10 Leket Valencia From Der Tsirk to Erev Mayn Farbrenung A

8132019 10 Leket Valencia From Der Tsirk to Erev Mayn Farbrenung A

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Jiddistik heute

ה סעידו ש עשיד יי

Yiddish Studies Today

לק



J i d d i s t i k

E d i t i o n amp F o r s c h u n g

Y i d d i s h

E d i t i o

n s amp R e s e a r c h

ג

שרא

ןא

א

א

ש

דיי

ISBN 978-3-943460-09-4

9 783943 460094

Der vorliegende Sammelband לeroumlffnet eine neue Reihe wissenschaftli-cher Studien zur Jiddistik sowie philolo-

gischer Editionen und Studienausgaben

jiddischer Literatur Jiddisch Englisch

und Deutsch stehen als Publikationsspra-

chen gleichberechtigt nebeneinander

Leket erscheint anlaumlsslich des

Symposiums fuumlr Jiddische Studien

in Deutschland ein im Jahre von

Erika Timm und Marion Aptroot alsfuumlr das in Deutschland noch junge Fach

Jiddistik und dessen interdisziplinaumlren

Umfeld ins Leben gerufenes Forum

Die im Band versammelten Essays zur

jiddischen Literatur- Sprach- und Kul-

turwissenschaft von Autoren aus Europa

den Kanada und Israel vermitteln

ein Bild von der Lebendigkeit und Viel-

falt jiddistischer Forschung heute



Herausgegeben von Marion Aptroot Efrat Gal-EdRoland Gruschka und Simon Neuberg

Band 1

ו ש ר א ס און ע ב א סיוא יש ד יי

Jiddistik Edition amp Forschung

Yiddish Editions amp Research





Herausgegeben von

Marion Aptroot Efrat Gal-Ed

Roland Gruschka und Simon Neuberg


ישע שטודיעס ה ט ד יי לקט

Jiddistik heute



Yidish oysgabes un forshung Jiddistik Edition amp Forschung Yiddish Editions amp Research


Band 1

Leket yidishe shtudyes haynt Leket Jiddistik heute

Leket


Bibliogra10486781048681sche Information Der Deutschen Nationalbibliothek Die Deutsche Nationalbibliothek verzeichnet diese Publikation in der Deut-schen Nationalbibliogra10486781048681e detaillierte bibliogra10486781048681sche Daten sind im Internetuumlber httpdnbd-nbde abru983142983138ar

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ISBN 978-3-943460-09-4 ISSN 2194-8879URN urnnbndehbz061-20120814-125211-1

Printed in Germany



Every literary treatment of an experience involves a process of trans-formation and the theme of the (the Holocaust) is one of the keyחורstrands in Sutzkever rsquo s work that constantly undergoes developmentand metamorphosis throughout his poetry and prose from his contem-

poraneous treatment of it until the end of his creative life1

A signi10486781048681cantearly example of this can be seen in three works based on an ordeal which Sutzkever endured in the Vilna ghetto in the summer of 1941Together with an elderly rabbi and a boy he was seized by a Germanstormtrooper and forced to dance naked round a 10486781048681re singing Russiansongs and tearing up and burning Torah scrolls in front of a crowd ofspectators Eventually the victims were allowed to dress and escape

This traumatic event gave rise to two poems and a prose accountThe poem ( The Circus ) written shortly after the event in Julyדער צירק19412 was not published until 1978 when it appeared together withother previously unpublished ghetto poems3 The prose description iscontained in Sutzkever rsquo s memoir ווילנער געטא ( Vilna Ghetto ) writtenbetween 1944 and 19464 In 1949 Sutzkever wrote a second poem arisingfrom this incident נג ו נ ער ר א מ רע ( Before My Burning ) publishingit in the volume ער וואג ( In the Fiery Chariot )אי 5 his 10486781048681rst collectionof poetry published in Israel

In a talk given to launch the book Sutzkever focussed speci10486781048681callyon נג ו נ ער ר א מ רע saying 6

1 Cf Valencia 2004 217 ndash 2392 There is a discrepancy about the date of the actual event in געטא ווילנער Sutzkeverstates that it took place in August 1941 whereas the inscription at the end of the poem דער reads 1941צירק יולי י י ה נ א שינ עטלעה א א אי ( Written in a hideout beginning of Julyגעשרי1941 )3 96 95 נע קייט ע ד ל אג יד The poems then appeared in book form Sutzkever 19784 Sutzkever 19475 Sutzkever 1952 115 ndash 1176 Novershtern 1983 177 All translations are by the author

Heather Valencia

From Der tsirk to Erev mayn farbrenung

The Transformation of Experience in Two Poems by Avrom Sutzkever

או סך לענגער א איז ליד א ו א יע ר ג אי יד געשרי נ א סlsquoווערט ווע דאטע די ווי עלטער אויסגעטיגלט או ליד ווערט אויסגעשפיגלט א [ ] א ער כדי ע יאר א מאל א גאנץ לע ג נ אל

The biography of a poem is much lon-ger and older than the date when it was written The image and form of a poemevolve over a long period of years some-



110 דישע שטודיעס הנט יי לקט

His singling out of this poem as a paradigm of the poetic process cou-pled with the 10486781048681nal sentence of these remarks ndash that the life of a poemcan emerge from the טויט ו ם ע ט א ndash as well as the intriguing fact thatthe poem was withheld from publication for so many yearsדער צירקare indicators that this incident and the works arising from it were ofparticular signi10486781048681cance to the poet A study of the evolution of מ רע נג ו נ ער ר א taking into account the two earlier stages in its biography ndashthe poem and the prose description of the incident ndash afffordsדער צירקinsights into Sutzkever rsquo s poetic process of transformation

written while Sutzkever was in Moscow between 1944ווילנער געטאand 1946 bears witness to the atrocities in9831421048684icted on the Jews of Vilnaby the Nazis and their collaborators Its purpose is to give factual infor-mation and Sutzkever rsquo s description of this ordeal is very detailed Thestormtrooper rsquo s mocking words of ldquo comfort rdquo to his victim in which theorigin of the title of the 1941 poem can be seen are reproduced 7

The poet describes his fear his attempts to bribe his captor with a

watch the appearance of the old rabbi the boy rsquo s terror We witness the way their clothes were neatly laid in a pile and covered by the rabbi rsquo sprayer-shawl the tire marks all over the scattered Torah scrolls the frailold man rsquo s diff10486781048681culty tearing the stifff parchment and his sufffering whenpushed near the 10486781048681re by the Nazis 8

