Bridges Association

Di Mames, Dos Loshn/The Mothers, the Language: Feminism, Yidishkayt, and the Politics of
Memory
Author(s): Irena Klepfisz
Source: Bridges, Vol. 4, No. 1 (Winter - Summer 1994/5754), pp. 12-47
Published by: Bridges Association
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/40358278
Accessed: 09-12-2015 22:14 UTC

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 ESSAY

Dl MAMES,DOS LOSHN/
THE MOTHERS,THE LANGUAGE:
FEMINISM,
YIDISHKAYT,
ANDTHEPOLITICSOF MEMORY
byIrenaKlepfisz

Secularism
I. Yidisheveltlekhkayt/Jewish The 50thanniversaryis pivotal.Strictly
in thePost-Zionist
Era speakingan is
anniversary a non-event; thereal
eventtookplace 50 yearsago in 1943 in
othercriticalyearsin this Warsaw.Buttheanniversary did forceJewsto
century whichhavebeendefined takenoteofthepassageoftime:Fiftyyears.A
by singleday- 1939 by
a halfa century. Did we everimaginetheHolo-
September1 or 1948 byMay 14 caustwould be thatdistant,thatmanyyears
or 1967 byJune5a - die year away fromus? Did we everthinkwe would
1993 willbe remembered byJewsfora cluster witnessthoseevents,thosedeaths,thatbottom-
ofeventswhichinformeach otherand which lessgriefand loss transformed intohistory?
together signala profoundchangeinJewish I once endeda poem withtheline:"History
consciousness: stopsforno one."1Thispast year,I have
April19, 1993: Jewscommemorate the50th returned to itagainand again,acutelyaware
anniversary of theWarsaw Ghetto Uprising,the thattheeventsof 1993 weretheresultof the
symbol of theHolocaust, the murder of inevitable,
unrelenting movementofhistorical
6,000,000Jews,thevirtualdestruction of forces.By allowingus to absorbcountlessnew
AshkenaziYiddishculturein EasternEurope. experiences whichchangeus and thecontextin
A fewdayslater,theUnitedStatesHolocaust whichwe think,feeland act; bywearingus
MemorialMuseumofficially opensin Wash- down- history madetheforbidden permissible,
ington D.C. theimpossiblepossible.So thereleaseofa Nazi
August29, 1993: The IsraeliSupremeCourt deathcampguard(whichis whatDemjanjukis
overturns theguiltyverdictofJohnDemjanjuk, at theveryleast)and theArafat-Rabin agree-
accusedof beingtheNazi guardIvan the ment- bothseemingly inconceivablein our
Terribleat theTreblinkadeathcamp. lifetime- becamea reality.2 We letgo: in the
September13, 1993: IsraeliPrimeMinister case oftheCourtruling,thecommitment to
ItzhakRabin and PLO ChairmanYassirArafat ongoingrevengeforthenightmare ofJewish
shakehandson theWhiteHouse lawn in powerlessness and,in thecase ofthepeace
Washington, D.C. and begindirectpeace agreement, delusion- fueledbythememory
the
thefirststeptowardsending ofthatpowerlessness - foruncheckedBiblical
negotiations,
Israel's26-yearoccupationand towardsestab- powerand a "GreaterIsrael."The former
lishinga Palestinianstate. demandswe stoplivingin theunalterablepast,
September19, 1993: The IsraeliSupreme to somea betrayalofthedead; thelatterde-
Courtprohibitsanyfurther prosecutionof mandswe stoplivingfora grandiosefuture, to
Demjanjuk forhis as a Nazi guardat
activities somea betrayaloftheunborn.Whatwe'releft
theSobibordeathcamp and allowshimto withis thepresentand ourselves.
returnto theUnitedStates.This markstheend Butwe do notbeginthisnew era eitheras
ofIsrael'sprosecution ofNazis. amnesiacsor witha cleanslate.Historyis, after

