National Poetry MonthOn a Poem by Leyb Kvitkoby J.D. Arden, M.L.I.S. candidate, Reference Services Research Intern, Center for Jewish History Inscrutable Catby Leyb Kvitko (c.1890-1952), translated from Yiddish by A. Mandelbaum & H. Rabinowitz This poem is taken from The Penguin Book of Modern Yiddish Verse, published in 1987, and is one of many such books available in the Lillian Goldman Reading Room at the…
National Poetry MonthOn a Poem by Yehudah Amichaiby J.D. Arden, M.L.I.S. candidate, Reference Services Research Intern, Center for Jewish History The poem “First Resurrection” (תחייה ראשונה) is from the poem cycle “Four Resurrections in the Valley of the Ghosts” by Yehudah Amichai (יהודה עמיחי 1924-2000), read in Hebrew above by writer Leon Wieseltier as part of the “CultureBuzz” Amichai poetry series on YouTube. The…
Alice Davis Menken was “born to privilege in 1870 and [she] married into wealth in 1893,” as Michael D. Feldberg explains in Blessings of Freedom: Chapters in American Jewish History. Menken “dedicated her life to helping Jewish women less fortunate than herself" (p. 106). We can guess from Alice Davis Menken’s personal papers—which live here at the Center for Jewish History in the AJHS…
Herbstby Joseph Roth (Click on the images for enlarged views.) – The Leo Baeck Institute Archives contains a folder of poetry written by Joseph Roth in the First World War (probably 1917). Today remembered as a writer of fiction, Roth wrote numerous poems as well, especially when he was younger. This is his poem “Herbst” (“Autumn”), which was published. You can see both the…
Not a Children’s Songby Mascha Kaléko (Click on the above images for enlarged views.) – 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 and her composer…
Woman with Shells – La Mer (The Sea) and La Mere (The Mother). Ruth Davidson Abrams. Oil on canvas. 1956. Yeshiva University Museum. I Am Womanby Malka Heifetz Tussmantranslated from the Yiddish by Marcia Falk I am the exalted Rachelwhose love lit the way for Rabbi Akiba. I am the small, bashful village girlwho grew up among the tall poplarsand blushed at the “Good…
1919by Jacob Glatstein (Yankev Glatshteyn)translated by Kathryn Hellerstein and Benjamin Harshav Lately, there’s no trace leftOf Yankl, son of Yitskhok,But for a tiny round dotThat rolls crazily through the streetsWith hooked-on, clumsy limbs.The lord-above surroundedThe whole world with heaven-blueAnd there is no escape.Everywhere “Extras!” fall from aboveAnd squash my watery head.And someone’s long tongueHas stained my glasses for good with a smear of red,And…
Hans Wolfgang Schwerin. Click on images above for enlarged views. Pictures of the poet; a copy of his published volume of poetry (Irdische Heimat); a poem from this volume; the poet’s dedication of the book to the Leo Baeck Institute; a binder that contains his personal notes/drafts; a typewritten poem from that binder; the cover of the Mass und Werte issue in which his work appeared; a copy…
Today is “Shakespeare Day,” or the day that is known as the birth date and death date of William Shakespeare. Did you know that Shakespeare’s works have been translated into Yiddish for the education and enjoyment of Yiddish-speakers? In honor of Shakespeare and National Poetry Month, you can enjoy the famous Sonnet 18 in Yiddish (above) – available online by clicking here. You might…
Selections from Yingl tsingl khvat by Mani Leib, illustrated by El Lissitzky.Yingl tsingl khvat images from YIVO microfilm printout 00004383. From the Norton Jewish American Literature Anthology: “The most famous of [Mani Leib’s] ballads was Yingl tsingl khvat, a narrative about a boy who, stuck in the shtetl mud, persuades a nobleman to give him the magic ring and flying horse that allow him to escape…
Your Golden Hair, Margarete, 1980Anselm Kiefer (German, born 1945)Watercolor, gouache, and acrylic on paper The artist Anselm Kiefer (who was recently awarded the Leo Baeck Medal) was inspired by Paul Celan’s poem “Death Fugue” (“Todesfuge”) to create more than 30 paintings, painted photographs and watercolors, each of which somehow refers to the poem. You can see that the above painting – which is one of this…