Endocrinology, who has published 250 papers in that field. He currently holds the titles of Professor of Medicine at Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York and Adjunct Professor of Medicine at Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York. In addition to these accomplishments in the field of Medicine, he has had a long and productive career in the field of Yiddish cultural activity. He was a long-time President of the Forward Association and also the Workmen's Circle, and is currently co-President of the Congress for Jewish Culture and vice-President of the Folksbiene. He has published 16 books of translation from Yiddish literature.
About the Editor
Emanuel S. Goldsmith is Professor of Yiddish and Jewish Studies and Rabbi of Congregation M'vakshe Derech in Scarsdale, NY. He has lectured widely on modern Jewish literature and thought, and is a recognized authority on the writings of Mordecai M. Kaplan, having co-edited both The American Judaism of Mordecai Kaplan andDynamic Judaism: The Essential Writings of Mordecai Kaplan. His other publications include Thinkers and Teachers of Modern Judaism and Events and Movements in Modern Judaism. On the subject of Yiddish literature, his signal contributions include Modern Yiddish Culture: The Story of the Yiddish Language Movement and the two-volume anthology Yiddish Literature in America 1980-2000(in Yiddish).
PRAISE FOR YIDDISH LITERATURE IN AMERICA
In this splendid book, Emanuel Goldsmith as Editor and Barnett Zumoff as Translator, have combined their enormous talents to create a first-ever anthology of Yiddish literature in America - fiction, poetry and essays.
Professor Curt Leviant, Editor, Masterpieces of Hebrew Literature: Selections From Two Thousand Years of Jewish Creativity
Finally, an anthology of Yiddish poetry, prose and essays that introduces the English reader to the richness of Yiddish literature in America. This collection includes well-known authors like Sholem Aeichem and I.B. Singer and others like Yoni Fayn, Melekh Ravitsh and Dora Teytlboym largely unknown in English translation. Barnett Zumoff's careful and fluid translations take readers on a literary and cultural odyssey that will educate, surprise, and delight!
Sheva Zucker, author of Yiddish: An Introduction to the Language, Literature & Culture, Vols. 1 and 2; editor of the Yiddish magazine Afn Shvel
An indispensable compendium, filled with treasures reflecting brilliant encounters between Old World and New.
Jeremy Dauber Professor, Columbia University, Yiddish Studies Department
An important contribution to the field, bringing unknown treasures of Yiddish literature and thought to new readers, and for that we all owe them a debt of gratitude.
Aaron Lansky, President, National Yiddish Book Center, Amherst, MA