7 Sutzkever 1947 288 Ibid

דאס ליד זאל זיך גע ויר מוז עס א רוכפערט קע די קלייניקייט bdquo קלייניקייטldquo mdash א מיט ווער א חיה ו א צווגל א ליק ו ג נ ו ג ע ו ו א יד ז א שוי ו פנים יוא טראפ רעג א צי [ ]bdquo קלייניקייטldquo דער גע ענטשטער אט א א ער כאאס געזאנג אי לט ווערטער ד נ א ו ו ר א וואס קע [ ] אויסלייזונג אי ע טרער י נ א מ ר אה איאז טרעט סע או ווער ניט גע ויר ליד דאס דער רא טויט לאזט ו ם ע ט א מיט ערשט

mdash לע געזאנג ז דיכטער אי

times a whole lifetime [ hellip ] But in orderfor the poem to be born its seed mustbe fertilised by a lsquo tri9831421048684e rsquo ndash the tri9831421048684e can bethe movement of a twig the glance of ananimal [ hellip ] or a raindrop on the face of a window-pane Without this blessed lsquo tri-9831421048684e rsquo which transforms words into songchaos into harmony tears into redemp-tion [ hellip ] the poem cannot come intobeing And it may well happen that only with the breath of death does the poetbreathe life into his song

איך שלעכטס קיי [ ] וועל איך נישט טא דירמיר דו וועסט לויז היטלער שווער

ישט נ ר אג רעמ קריצ א אי שפיל

[ hellip ] I will not do you any harm I swear itby Hitler Yoursquore simply going to performin a circus thatrsquos all



Heather Valencia From Der tsirk to Erev mayn farbrenung 111

Finally Sutzkever gives dispassionate details of the end of the ordeal 9

In this report there is no suggestion of the existential questioning whichunderpins both poems but several speci10486781048681c similarities and discrepan-cies between the prose account and the poems should be mentionedSutzkever comments on the comfort he derived from the old man rsquo scomposure 10

The character of the old rabbi is of seminal signi10486781048681cance in מ רע ג נ ו נ ע ר ר א Absent from the prose account is any comment on the be-havior of the crowd or on the writer rsquo s emotions after the ordeal In דער however these two aspects are very importantצירק

As in all his prose writing Sutzkever uses poetic strategies toarouse emotional responses The image of the rabbi begins its trans-formation from human individual to the symbolic 10486781048681gure he becomesin the poems 11

9 Ibid 2810 Ibid 2711 Ibid 26

אכט די אויג דער רויך האט מ ר א דער ר האט געריס סי ו ר א זיך סlsquo האט ילט ו נ קעג מור א אים

ldquo bdquo אוי מויל א ז ו

The rabbi closed his eyes The smoke wreathed around him Out of his mouthcame a groan ldquo Oy rdquo

זיך דער חרוער קלויז או אי רא זיא ר רעד א ל ט נ א איז גל נ יי דאס נע ע ו ו אד געשטעלט יגט י לעג קעוו א ךיז רא זיולק אויך אי איך י יק ד נ ג ר אמ יוא ג נ ו ט ר אוורעד א ווינקל אי אי

טאג

The rabbi entered the destroyed study-house and began to pray The boy 9831421048684edand I went into the study-house too andlay down in a corner to await the nextday

ז ליק או זק יוא קוק געטא א הא איך מורא מ טי י טע ג פ א טאה

I looked at the old man and the look onhis face conquered my fear

A small 10486781048681gure [ hellip ] white as snow his longblack gaberdine makes him even smallerTo me he seems like a child disguised as

an old man

ע צ ר אווש יד ווי שניי ווס א נידעריקער [ ] נידעריקער נאך אים מאכט קאפאטע ע ג נ אלא אר ירט מי רג ר א קינד א איז ער דאכט מיר

זק






The most important study of - to date is Yechiel Szeintuch rsquo s esדער צירקsay 15 ldquo lsquo צירק דער ליד ו א יע ר ג אי יד bdquo in which he assesses the poem rsquo ssigni10486781048681cance within Sutzkever rsquo s ghetto poetry He maintains that in allprevious poems the lyrical איך had been an individual personal איך whereas here16

Szeintuch analyses the struggle of the איך in terms of four interlinkedthemes which run through the poem the relationship between theindividual and the collective the motif of the נע קייט ע ד ל אג ( The Gol-den Chain ) the desecration of the Torah scroll and the theme of קידושהשם ( martyrdom ) The attempt of the individual איך to become a linkin the chain which represents לע עדיקער המשכדיקייט ו ו יע צ י ד ארט א א יחיד ו כלל צום צוגע ונדנקייט ( a tradition of living continuity of theattachment of the individual to the community ) 17 is for him the centraltheme of the poem The poem rsquo s speaker fails to achieve this 10486781048681rst byhis act of tearing up the Torah scroll which for Szeintuch representsthe destruction of מענטשלעכער עקסיסטענץ ו אויסטטש יש ד יי דעם ( the Jewish interpretation of human existence )18 and second by his inabil-ity to choose death rather than betrayal of Jewish belief and honor Pa-radoxically in a situation where the moral foundations of Jewish lifeare being destroyed the only way to keep the chain unbroken may be voluntary death קידוש השם

In my analysis of this poem I am indebted to Szeintuch rsquo s insightsbut my interpretation diverges from his in one signi10486781048681cant respect Forthe speaker rsquo s failure to achieve - Szeintuch concludes he acקידוש השם

cepts punishment but at the same time acquires a mission 19

15 Szeintuch 1983 258 ndash 27916 Ibid 25817 Ibid 26718 Ibid 26519 Ibid 269

[ hellip ] it is a lyrical collective I which gene-rally speaks in the name of a we ndash espe-cially in the 10486781048681rst half of the work In thesecond half the personal I also speaksbut always in connection with a histori-

cal collective whose level he is strivingto reach but cannot

ווער איך וואס י טקעל אק רעשיריל א סע זיא [ ] אי רט mdash מיר א ו נאמע אי ורlsquoס רעדט דער דער שא ונג אי ו דער ערשטער העלטעלנע זרעפ דער אויך רעדט העלט צווייטער

מיט ג נ ו ד נ י ר א אי איך א ער דורכאויס כער

ער מדרגה וועמענס צו כלל יש ר אטסיה א דעם צו איז ער א ער צו דערגרייכ שט רע ט

ניט מסוגל




The 10486781048681nal lines of the poem ( lines 88 ndash 91 ) read 20

Szeintuch rsquo s analysis implies that there is implicitly an optimistic notein these 10486781048681nal lines the idea of expiation and poetic mission In my viewthis is not the case this poem ends in despair and the sense of poeticmission is not realised until Sutzkever reworks the material eight yearslater in ג נ ו נ ע ר ר א מ רע Szeintuch does mention at the end of hisessay that ldquo א תיקו צירקlsquo דער מט ו ק א נגlsquo ו נ ער ר א מ רע ליד bdquo אי ( In thepoem ldquo Erev mayn farbrenungrdquo the poem ldquo Der tsirk rdquo attains completion)but he does not develop this However by comparing and contrastingboth poems it becomes clear that דער צירק is only the 10486781048681rst stage in acomplex process of metamorphosis through which Sutzkever trans-forms concrete experience into poetry

is divided into three sections The 10486781048681rst of these consists ofדער צירקfour unequal parts dealing with the question of collective and indivi-dual guilt and introducing the central moment of the poem the ldquo cir-cus rdquo in which the and the two other Jews were forced to performאיךIn the 10486781048681rst three parts which are in free verse with varying rhythmsthe speaker questions himself and his fellow Jews Here as Szeintuch

points out the sees himself as part of the collective and thereforeאיךhe addresses his questions to a רודער who stands for the Jewish people