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all, bothmemoryand consequence.For many assumptionthattheyhavetheonlylegitimate
Palestinians,thisperiodwillmeanhavingto viewofJewishness is bestexpressed,appropri-
come to termswithlife-long a loss
homelessness, in
ately, theMuseum of theDiaspora (Tel Aviv).
ofcontinuity and culture;forthosewho re- TheretheChronosphere, a kindofmechanical
mainedin theTerritories, itwillmeanhavingto historical
map,presents visitorsnotjustwiththe
feeltheirway back to a normallifeafterdecades choicesJewsfacedat varioustimesin Diaspora
ofoccupationand havingto mournand adjust butwithconsequenceforeach. The
history,
to thousandsofdead and injuredand assimi- consequenceforchoosing"worldrevolutionand
latedelsewhere.Palestinians willnow begin Jewishsocialism"in Vilna in 1920 is:
building a Palestinianstatefrom thegroundup,
You regardZionists as meredreamers
stonebystone.
and detestreligiousorthodoxy.You
are inspiredby theBund and its
Historyis,afterall, both socialistvision.The end of World
memory and consequence. WarII will findyou as a destitute
refugeein Shanghaiand you will have
Also undergoing changes,IsraeliJewswill to scout theworldfora new home.4
haveto facetheconsequencesoftheiractions-
in theirrelationswiththePalestiniancitizensof Decoded: "If you'reanything
butobservant
Palestineand ofIsrael,in theneglectof domestic and a Zionist,you'redoomed,you'rehomeless."
issueslikethesubstandardlivingconditionsof Questions:(1) Do we agreeand,ifnot,why?
mostPalestinians and manySephardim, unem- (2) What's "theBund" and whyare Zionists
ployment, will
housing.Equallyimportant be an knockingit?
inevitabledialoguewhich,untilnow,has
periodically exploded- thenatureofJewish "Withouttheframework ofthe
nationalidentity and character- secularor
Israeliand/orJewish,Zionistor
synagogueor theHolocaustor
observant,
non-Zionist.3 Israel,howam I a Jew?"
For mostofus who liveoutsideIsraeland
who have beeninvolvedin eithersupporting or Buthow can we knowifwe agreewhen,
its
opposing government Israel's
policies, altered since1948, Zionismhas beencollapsedto mean
conditionfroma stateofwar to a stateofpeace onlysupporting Israelipolicies?Respondingto
willhave a profoundeffect as well.Sincethe bothIsrael'srealvulnerability and itsaggression,
Holocaust, two generations ofJewshavelived there'sbeenhardlya momentto stopand
witha senseofJewishnationhoodand identity examinewhatwe want,feeland thinkabout our
rootedin Israel'smilitary prowessand in Zionist Jewishness. This has beenparticularly true,I
ideology which theytotallytakeforgranted. believe,of secularJewswhoseJewishness does
Centralto thatideologyis theBiblicalclaimthat notstemfromobservanceand thesynagogue,
Israelis thelegitimate homelandof everyJew, butfromotherJewish-defined activity.For many
thecoreofJewishidentity, thatJewsliving ofus,thishas involvedmemorializing the
outsidethehomeland- in thegalut/Dizspors. Holocaustand/ordefending Israel(eitherby
- are in exileand can neverrealizetheirfull tryingto save itsphysical existence or bytrying
Jewishness untiltheyreturn.ThisZionist to save itssoul). We've beenfixatedon the
ideology, labeled extremist bymanywhen specterofutterpowerlessness whilesimulta-
articulated in recentdecadesbyJewishsettlers in neouslyengaged in a battlefor survival.As
theWestBank ("Judeaand Samaria")is,in fact, secularJews,we've beenexperiencing Jewish
thesameideologywhichled Zionistpioneersto identity on theedge.
settlein Palestineand to justifyoverthenext70 The completionoftheHolocaustMuseum
the
years acquisition of Palestinian land through in Washingtonand therealpossibility of
or
legalpurchase,war, illegalappropriation. peace enable Jews forthe firsttime since
This ideologyinfusestheIsraeliviewofthe 1948 to exploreourJewishidentity without
worldand ofall Jews. being accused of our
forgetting past or endan-
Zionists'unbending, oftenarrogant, gering Israel.We can now be freeto examine

