Not a Children’s Song
by Mascha Kaléko
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Mascha Kaléko was born in Western Galicia, but eventually settled in Berlin during her teenage years. She became involved in the Berlin literary scene and was a regular at the Romanisches Café, a known hangout for artists in Berlin. In 1933, as the environment for Kaléko…
Israel. Black and white photograph. Albert Salomon Collection, Leo Baeck Institute.
American Jewish Historical Society:
Woman with Shells – La Mer (The Sea) and La Mere (The Mother). Ruth Davidson Abrams. Oil on canvas. 1956. Yeshiva University Museum.
I Am Woman
by Malka Heifetz Tussman
translated from the Yiddish by Marcia Falk
I am the exalted Rachel
whose love lit the way for Rabbi Akiba.
I am the small, bashful village girl
who grew up among the…
1919
by Jacob Glatstein (Yankev Glatshteyn)
translated by Kathryn Hellerstein and Benjamin Harshav
Lately, there’s no trace left
Of Yankl, son of Yitskhok,
But for a tiny round dot
That rolls crazily through the streets
With hooked-on, clumsy limbs.
The lord-above surrounded
The whole world with heaven-blue
And there is no escape.
Everywhere “Extras!” fall from above
And squash my watery head.