The poem opens with the 10486781048681rst question 21

20 Sutzkever 1978 921 Ibid 6

געטייט האל שטראף צו זשיפע ד סאד זיא די רידער ו ל כ ר אכ הסיסג רעס או

רייד נט די לעצטע י ד ר א וול דו האסט ניט ווידער ווער mdash דאס מיינט ו אויס ווער ו

That is your punishment to gasp half deadand gobble down the death-throes of your brothersBecause you have not earned the last joy of dying ndash which means of being reborn

ר זאג ע נ מ רעדור זאג מירוואס איז ער וואס אטט ער אונדזער

ל ג נ ארעג רעשיטניה

Tell me my brother tell What is it what does it mean our vile servile struggle

The poet has not attained this level andhis failure therefore becomes [ hellip ] thesource of a guilt feeling but at the sametime a source of his strength to carryon creating and to take upon himselfthe punishment ndash to be a living witnessof the annihilation through his poems( lines 88 ndash 89 )

רעד ניט פאעט דער האט דער מדרגה אט צו [ ] דער מקור דאס ווערט דעראר גרייכט אוזעל יקער דער אי א ער שולדגעיל א וצו ר ע ט וו כוח ז אר מקור א אויך צט ז צו mdash די שטראף זיך אויף נעמע או אשזנע דורך אומקום ו עדות לע עדיקער א

( 89 mdash 88 ( שורות ליד ער




The derogatory adjective - is repeated in the second part and reהינטישcurs also in the context of guilt and self-loathing in the 1942 poem מ ( My mother ) in which the poet castigates himself for his absenceמאמע when his mother was murdered22 In the latter poem it expresses the in-dividual rsquo s self-loathing but here it encompasses the moral degradationof the Jewish people In his attempt to answer his own question thepoet depicts a state of madness ndash ndash ( the heart is mad )דאס הארץ איז דולin which even words have 9831421048684ed רטלטער מיט אגא א קאטשני א ו ע נ י ך לג - ( like bees from a beehive wreathed in smoke ) Here one of Sutzרויךkever rsquo s early metapoetic images poetic words as bees23 has been adap-ted to 10486781048681t the dark times The introductory section contains no answer

to the poet rsquo s initial question but ends with the observation that evenin extremis the will to live asserts itself 24

The imagery of these four lines precludes interpretation as a positiveevaluation of the life-urge its animalistic instinctive nature places it within the negative category of the earlier epithet הינטיש

Two further questions to the - of the Jewish people open the seמירcond section 25

Instead of an answer the speaker can give only a nihilistic descriptionof Jewish history poetically conveyed through the reversal of positivemotifs of Jewish life and faith into their negative mirror-image if in

contrast to the Divine promise to the Jews they are merely ו קר נותהאר יק ט שר אדטול א ( victims of a bloodthirsty master ) then instead ofhuman beings they should have been born as frogs ndash the cold-bloodedfrog suggesting the furthest extreme from the human essence The se-cond reversal is the rejection of Isaiah rsquo s promise of a messianic age

22 Sutzkever 1945 33 ndash 3723 Cf איך דאך Sutzkever 1963 27אט י24 Sutzkever 1978 625 Ibid

ז טס ו ו ו א ו א הינטערגעסל נאר ערגעץ אישלאגט נאך

חור ו ועט ו ע ט ארעג וורענ לציפ רעקידנקוצ אא לעצטער קרעכץ וואס ווידערשפעניקט יענע

לינדע שטילקייט ערד יוה א טימ טעמתחר א וואס ווערט

But somewhere in a back street of our consciousness still beatsa tiny twitching nerve saved from destructiona last groan rebelling against that blind silence which will be sealed by a heap of earth

מיר ווער זענע אלע אונדזערע לד ו וואס איז דער זי

Who are we What is the meaning of all our suffferings




when ldquo the wolf also shall dwell with the lamb rdquo26 as a lie that blistersthe tongue 27

The unreliability of a promise from the - ( Tanakh ) signi10486781048681es the colתנךlapse of the essence of Judaism and as faith in the word is central toSutzkever rsquo s poetic credo this negation of the holy word as with the

9831421048684ight of - (all beautiful words) in the 10486781048681rst part is a powאלע שיינע ווערטערerful image of despair

The concept of the נע קייט ע ד ל אג the chain of Jewish tradition andcontinuity is introduced as the third image which is turned on its head instead of focussing on the proud aspects of Jewish tradition the spea-ker sees only the tragedy and despair of Jewish fate 28

These lines encompass the whole history of persecution re9831421048684ectingthe speaker rsquo s bitter despair the קייט נע ע ד ל אג has become a קייט טרערthrough generations of humiliation and enslavement

The third section continues the train of thought which castigatesthe collective bringing the focus onto the more recent history of theמיר

Jews Sutzkever criticizes the Jewish people for the foolish political op-timism of the ( yesterday ) which one could interpret as the periodנעכט which began with the Haskala The participation of Jews in Europe rsquo s wars and revolutions led them into an illusory dream of acceptance Sutzkever uses the image of soldiers who believe they have an equalentitlement to a share of the booty 29

26 Isaiah 11 627 Sutzkever 1978 628 Ibid29 Ibid 7

יקער טרייסט דרעוו אשז רעד ו די צונג איז אויגע לעטערט צוזאמע לאם זאל הויער אז וואלף או

Our tongues are blistered by the blighted consolationthat wolf and lamb shall crouch down together

mdash טאטע מאמע ו ווי עס ירשנט ענלעכקייט דאס קינד או דורותדיקער פלאג ו מיר די ענלעכקייט ירשע

דער וועלטס נעכטע קעלנערס ק ר א ז ו טיש געגרייט

אר דער צוגעווארענער מט ע ע ק נ אד שיטניה דט צוויי טויזנט יאראו נ י ס אוו ענ ע ד ל אג יד טייק יד זיא סאד קייט אויף אונדזערע נשמות די טרער

And as a child inherits similar qualities from his parentsso we inherit the curse of generationsof being enslaved waiters at the worldrsquos

set tableand like a servile dog thanking for the coin thrown down for usThat is the golden chain that links two thousand yearsthe chain of tears upon our souls