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 assumptions about ourJewishness, about and valuesofyidishkayt ofEasternEuropein
concepts of Zionism, homeland and galut,about shaping the ethos and character ofIsrael.7In a
our obligationsto Israel,ourselves,and our the
way, argument can be reduced to a differ-
chosenhome.SecularJewscan now takethe enceinJewishmemory.For theZionists,Jewish
timeto answerone fundamental question: historybeginsand stopsin Biblicaltimesand
"Withouttheframework ofthesynagogueor thenresumesagainin 1948 withtheestablish-
theHolocaustor Israel,how am I a Jew?" mentofIsrael;the2,000 yearsof oppressionand
anti-Semitism are notworthremembering. The
Bundists, on theotherhand,valuedthehistory
TheBund viewedsecular and cultureofthose2,000 yearsand saw great
yidishkayt - Yiddish-based, whichtheywantedto
Jewishachievement
non-observant Jewishness - as remember and honor.
deroytser/the treasure The Bundistsdid notadvocateforJewish
of nationalculturalautonomyin a vacuum.
EuropeanJewishlife... ViewingJewsas fulland equal membersof
Europeansocieties,theysaw theirobligationas
TheseissuesofJewishidentity and secular- notonlycountering anti-Semitism (whichthey
ismare notnew.Theywereheatedlydebatedby believedcould be eventually eliminated), butalso
EasternEuropeanZionists,socialists,commu- fighting all
against inequities of the times.
nistsand observantJewsat theturnofthe Bundistsadvocatedtheoverthrow ofcapitalism
each
century, offering a different answer.5 and promoted socialism and internationalism
Foundedin 1897 in Vilna (thesameyearas the throughworkers'solidarity and class struggle.
firstZionistCongressin Basel,Switzerland), the ThoughBundistswerepartoftheradical
JewishLabor Bundwas madeup ofJewish movements in EasternEurope,theirideology
socialistsand culturalnationalists and adamant was challengedbytheothermajorparticipants
secularists - all ofwhomrejectedtheZionist in thisdebate,who firstidentified as members
concept of the galut and the idea that Jews could of theRussian Social Democratic Workers Party
onlybe wholein a stateoftheirown. The Bund (RSDWP) and thenas communists. Long before
was committed to legitimizing Yiddish,the the1917 Revolution,theBundhad clashedwith
language of the masses,using it not only for the RSDWP whichwas foundedin 1898, a year
promoting its socialist ideology, but also for aftertheBund,and withBundmembers'
general education and culture, intellectual and participation.The RSDWP rejectedtheBund's
professional discourse and,perhaps most position Jewishnationalculturalautonomy
on
for the
important, cementing Jewishidentity of and itsdemandthattheBundbe, withinthe
thenon-observant. The Bundviewedsecular RSDWP, thesole representative oftheJewish
-
yidishkayt Yiddish-based, non-observant proletariat.
Jewishness - as deroytser/the treasureof The tensionbetweenLenin,who led the
EuropeanJewishlife,6 it
which, insisted, though RSDWP, and theBundistsstemmedfromhow
a productof theDiaspora,had value and eachviewedanti-Semitism and Jews.The
richnessand had to be activelypreservedand Bundistswereshakenbythepogromsat theturn
further developed. ofthecentury. The Kishinevpogromtookplace
the
Bycontrast, Zionists, convinced that in 1903, two months beforetheRSDWP
anti-Semitism could neverbe eliminated and London CongressduringwhichtheBundists
thattheJewwould forever be a stranger in host walkedout- or wereforcedout. (Theylater
countries, wanted to leave everything behind returned and remainedpartoftheRSDWP for
and to createa "newJew"speakinga new severalmoreyears.)The Bundistswerestill
language- "Ivrit" modernHebrew,untainted maintaining thatanti-Semitism could be eradi-
byDiaspora experience - in a new land. This cated, but no believed thatitwould
they longer
Zionistphilosophyand shameoveralleged automatically disappear with the defeat of
the
Jewishpassivityduring Holocaust, a capitalismand the establishment of a classless
passivity linkedto Yiddishand Yiddishculture, society.Theynow saw anti-Semitism as unique
led AshkenaziZioniststo rejecttheknowledge and in needof specialmeasuresto addressit.