But the Jewish people have not learned from history false hopes haveconcealed דורות די ו ס נ ר אש ע ט ו ר א טינ די ( the skulls of generationsthat have not come to rest ) and the lion does not see the trap beneathits paws

After this initial existential enquiry into the historical role and fateof the Jewish people in light of the present catastrophe the fourth partof the 10486781048681rst section of the poem brings an abrupt change of focus The

general becomes the personal the broad נעכט becomes the precise (today) of the central event and the collectiveהנט מיר among whomthe poet had sought refuge becomes the speci10486781048681c namely the threeמירparticipants in the lsquo circus rsquo It is as if the - initially unable to contemאיךplate the horror of the event he had just experienced had taken refu-ge in general speculations about the Jewish people but is now forcedto confront his own individual guilt and the shocking event itself Thepause in the 10486781048681rst line of the section עיגול א אי נאכט רע mdash mdash הנט או( And today ndash ndash before night in a circle ) creates the impression of a mo-mentary hesitation before the writer can bring himself to plunge intothe painful description The הנט parallels theאו - ( just yesterאט נעכטday ) of the previous section and the reader expects a continuation ofthe historical re9831421048684ective mode the switch to the personal plight of the is dramaticאיך

A further important marker for this change in perspective is thestriking alteration in form and meter The 10486781048681rst three parts each consis-ted of between nine and twelve lines in free verse with diffferent linelengths This gives way in the fourth part to a series of rhyming coup-lets mainly of dactyls and trochees a nervous jumpy rhythm evokingthe insane dance of the victims At the end there is a broken line apause and then a line standing on its own without a rhyme 30

30 Ibid

הויכע ר אויף קנויל ע ט וו או

י כ נ א רעד ף י ו ר א ךיז טסרט ע מ ר אפ םענ עג נ ו לשר א גיריק ו

mdash יט נ ר אג אורט ע ט וורעד זיא רע ךיוא

And further in high smoke spirals

surges upwards the onoykhi from the parchment that is being greedily consumedand therersquos nothing ndashit too has disappeared

י ו ר ק אז םולח םעד אויך א חלק אי mdash האהא מיר האיעס צ ו ל אווער יד טול רעזדנוא טימ זדניצ טעכיוא מיר צאל

ndash Ho ho we also have a share in the dream-booty we also contribute to the revolutions with our blood




This dramatic pause marked by the dash creates an instant of suspen-se followed by the 10486781048681nal tragic disappearance of the sacred word

Here a motif which is merely mentioned in the prose account at-tains central signi10486781048681cance the tearing and burning of the Torah scrollsand pages of the Talmud These writings represent the very being ofthe Jewish people so that when the poet destroys them he is destroy-ing himself ( my own limbs ) In his description of theirדי אייגענע גלידערdisappearance in the smoke he uses images resonant with meaning עד ג ו קול דער ( the voice of Paradise ) the ל ו אותיות ( letters of

the Babylonian Talmud ) and most signi10486781048681cantly י כ נ א the word for ldquo I rdquo with which God identi10486781048681es Himself at the giving of the Ten Command-

ments the י כ נ א therefore represents the living presence of God and theessence of Judaism In Sutzkever rsquo s depiction the י כ נ א detaches itselffrom the parchment but this does not denote survival the last linesquoted above instead suggest that the sacred י כ נ א has departed fromthem (טר ע ט וורעד)

The second section of the poem is characterized by further chan-ges of form The biographical איך disappears as if the poet cannot bearto contemplate his involvement in this degradation and the centralsection depicts a macabre dance of death where the speaker addressesa whom he exhortsדו אים ע ר ר א mdash ( If you still haveהאסט נאך א געילa feeling ndash burn it ) The new rhythm dramatically evokes the freneticdance the regular four-line stanzas of trochaic tetrameter with the rhy-me scheme 983137983138983138983137 provides a monotonous rhythm for this inexorable( circular dance )קאראהאד 31

The grotesque atmosphere is heightened by the description of thesadistic behavior of the onlookers In contrast to the prose account which simply mentions a ס צונויגעטרי נ ט צ הא די דטש המו וועלכ ספעקטאקל יוא ( crowd that the Germans had rounded up in good timefor the spectacle ) here we witness a peasant woman rejoicing a pros-titute sniggering at the victims rsquo nakedness and stones being thrown which it is implied kill the old rabbi who in the prose account had infact gone back to the prayer-house after the ordeal The indiffference ofheaven to his 10486781048681nal prayer intensi10486781048681es the pessimism of the poem 32

31 Both Yitskhok Yanasovitsh ( Yanasovitsh 1981 66 ) and Avrom Novershtern ( Novershtern1983 131 ) comment on aff10486781048681nities between and Moyshe Leyb Halpern rsquo s apocalypticדער צירקpoem ( A night ) This comparison is particularly apt with respect to the nightmarishא נאכטatmosphere of this second section of Sutzkever rsquo s poem32 Sutzkever 1978 8

ר רעד טלא רענייטש אלונקע אש די קושנדיק אי

קע נ ו ז ר א שמע ווערט אויך ז או סוף אי ו יט י ק טל אק רעד אי

Stones fall The rabbi fallskissing the sparks in the ash And his Shema also sinks downinto the coldness of in10486781048681nity




This central section could be seen as a kind of interlude where the poethas momentarily moved away from his own raw anguish into the ldquo re-fuge rdquo of a vision of hell in which he himself is not involved Howeverin the 10486781048681nal section consisting of two parts the whole issue is 10486781048681nallyconfronted Returning to the free verse of the poem rsquo s beginning the- unequivocally admits his own guilt using the circus image he picאיךtures himself as the ( clown ) ndash a personage without dignity and oftenלץ with negative connotations His shameful role consists of two failuresto act and one dishonorable action which together destroy the נע ע ד ל אג he did not have the courage to curse his tormentors nor could heקייטsummon up

Confronted by another Hadrian he was not the equal of his forebearsThese two failures to act honorably are compounded by the only action which the speaker was able to perform namely his begging for mercyfrom those whom he describes as having קר ז אי טאט מ געשענדט ( de10486781048681led my father in his grave ) ndash this image emphasises the disgrace-fulness of his action Through these failures he has broken the chain Inthe 10486781048681rst part of the poem the נע קייט ע ד ל אג was described as a קייט טרערbecause of the two-thousand-year-long suffferings of the Jews The re-ference to tears in this 10486781048681nal section of the poem echoes this earlierimage but also contrasts with it his own cowardly tears are ע צ ר אווש ( black pocks ) which he views with self-disgustפאק

In the 10486781048681nal two four-line stanzas the poem comes to its despai-ring conclusion and in doing so returns to the relationship betweenthe individual and the collective but this time in light of the event justdepicted the speaker gives a 10486781048681nal judgment on his own inability to actas a true Jew He calls himself נער ע טל א ש ר א and in the 10486781048681rst of the two

stanzas questions his own identity 33

33 Ibid 9

Accursed one where is your ancient shield which bent the spears of nations Does no single colour of that image reach youhas your lineage never revealed itself

[ hellip ] The strength to throw myself into deathlike my brothers in the time of the Roman Hadrian when their faith smothered the agony in their bodies

טויט אי [ ] דעם כוח זיך א ווארף צו טא דעם רוימער יא ר ד א ו דער צט דער אי י ר ענ מ יוו

קערפער די יסורים האט דערשטיקט אי שעת דער גלוי

ע שילד ט ל א ד זיא ווו רענ ע טל א ש ר א עלקערלעכע שפיז וואס האט צע ויג

יענעם ילד ו אר דערגרייכט דיר ניט קיי ז י ו ו א טינ םא ט ש פ א ד ךיז לאמ האט קיי




The questions are about the 10486781048681tness of the איך to consider himself part ofthe Jewish people the image is that of a hero who has lost his shield ndashthe allusion to the דוד מג is clear ndash and the implied answer to the se-cond question is a negative one he has also lost the vision of his noblelineage For this he visualises his punishment 34

He is condemned to remain alive ndash though spiritually dead ndash by nou-rishing himself parasitically on the death-throes of the other braver Jews who achieved what he did not The word רידער recalls the רודערר ע נ מ of the 10486781048681rst line but whereas at the beginning of his enquiry heand the ר ע נ מ רודער were part of a - now having un9831421048684inchingly exמירplored his role in the lsquo circus rsquo he realizes that he is separate and aliena-ted from his brothers surviving as he sees it at their expense

The last two lines make the cause of his guilt absolutely clear

He is not permitted to become a link in the chain ndash he has not died andso cannot be spiritually reborn

The despair and lack of resolution in the poem may be the mainreason why Sutzkever did not publish it until almost four decades lateras Novershtern also suggests 35

34 Sutzkever 1978 935 Novershtern 1983 132


That is your punishment to gasp half deadand gobble down the death-throes of your brothers


Because you have not earned the last joy of dying ndash which means of being reborn

האט אי ערלע ונג שוידערלעכע די ניט [ ] ז גונז זאל אז סוצקעווער דערצו גורם געוועע יאר וול דער זעל יקער ג נ אל ףיוא דיל סאדאר א א ווי האט שפעטער געדינט עפיזאד

עג איז וואס גlsquo ( 1949 ) נ ו נ ע ר ר א מ רעמאנסיוא יד יש נ ע ר א ו ו א א געוואר דרוקט

אז דעם אי יט י ט ש א דער צירקlsquo ו לעכקייטטנ ע ר א אי ער זייער מעגלעכע די סקות וועג

ווי וא קיי דער פאעט געינט ניט ערונג אוע געשעעניש ש י ט א מ ו ו ארט יד יק נ י ז א וצ

[ hellip ] It was not the dreadful experienceitself that led Sutzkever to hide the poemfor many years because the same epi-sode later served as the background for

ldquo Erev mayn farbrenung rdquo ( 1949 ) whichhe published with no inhibitions Theexceptional nature of ldquo Der tsirk rdquo is that[in it] the doubts outweigh their possib-le resolution and the poet 10486781048681nds no wayof coming to terms with the traumaticevents




The eight years between andדער צירק ג נ ו נ ע ר ר א מ רע took the poetfrom the immediate experience itself through a period of wanderingmourning and re9831421048684ection to a new optimistic beginning in Israelevoked in the opening poems of the volume ער וואג ( In the FieryאיChariot ) which appeared in 195236 The book is divided into 10486781048681ve sec-tions and most of the poems either celebrate Sutzkever rsquo s relationship with the land of Israel or pursue his ever-present metapoetic themeThough never absent from his mind or writing the experiences of the

are now in the realm of memory and the poet places a group ofחורpoems speci10486781048681cally focussing on this theme in a separate section of thebook which he calls ג נ ו נ אמרעד ו קארש די ( The Cherry of Memory )

Among the poems of this section is נג ו נ ער ר א מ רע Formally there are signi10486781048681cant diffferences between the two works

the 10486781048681rst poem proceeds through a series of rapid dramatic changes ofmeter and form with rhyme and free verse while the later poem con-sists of three sections of ndash with two signi10486781048681cant exceptions ndash regular un-rhymed trochaic heptameters an unusual metre for Sutzkever

Whereas begins with the collectiveדער צירק - of the Jewish peoמירple this poem opens with the depiction of the איך in an imaginary land-scape a projection of his inner state re9831421048684ecting his isolation This can beperceived in the opening image of the sunset which like all the otherattributes of nature emanates from the fantasy of the איך 37

36 Sutzkever 1952 9 10 f37 Ibid 115

אנג צו קוואל ג ר אנוז רעד רימ וצ טמוק רעמ ו ניט הארץ וואס קיינער זעט ניט אייג ו נט mdash נאר ו ו א עלא

לייצ פגעוועלטיקטע זיי א םיא ndash זי אלע זונע גע נ י ל שר א או ואל שלינגע ו ק צ ר אה םענו

גאס מענטש ארלייצונג א וועלט סוד ווי אי אי י י ל א ל ךיא או

ל ט א וים שטאק עלנט מיט משוגע גרינע אויג סlsquo ניט די צט די אלט וואס דערקענע

א ט ש ד נ אל ע ט נ אקאmdash ניט נמצא ג ע ק ט נ א דלענ ע ג נ אז געטש וועג

נטפלעקט זיך א לג י פ שפ א ו ייט קרעי ו פ אק רעד לויז אי פנים אייג

It is not from the west that the sunset surges towards meevery evening ndash but from my own heart which no one sees All the already disappeared suns 9831421048684ood outfrom the heart-spring swallow and devour streets and peopleand I alone remain in the world-secret as in a 9831421048684ooda tree remains lonely with mad green eyes which do not recognise time or the old familiar landscape Ways and paths towards a 10486781048681eld of corn ndash do not existOnly in the upside down of my re9831421048684ection there appearsmy own facehellip




In Sutzkever rsquo s ghetto- and later poetry he often creates a dark atmos-phere by turning normally positive images of nature into their oppositemaking of them something disturbing or grotesque38 These could becalled ldquo images of reversal rdquo Two of Sutzkever rsquo s key images of nature aretrees and sunsets Here suns from the past 39 9831421048684ow out of his heart anddevour all outer reality The tree the only discernible feature in this in-ner universe has reversed its normal Sutzkeverian function as an imageof life and regeneration to become a symbol of the poet rsquo s isolation anddisorientation it has attributes of human madness ( ( משוגע ndash גרינע אויגThe motif of the 9831421048684ood used with reference to the suns and the tree hasresonances of the biblical Flood with its connotations of guilt and pu-

nishment This reversal of all normal reality is conveyed by the repeated word ייט קרעי ו פ אק ( ldquo topsy-turvyness rdquo ) which introduces the idea of the as an anti-Narcissus who sees in his re9831421048684ection an image of horrorאיךrather than of beauty The abbreviated line פנים ndash ( my own face )אייגthe only irregular line in the whole poem ndash conveys the shock of seeingthe face which is ageing before his eyes 40