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Leninand hissupporters, on theotherhand, responding to it,sometimes withoutbeingaware
retainedtheirbeliefthattherevolution was the ofit.We needto havea betterknowledgeof our
answerto anti-Semitism (as wellas a lot of politicalhistory notonlyto understand our own
otherthings).Bundistsalso assertedthatJews positions, but to understand those with whom
werea distinct people with a distinct
culture we disagree.
withspecialneeds(languageand protection
fromanti-Semitism, whichJewishworkers ••.ifwe wantto reclaim
experienced from their allies,Christian peasants yidishkayt forourselves, we need
and workers),a positionwhichLeninrejected
and characterized as indistinguishable from
to recognizethatitconsistedof
Zionism.8 twoprimarycomponents -
The debateamongBundists,otherJewish cultureandpolitics.
radicals,and Zionists was played out against the
backdropoftheobservantJewishcommunity. The debatebetweentheZionists,Bundists
Many Bundistsand ZionistsviewedJewish and communists was, ofcourse,rootedin Jewish
RSDWP membersand communists as self-hating and non-Jewish perceptions ofthenatureofthe
assimilationists.Somewereand someweren't; Jewishpeopleand theirplace in theworldand in
after1921, SovietJewishpurgesand persecu- individualcountries.ForJews,politicalpositions
tionscan onlybe calledanti-Semitic. All evolvedaccordingto theirindividualsenseof
Bundistsand Zionistsin turn- despitepromot- theirownJewishness - whattheysaw notonly
ing theirown versions of Jewishcontinuity and as itsessence,butitsvalueand place in future,
Jewishautonomy- weredeemedassimilation- moreegalitarian societies.Sincetheobservant
istsbytheorthodoxforabandoningtraditional community at thattimewas also farlargerand
yidishkayt^ Jewishobservanceand Jewishlaw. moredefinedthanitis today,radicalJewshad a
clearersenseof whattheywererejecting. Most
The debate. . . was playedout importantly, theyhad Yiddish,aliveand loud,
thelanguageoftheJewishmasses,which
againstthebackdropofthe identified boththesecularand theobservantand
observant Jewishcommunity. which,likeobservanceitself, could be accepted
or rejected.
EventhoughtheHolocaustdid happen,and We mustalso understand thisdebate
Israeldoes existand theSovietUnionhas becauseifwe wantto reclaimyidishkayt for
disintegrated, thisdebateis relevantto us fora ourselves,we needto recognizethatitconsisted
numberofreasons.ThoughIsraeldoes exist,itis oftwoprimary components- cultureand
notthecoreofmanyJews'identity, particularly politics.In pre-HolocaustEuropeand in the
thatofsecularJews,who wantto defineour- States,thesewereintertwined, in part,because
selveswithinthecontextofthiscountrywhich politicalmovements recognizedthepolitical
we viewas home.Withpeace, and theemer- natureof recording history, creatingart.Like
genceofa "post-Zionistera"9- whenIsraelis today'snon-mainstream writing, Yiddishpoetry
secureand itsneedsno longerhaveto dominate and fictionwerepartof everypoliticalorgan,
our lives- non-ZionistsecularJewsare faced and manyliterary journalswereassociatedwith
withmanyoftheissuesthattheBundand the politicalmovements. Thoughwe have absorbed
communists debated70 and 80 yearsago. We someofthepolitics,theculturehas notbeen
maynotcomeup withthesameanswers,butwe passed on becausewe havelostYiddish- that
havea rareopportunity to learnfromtheir generation's definingJewishelement- and,as a
debatebyidentifying itsweaknessesand its result,itsliterature,intellectual discourse,music
strengths. In addition,thatdebatewas not and art,folkwisdomand custom.Most of us do
containedin EasternEurope,butwas carried nothaveit evenin Englishin theformofdry
overto theUnitedStates.Many ofus who history. This lack impactsgreatlybothon our
continueto identify in one formor anotheras senseofourselvesand on our abilityto function
socialistsor progressives in theJewishcommu- politically.For example,we knowJewsbelong
nityand in progressive movements are still in multicultural organizations, butwe havea