Thus the surreal landscape of the 10486781048681rst section evokes the isolation ofthe from the outer world His past reality is obliterated his presentאיךis a 9831421048684ooded landscape without recognizable topographical or humanfeatures and the ancient wrinkled face of a future without hope alreadyexists within him

The 10486781048681rst section ends with a colon the normal function of whichis to suggest that what follows will explain or elaborate on what goesbefore it The message given by this colon is that his state of mind inthe opening section is to be explained by what is about to be descri-bed Thus the expectation of a nihilistic ending is aroused Sutzkever rsquo s

achievement however is that in the course of the poem ndash that is bymeans of the act of poetic creation itself ndash he reaches a resolution ofthe con9831421048684ict

38 See footnote 3039 The reader is confronted here with a Sutzkeverian neologism פגעוועלטיקט א Since theseparable pre10486781048681x can mean a 10486781048681nishing or departing the phrase suggests suns which haveאפdisappeared from the world before this sunset ndash all the suns of the poet rsquo s past40 Sutzkever 1952 115

ע י ל א ו ו אפ טיי קרעי ו פ אק רעד לויז אי ישט זע איך נ ר אג אורטרוים פנים עלעהיי אי מ קידנומדק טלצנור

שפעטער מ ו ע ק ס אמ א יוו שוי וואלט איך אים געזע

Nothing I see Only in this topsy-turvyness slowly my face wrinkles like the oldest human being as if in a primordial dreamI was looking at a mask of my later self




The poem moves from the inner landscape to a dramatic recrea-tion of the incident As in צירק the poet rsquo s reluctance to confrontדער the trauma makes him use retarding techniques in this case a descrip-tion of nature a real environment this time which begins as a sereneevocation of an autumn evening 41

This gentle romantic description with its image of children rsquo s eyes sug-gests innocence and beauty a serene world created by a transcenden-tal presence The poet rsquo s own emotions however do not permit him tosustain this vision of an ordered universe and elements of surrealismcreep in until gradually nature again re9831421048684ects his own distressed self 42

The allusion to four-winged birds evokes Ezekiel rsquo s vision of living crea-tures with four faces and four wings43 The evening bells are a malignantforce setting traps in the air for the birds ndash perhaps a forewarning ofthe malice of the Christian neighbors The image of the empty street iscreated through another of Sutzkever rsquo s lsquo images of reversal rsquo The initialneutral statement גאס די assumes symbolic coloring through theפוסט metaphor by which the poet extends it elsewhere in Sutzkever rsquo s poetry

a symbol of life cornstalks are a sign of emptiness and death when theyare growing between the paving stones of a town Only in a town wherepeople do not walk on pavements does grass grow between the stones44 The poet then imagines these cornstalks themselves as having been ob-

41 Ibid 11542 Ibid43 Ezekiel 1 4 ndash 644 The same reversal of a normally positive metapoetic image is seen in the negativeimage of grass in the sixth poem of ( Ode to the Dove )אדע צו דער טוי לט מיט גראז מ י ש א [ ] מדינה מ mdash ( [ hellip ] grass covers my country like mould ) Sutzkever 1955 12

אטש ע לעז יד ו ט געשפונע ס ר אה ר ע י אל א mdash אט העקלט די אשא ונג זיי מסתמא שפינט או ו וואס

קינדעראויג mdash ול מיט צער ו לא גע ליץיט י ק טר אצ או

And now ndash a blue autumn Spun from the same stufff with which probably Creation spins and crochetsthe blue gleam of childrenrsquos eyes ndash full of sad tenderness

ליגל עך מיט די ל ע מ אפ טנה ייגל פאטש די אוליגל ט מיט צוויי פאר ש ט אפ לגיו אז מע זעט ווי יעדער די שטיינער ו וואקס וואלט ע ג נ אז יוו סאג יד טסופ

אלע יט נ שעג פ א סאוו ראנ ייז טלאוו עסאק א או

ס ע ק ט ס אפ דער לוט אי זיי לאז ליגלגלעקער קלינגע או ייגל מיט די צוויי פאר אר די שווימענדיקע

And today the birds 9831421048684ap slowly with their wingsand one can see that each bird 9831421048684aps with two pairs of wingsThe street is empty As if cornstalks had

grown up from the paving stonesand a scythe had just cut down every oneBells ring out leaving traps in the airfor the 9831421048684oating birds with two pairs of wings




literated by a scythe an image suggesting Death the Reaper With thismulti-layered image Sutzkever suggests the foreboding of death

So the apparently serene lsquo real rsquo landscape the ט ס ר אה לויער hasgradually turned into a vision no less disturbing than that of the 10486781048681rstsection Now however the poet must confront the central episode which he does with a further moment of hesitation reminiscent of theearlier poem

In the depiction of the ordeal there are signi10486781048681cant diffferences betweenthe two poems The malice of the neighbors dwelt on in painful detailin the earlier poem is here reduced to three lines and the poet rsquo s scorn-ful attitude is conveyed merely by the quotation marks round bdquoשכניםldquo 45

The speaker rsquo s humiliation is eloquently conveyed by the threefoldט ע ק אנ in contrast to the more direct description of the neighbors rsquotaunts in and the message of the ironicדער צירק -bdquo is further intenשכניםldquosi10486781048681ed by the transferred epithet of the whoseווילדע עקלדיקע עפל יימערapples they are enjoying as they watch The economy of these imagesenables the poet to focus all attention on the central issue which formsthe climactic 10486781048681nal section

Also for this reason the 10486781048681gure of the boy has been omitted Theessence of the poem is the dialogue between the and the old manאיךand the symbolic importance of the parchment the whole focus of thepoem is the con9831421048684ict between good and evil This also explains the devilon the church spire ringing the malevolent bells he is the counterpoint

to the old rabbi who is transformed and elevated in this later poem We have seen that in both the prose version and the earlier poem he was a human 10486781048681gure albeit with an aura of sanctity but here Sutzkeverraises him above the purely human sphere he is described as having a גריווע ליי ( lion rsquo s mane ) like Moses he carries the scroll as א געשאנקסיני ( a gift from Sinai ) and he is able to walk on the glowing coalsו

45 Ibid 116

And today ndash ndash before night [ hellip ] ( Der tsirk ) And ndash they lead us [ hellip ] ( Erev mayn farbrenung )

[ ] ( דער צירק) mdash mdash ער נאכט הנט אוג) נ ו נ ע ר ר א מ רע ) [ ] ירט אונדז mdash מע או

Naked Naked Naked And opposite on the wilddisgusting apple trees sit my ldquo neighbours rdquobite into apples chase away the 9831421048684ying sparks

אויף די ווילדע ג ע ק ט נ א ט או ע ק אנ ט ע ק אנ ט ע ק אנbdquoשכניםldquo מנע עקלדיקע עפל יימער זיצ

ונקע ענדיקע יל אפ די עפל יאג ס




as if on grass When he goes into the 10486781048681re his body is transformed into a גוף לענדנדיק ( dazzling body )

His answers to the speaker rsquo s questions therefore have absolute au-thority The questions in were about the sufffering of the Jewishדער צירקpeople throughout history in the 10486781048681nal section of this poem the ques-tion is an urgent personal appeal about the speaker rsquo s own young life 46

The old man rsquo s answer draws the out of his private agony into theאיךנע קייט ע ד ל אג into the collective of the victims who have an ethicalמירframework for their actions in contrast to the evil oppressors 47

In the earlier poem the איך gave in to the temptation of saving his lifeat the price of his honor and thus forfeited being part of the miracle ofthe ever-regenerating נע קייט ע ד ל אג But in this poem the con9831421048684ict is re-solved through the symbolism of the scroll in theדער צירק - was guilאיךty of destroying the scroll but in ג נ ו נ ע ר ר א מ רע the moral damageis repaired and the way shown towards the redemption of the איך it isthrough the scroll that the key motif of the poet rsquo s word is introduced asthe essential factor in his salvation

As the prophet-10486781048681gure of the old man is consumed by 10486781048681re the wordי כ נ א leaps from the parchment as in צירק דער this time however thesacred word is not annihilated but gives the speaker the moment ofillumination necessary to complete his redemption 48

46 Ibid47 Ibid48 Ibid 116 f

ndash Grandfather whisper my lips is this the rewardfor my life not yet lived Does this all have a meaning

Would you like to be like those peopleon the apple tree opposite or like the persecutorsTo be a Jew means always to be prepared for a trialfor a trial and a miracle [ hellip ]

א נ כ י mdash עט דער מ ר אפ ו יאגט ונק צוזאמע מיט א אים איז צו זע לע או ל סנקז םעניא רע א

גע נ י ו ו צ א לאז רע זא י כ נ א מ ע ג נ א וויל איךר ע ק אל סאמע אלע פנע mdash אל איך אונטער אים אי

Together with a spark the onoykhi leaps from the parchmentbut it can be seen in the old manrsquos body and lifeI want to catch my onoykhi so that it conquersall my suffferings ndash so I fall under him into the heart of the 9831421048684ames

ג נ ו נ י ו ל א יד זיא סאד פיל ענמ mdash bdquo זיידע שעפטשעldquo האט עס אלץ א זינע לע ניט דערלע ט מ רא

י ע נ ע ווי ז ו וועל ט ס ט ל אוו bdquo [ ]ר ווי די שלעגער ע ד א ג ע ק ט נ א םיו לפע יוא

שטענדיק גרייט אויף א נסיו ז טטא דיי א ז אויף נסldquo [ ] או אויף נסיו




This is the climactic moment of the poem the old man is the embodi-ment of the immutable י כ נ א of the essential Word and this leads thepoet to consider the diffference between his word and the י כ נ א The dif-

ference is epitomized by the two accentuated words andהנט אמאל the - of the poet rsquo s word represents transience and change in conהנטtrast to the אמאל איי יקע of the words of the Torah embodied in therabbi which constitute the eternal נע קייט ע ד ל אג

Only through the transformation of his word into something eter-nal and sacred ( י כ נ א מ ע ג נ א [ catch my onoykhi ] ) can he becomepart of that continuity which eluded him in This is why heדער צירקthrows himself under the rabbi into the 10486781048681re This striking image sug-gests a mystical union with the י כ נ א and the trans10486781048681guration of the isאיךachieved by his reciting the words of the - of the Torah verאיי יקע אמאלses It is signi10486781048681cant that his 10486781048681nal triumph is conveyed by what is clearlyan echo of the armor metaphor of the earlier poem ndash there the symbolof his guilt was the loss of his shield 49

Now that the poet has found his י כ נ א that is his word which hasachieved the status of eternity and continuity which the sacred versesembody he is protected by a ר ע צ נ אפ The attributeזינגענדיק isזינגענדיקan allusion to the poetic word the verb זינגע ( to sing ) is always usedby Sutzkever in a metapoetic context50 So the איך has now emerged

protected by his poetic word which has achieved the eternity of the

49 The words of God to Abraham ( Genesis 15 1 ) read like an answer to this question in דער and a bridge to theצירק י כ נ א of the later poem לך שכרך הר ה מאד אל תירא א רם אנכי מג( Fear not Abram I am thy shield and thy exceeding great reward ) The י כ נ א which springsfrom the parchment could well be part of this verse answering the question of דער צירק50 For example in the poem ארו א ( I lie in a coff10486781048681n )איך ליג אי ווי ארו א איצט אי [ ] או ווארט מ ךאנ ץלא טגניז רעדיילק ענרעצליה ( [ hellip ] and now in a coff10486781048681n as in clothes madeאיof wood still my word sings ) Sutzkever 1963 249

Accursed one where is your ancient shield which bent the spears of nations

For my word is fashioned from the changing todays

and a stupid 9831421048684ame has burned it offf my tongue With my lips that are bitten in agony I beginto whisper syllable for syllable the verses of the old manancient verses born in eternal yesterdaysand my body becomes clothed in singing armour

ה נ ט די ו ט אומ ווארט אי מ זיא אשא לוו צונג מיר ו לעמל האט אים אויסגע רענט יש ר אנ א או

ווייטיק ו די צע יסענע נעם איך מיט די ליפונעם זק טראף נאך טראף די פסוקים אי ערזאג

איי יקע א מ א ל פסוקים אלט גע וירענע איר ע צ נ אפ זינגענדיק אי טא ע ג נ א טרעוו ל מ או





י כ נ א This idea is cemented in the 10486781048681nal lines of the poem depicting thedeath of the rabbiElisha took up Elijah rsquo s mantle and carried on his work by using thisimage the - is aff10486781048681rming his place within Jewish tradition not rejecאיךted and isolated but a link in the נע קייט ע ד ל אג The two rhymes in thelast three lines of the otherwise unrhymed poem give a sense of com-pletion The movement of נג ו נ ער ר א מ רע is the reverse of דער צירק

the earlier poem begins with the attempt of the איך to be part of the מירof the Jewish people and ends with the isolated cut offf from theאיך ( community ) the second poem begins with the isolation of theכלל and ends with his integration and a clear vision of his role withinאיךthe community of the Jewish people ג נ ו נ ע ר ר א מ רע is the תיקו ofthe earlier poem and it is here not in that he 10486781048681nds the poeticדער צירק word