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 hardtimearticulating why.Ifwe can'texplainit prefertheYiddishterm- based on di velt,the
to ourselves,how can we expectnon-Jewswho world- "veltlekhkayt/worldliness or beingin
oppose our inclusionto understand
it?For those theworld"- thewholeworld,notjustthe
ofus who are Ashkenazi,secularcontenthas Jewishone.Jewishsecularismcan and should
becomedangerously thin.We needto admitit includeour versionof holidaysand Jewish
and thengo on and remedyit. customs.Butit also shouldincludeour own,
uniquesecularcontentdrawnfromourpresent
...we knowJewsbelongin livesand builtupon our past and thecultureof
our ancestors.11
multicultural
organizations,
butwe havea hardtime JL.AveMehheryidy
oberafroy/
12
A SecularJew,buta Woman
why.
articulating
I spoketo severalwomenfriends afterthe
ThoughI'm nota Zionist,I do feelthatI am Arafat-Rabin peace agreement. We all askedthe
ingofes/exile (theYiddishversionoftheHebrew samequestion:Whereis therecognition ofthe
galut),10thatI've lostmyhome,beentornfrom roleof womenin achievingthispeace?Hanan
myroots- nottheBibleand Israel,butyidish- Ashrawi,thePalestinianspokeswoman,and
kaytand EasternEurope.I sensethatother ShulamitAloni,theIsraelimemberofKnesset
secularJewsfeela similarloss and disorienta- and Ministerof Culture,weretheonlytwo
tion.I was consciousin preparing thisessay womeninterviewed or seenin newspapersor on
how oftenI had to verify basicfactsor learn TV and theirfeminist commitments werenot
fromscratcha piece ofJewishhistoryor Jewish evenmentioned. Therewas also no mentionof
practicein orderto continuewriting. I felt thousandsof Palestinianwomenwho overthree
mortified, frustrated,angryand alwaysinsecure. decadeshad beenmaintaining whatevernor-
I keptaskingmyself: Whyis it so hard?I was malcycould be achievedin occupiedWestBank
also consciousthatI could assumenothing and Gaza byprovidingfood,clothing, schooling
aboutthereaders,especiallyabout thesecular, throughvariouswomen'scooperativesand
becausewe do notsharea commonJewish committees, byfillingcommunalleadershiproles
educationor a commonhistoricalvocabulary. leftvacantbythousandsof menimprisoned or
I didn'tknowwhatto footnote:tnisnagid, placedin administrative detention. Theyshould
Ivrit,aliyah,dehebraization, Biribidjan?I be honoredforunwavering supportofPalestin-
worriedhow manyreaderswould be insulted ian resistance to occupationand ofthedemand
byan explanation,how manywould be lost forautonomy.Nor has therebeenanymention
withoutit.This lack ofcommonground oftheIsraeliWomenin Black,who sincethe
makesbothretrieval and discussionamong startoftheintifadahavestoodeveryFriday
ourselvesdifficult. throughout Israel,reminding Israelisrushing
I am ashamedof myignorance.I know homeforshabesthatforthePalestinians thereis
othersare as well.Butwe needto getbeyondit no rest.Theyshouldbe honoredfortheirrolein
and to willourselvesout of thisculturalgoles.If refusing to allow Israelisto forgetand for
we are secularJews,we needto movetowards demandinga returnto normalcyin Israelilife.
beingactivesecularists, committed to Jewish On each sideoftheGreenLine doingvery
secularand culturalcontinuity. We can do that differentworkwerewomen,someknown
byreclaiming ouryidishkayt, byinternalizingthe leaders,mostlyanonymous,who overtheyears
past and transforming it so thatitis rootedin movedbothpeoplestowardsthenegotiating
thistimeand thiscountry.(Suchan effort must table.We womenknowthatthehandshakewas
benefit theobservant Jewsas well- itis their notsimplytheresultoftwo menwho had finally
legacyas muchas itis thesecularists.) Ifwe do decidedto makepeace, butratherthewilloftwo
not,secularJewswillmerelybe shadowsof peopleswhosewomencame to theforefront and
observant Jews,half-heartedly followingweekly shapedthatwill.
customsand holidays,religiontheironlyframe The totalinvisibility ofthisanalysisis not
of reference.The veryword "secularism" surprising.It simplyreinforces whatwe know:
bouncesoffthereligiousnorm,whichis whyI womenact,are involved,helpchangetheworld