The two poems considered together are the 10486781048681rst example in Sutz-kever rsquo s work of a process which was to continue throughout his crea-tive life the constant poetic reworking and trans10486781048681guration of the חור within his monumental oeuvre They are a con10486781048681rmation of the trans-formative power of the poetic word itself From the agony and guilt ofthe poem written just after the ordeal itself Sutzkever is able to changethe experience into a source of inspiration for his creative life Thishappens during the course of the second poem itself the disturbingimagery at the beginning of נג ו נ ער ר א מ רע evokes the poet rsquo s frameof mind as he begins the poem and his bleak view of the future is conveyed through the image of the wrinkled face as a שפעטער מ ו ע ק ס אמBut by the end of the poem this despairing vision has been transformedthrough the process of creating the poem the Nazi bon10486781048681re which wasthe cause of his degradation and isolation from the נע קייט ע ד ל אג in דער has become a symbol of puri10486781048681cation inצירק נג ו נ ער ר א מ רע exem-plifying Sutzkever rsquo s conviction expressed two years earlier in the epic

געהיימשטאט ( Clandestine City ) that a central function of his poeticmission is to transform pain into beauty 51

51 Sutzkever 1963 443

I live I have been destined to bea cruelly silent watchful witnessof pain which must transform itself into light

ז וצ רט געווע ע ש א זיא רימ איך לעיקער עדות דרעק אל רעליטש קיזיורג א

ש זיך אי ע ל ד נ א ו ו ר א פ וואס מוז ו

[ hellip ] To the fresh new starshe soars up in a 10486781048681ery chariot soars up like Elijahand I pick up his shadow-mantle as did once Elisha

רישע [ ] צו די שטערנדלעך דיער וואג שווע ט ווי אליהו א שווע ט ער איל ווי א מאל אלישע ט נ אמ שאט ז איך היי או




Bibliography

N983151983158983141983154983155983144983156983141983154983150 Avrom 1983 Avrom Sutskever Tsum vern a ben-shivim

Jerusalem

S983162983141983145983150983156983157983139983144 Yechiel 1983 ldquo Di biografye fun lid lsquo Der tsirk rsquo rdquo In Dov Sadan

Yeshayahu Avrekh Chava Turniansky Chone Shmeruk eds 1983

Yikhes fun lid Yikhuso shel shir Lekoved Avrom Sutskever Tel Aviv

Yoyvl-komitet 258-279

S983157983156983162983147983141983158983141983154 Avrom 1945 Di festung New York Ikuf farlag

ndash 1947 Vilner geto Buenos Aires Ikuf farlag

ndash 1952 In fayer-vogn Tel Aviv Di goldene keyt

ndash 1955 Ode tsu der toyb Tel Aviv Di goldene keytndash 1963 Poetishe verk vol 1 Tel Aviv Yoyvl-komitet

ndash 1979 Di ershte nakht in geto Tel Aviv Di goldene keyt

V983137983148983141983150983139983145983137 Heather 2004 ldquo lsquoFarvandlen vil ikh toyt in lebn rsquo Transforma-

tions of the Holocaust in the Post-War Poetry of Abraham Sutzkever rdquo

In Joseph Sherman ed Yiddish after the Holocaust Oxford Boule-

vard The Oxford Centre for Hebrew and Jewish Studies

Y983137983150983137983155983151983158983145983156983155983144 Yitskhok 1981 Avrom Sutskever ndash zayn lid un zayn proze Tel

Aviv Farlag Yisroel-bukh



J i d d i s t i k

E d i t i o n amp F o r s c h u n g

Y i d d i s h

E d i t i o

n s amp R e s e a r c h

ג

שרא

ןא

א

א

ש

דיי

ISBN 978-3-943460-09-4

9 783943 460094

Der vorliegende Sammelband לeroumlffnet eine neue Reihe wissenschaftli-cher Studien zur Jiddistik sowie philolo-

gischer Editionen und Studienausgaben

jiddischer Literatur Jiddisch Englisch

und Deutsch stehen als Publikationsspra-

chen gleichberechtigt nebeneinander

Leket erscheint anlaumlsslich des

Symposiums fuumlr Jiddische Studien

in Deutschland ein im Jahre von

Erika Timm und Marion Aptroot alsfuumlr das in Deutschland noch junge Fach

Jiddistik und dessen interdisziplinaumlren

Umfeld ins Leben gerufenes Forum

Die im Band versammelten Essays zur

jiddischen Literatur- Sprach- und Kul-

turwissenschaft von Autoren aus Europa

den Kanada und Israel vermitteln

ein Bild von der Lebendigkeit und Viel-

falt jiddistischer Forschung heute




Band 1








Herausgegeben von





Jiddistik heute





Band 1


Leket








Printed in Germany









Heather Valencia































טאג





an old man


זק
















ניט מסוגל




























































30 Ibid




























33 Ibid 9















































































45 Ibid 116























































Bibliography


Jerusalem



















Band 1








Herausgegeben von





Jiddistik heute





Band 1


Leket








Printed in Germany









Heather Valencia































טאג





an old man


זק
















ניט מסוגל




























































30 Ibid




























33 Ibid 9















































































45 Ibid 116























































Bibliography


Jerusalem




















Herausgegeben von





Jiddistik heute





Band 1


Leket








Printed in Germany









Heather Valencia































טאג





an old man


זק
















ניט מסוגל




























































30 Ibid




























33 Ibid 9















































































45 Ibid 116























































Bibliography


Jerusalem




















Band 1


Leket








Printed in Germany









Heather Valencia































טאג





an old man


זק
















ניט מסוגל




























































30 Ibid




























33 Ibid 9















































































45 Ibid 116























































Bibliography


Jerusalem
























Heather Valencia































טאג





an old man


זק
















ניט מסוגל




























































30 Ibid




























33 Ibid 9















































































45 Ibid 116























































Bibliography


Jerusalem










































טאג





an old man


זק
















ניט מסוגל




























































30 Ibid




























33 Ibid 9















































































45 Ibid 116























































Bibliography


Jerusalem































ניט מסוגל




























































30 Ibid




























33 Ibid 9















































































45 Ibid 116























































Bibliography


Jerusalem











































































30 Ibid




























33 Ibid 9















































































45 Ibid 116























































Bibliography


Jerusalem




































33 Ibid 9















































































45 Ibid 116























































Bibliography


Jerusalem
























































































45 Ibid 116























































Bibliography


Jerusalem

































































Bibliography


Jerusalem
















10 Leket Valencia From Der Tsirk to Erev Mayn Farbrenung A

Documents

Transcript of 10 Leket Valencia From Der Tsirk to Erev Mayn Farbrenung A