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and makehistory; thenwe and our actionsare The fieldofpoetryis somewhatbetter,
immediately forgotten.Fiftyyearsfromnow, thoughnotmuch:
whensomeonewantsto researchtheroleof
womenin thisperiod,shewillfindnothing Betsky,Onionsand Cucumbersand Plums:
aboutthemin men'shistoriesor in themain- 46 YiddishPoems (1958) - 14 poets,
streamperiodicals.Butthereare records:in 250 pages; 1 woman,12 pages
progressivejournalswhichwantedto keeptrack Howe and Greenberg, A Treasuryof
ofall formsof resistance
to theoccupationand
YiddishPoetry(1969) - 58 poets,
in women'sown writings whichrecordourlives
369 pages;6 women,20 pages
and our achievements.
Whitman,An AnthologyofModernYiddish
...the handshakewas not Poetry(1979) - 14 poets,135 pages;
3 women,22 pages
simplytheresultoftwomen
who had finallydecidedto Harshavand Harshav,AmericanYiddish
makepeace,hutratherthewill Poetry:A BilingualAnthology(1986) -
7 poets,700 pages; 1 "poetess,"35 pages
oftwopeopleswhosewomen
came to theforefront
and Howe, Wisseand Shmeruk,The Penguin
Book ofModernYiddishVerse(1987) -
shapedthatwill 39 poets,703 pages; 5 women,50 pages
WhenI look back to EasternEurope,whenI The presenceof a fewwomenpoetsin some
look at deroytserthatis myinheritance, I know ofthesecollections, in thelaterones,
particularly
thatwomenshapedit,contributed to it,gaveit evenmoretheabsenceofwomenin
highlights
thevaluethatYiddishculturalists so admire. translatedintellectualmaterials.In historiesof
And yet,when I scan theavailableEnglish Jewishlife,in analysesofJewishtraditionand
representationsofYiddishculture,I findbarely womensimplydo notexist.For
thought,
anywomen.Considerthefollowing: example,in YosefHayimYerushalmi'sexcellent
Howe and Greenberg, A Treasuryof studyThe Zakhor:JewishHistoryandJewish
YiddishStories(1953) - 23 writers,
620 Memory , we findno mentionofanywoman
who contributed to theideas whichhe is
pages;no women
analyzing.DespitefineBiblicalscholarship, he
Dawidowicz,The GoldenTradition:Jewish neverquotesor mentions a singlecontemporary
Lifeand Thoughtin EasternEurope(1967) feminist.Not a singlewomanis listedin the
- 57 writers,
502 pages;3 women,25 pages index.JonathanBoyarin,on theotherhand,
acknowledgestheimportance of feministtheory,
Leftwich, of the
GreatYiddishWriters whichhe assertsmustbe incorporated intoall
TwentiethCentury(1969) - 82 writers, progressive theories.And yetin hisveryfine
840 pages; 1 woman,5 pages study,StormfromParadise:The Politicsof
JewishMemory,Boyarinneverengagesany
Howe and Greenberg, Voicesfromthe in debate.He quotesKate
Jewishfeminists
Yiddish:Essays,Memoirs,Diaries (1972) - Millettand CatherineMacKinnon,butno
22 writers,
328 pages;no women seemsto have said or written
Jewishfeminist
The Shtetl:A CreativeAnthol- anything whichhe could findofuse in the
Neugroschel,
presentation ofanyofhis arguments. Put
ogyofJewishLifein EasternEurope (1979)
569 pages;no women
20 writers, crudely:Is therenotone idea byone Jewish
womanworthbattingabout?Apparently not.In
Fishman,NeverSay Die! A ThousandYears Jewishintellectuallife,in thegreatJewish
of YiddishinJewishLifeand Letters(1981) debates,menonlytalkto or aboutmen.13
- 48 writers,763 pages (oversizebook);4 In referenceto yidishkayt, we need also to
30
women, pages considermemoryand ask: Did Eastern

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 Europeanwomenreallynotthinkor write? argueand debate- becomeengaged.Many of
Did theynothaveideas?Weretheynotpartof thesehavebeenlostbecauseYiddishhas been
theintellectual Jewishlifeofthelast 1,000 dyingin theU.S. Withoutthatengagement and
years? Did a mere handfulwriteonlypoetryand withouta senseof whatitis we'rereclaiming or
therestneverhaveanythoughts about their lookingfor, it is harder to even know where to
lives,about the Jewishcommunity, aboutthe begin.Butevenmoreobstructive is thelanguage
broaderworld? itself.For us Yiddishis a barrier.Few secular
Clearlytheydid. We needonlylook at our Jewsare fluentin it.WithoutYiddishitis
own timeand thengo back two centuries to read difficultto combthearchives.I haveoften
theclassicThe Memoirsof GluckelofHameln, imaginedthattheyearning of secularfeminists
theextraordinary 17th-century diaristwho might be best expressedby the lament:"Mother,
wrotein pre-modern Yiddish, knowthatthey
to motherhow can I followin yourfootsteps when
always did. The Yiddish culturewhichhas been I don'tunderstand a wordyou'resaying?"
presented to us is simplya distortionofthe Thingsare changing.A youngergeneration
translators and thewritersofhistories who have ofJewishfeminists are now expressing enor-
beenpredominantly menconcernedwithmen's mousinterest in Yiddishand yidishkayt, in
ideas (as greata distortion as thedepictionofall identifying our foremothers and learningwhat
EasternEuropeanJewsas pious and apolitical). theyachievedand thought, how theirliveswere
Whateverexistsin EnglishtodayofthatYiddish shapedbythecircumstances intowhichthey
cultureis a maleversion,one which,forall the werebornand how theyin turnreshapedthe
usual reasons(thereare no "great"women worldaroundthem.In thenextfewyears,I
Yiddishwritersor thinkers), givesus no clue as believewe willsee a flowering offeminist
to whatindividualwomenwerelikeand what Yiddishculturein translation: scholarship,
theirrolewas in secularJewishsociety.We will anthologies, analysesofindividualwritersand
onlyfindthatout whenwe becomedetermined thinkers.
to look forit. has beento focuson
My own interest
womenwho wereactivein theircommunities or
"Mother,motherhow can I movements and who made somesortofstate-
whenI mentabout theirlives.In a shorttimeI have
followin yourfootsteps foundrichmaterial.I've discoveredwomenwho
don'tunderstanda word notonlywroteabout theirpoliticalbeliefsand
you'resaying?" lives,butwho wereconsciousof themselves as
women- thoughhow theyactedon that
Whyhave secularJewishfeminists beenso awarenessvaried.TheypromotedYiddishin
slow in doingthis?Whileobservantwomenand differentwaysand fordifferent reasonswhile
feministshave developedBiblicalscholarship, remaining connectedto theYiddish-speaking
havetransformed traditionalritualsand created world.
new ones,claimedtheirrightful place in the I beganwithwomenin themovement in
synagogue,secularfeminists havenothad the whichI was raised- Bundistand socialist-
samekindof energyin reclaiming ourheritage. butmyfeminism pushedme to findwomenwith
We've had a numberoffinehistories - The otherperspectives and views.The fourwomen
JewishWomaninAmerica,Daughtersofthe presented here were all bornin EasternEurope
Shtetl,The Worldof Our Mothers- butthese between1872 and 1894. Further researchwill
havebeenprimarily focusedon womenafter determine how representative theyare ofwomen
theycame here;we'veheardverylittleabout in theircommunities. Theirperceptionof
individualwomenthinkers and activistswho Jewishness and Jewishneedsvariedgreatly.
wereenergetic participants in theYiddishworld Nonetheless, I discernedcertainsimilarities in
of EasternEurope.14 theirattitudes and waysof acting.As a result,I
SecularJewishfeminists lag behindin gaineda greaterunderstanding of thecomplexity
Yiddishfeminist scholarshipand theorybecause ofthattimeand thedifferent waysin which
we lack central,visiblesecularinstitutionswith Jewish women responded to it.
connections to thepastwherewe can interact,

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 HI. Di mames,dos loshnl Her studiesconsisted,ofcourse,of religious
The mothers,thelanguage texts- theBible,Mishnah,and ethicallitera-
ture.Becausesheremainedsingleand neededto
SoreShenirer shewas trainedas a seamstress.
supportherself,
Her desirefora broadereducationnever
diminished,and she tookthedaringstepof
seeking amongPolishwomen:
it

ix oy-iyurxiyp-ixiwx uxrm -|ki [i^rr]jn

D"x fiDly^D yiNDTay ya^oaK^ycn yr^nyjfrN
lyDy^BCHpx px lyiaiTy^iNSlysiTia o^x ix
.l^Nixa-iyna
px -pm::]yiy "iN3"px nxnnEX-ixdkh
t^koy nx3,*pn*nrruincni uxnyi .unxny^y^
lyiyrrix ixn dix "lynx]"p lynyaw^^ D^xayi
lyD^UDX^yo^i x
.ux-iyay-i

/fead a stronginterestingeneralscience
and,fromtimeto time,wouldattendlecturesat
a Christianwomen'sunion.
To be honest,aftereveryvisit,I feltgreat
remorse.But at thattimetherewas no other
place whereI couldgo to heara scientific
lecture,(p. 7)
Sore realizedthatherworldoffered her- an
FromGezamlteShriftn [Collected observantwoman- no way to satisfy two
(1933),
Writings] PhotocourtesyYIVO. legitimate needs, to remain within thebound-
SoreShenirerwas bornintoa Hasidicfamily ariesofherJewishcommunity and to obtaina
in Cracow,Polandin 1883. As a youngwoman broader education. This realizationwould
her
sheenviedtheeducationavailableto herfather inform theory and actions.Linkingherown
and brothersand resentedthetraditional lifewiththelifeofthecollective,she believed
women'sroleforcedupon herin herhome.As thatherindividualimpoverishment undermined
shewrotein heressay "Bleterfunmaynlebnl theJewishcommunity as a whole.
In 1914, at thestartofWorldWar I, Sore
Pagesfrommylife":15
and herfamilymovedto Vienna,where,at the
w yuot^y ]"n uxn ir^x "iyi*px
"lywoy StumperGasse Synagogue,she hearda sermon
calling forthebetterment ofJewishwomen's
"iyiix pyvw Dnayji"prnxn"px px uxnyaminn
education.She was transformed:
"•1TN
VW2 "pX p3 11D"iyTOXTI,yp "1V"7"3 D"2"IX

p-ixuwto "prttxrro *?"n.lynya]t~idix p"ixutp rx iHon-Ba-in"iyitx .t^-ayi *p-nnxn-px

lynyap "yx puxd ix nyu^nDofrm
.lyny*? lyiynrr-Ti"irxlyo^n -lyuoyw yiynaix oxn
ran "|*njx nxn.D^mx-aiD^ u"nlyQinxa pa "T trransiNB oxt *pxtr^njyuxjnxDtynjix
.lyay^ ]ix lyny1?ra iyayayia-iKlyu^n "T iyrt>xn.oy^-rx-iDy:rr*pxp^xa iyn^x
x Dxnyi.yra^yriynnxB "iyn3ixu^ypy:,
Eventually myoldestsistermarriedand I yiynaiNiid lyu^p^^^yn h lyaynru^rr^yp-uv
had to beginworkingin thekitchenwhichdidn't
makeme veryhappybecauseI verybadly ^-lyux yi^ oy u^xn - iy-Ti3px "ly^yTD
yo-na
wantedto continuestudying. ThoughI was kept •lynyi
busy with I
housework, nevertheless did notgive
up studying or reading,(p. 6)

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 /understoodinstantly thatthemain /&ne«/beforehand how Cracowwould
problemis thatour sistersare alienatedfromour greetthisidea. - What, they'llask me,in the
peopleand our traditions becausetheyknowso 20thcentury you wantto leadJewishwomen
littleabout ourpast.If theyknewour historyof back to observanceand yidishkayt? (p. 10)
martyrs and had someconceptionoftheheroism
StillSorewas determined. Botha radical
ofourgreatmenand women- theywouldfeel and a traditionalist, she wantedto workwiththe
quitedifferently,(p. 9; emphasismine) orthodoxcommunity and notagainstit.At the
Soreunderstoodthetimes.She saw that,as suggestion of herbrother (who at firsthad
Jewish women likeherself were increasingly discouragedher), she went to Marienbadwhere
to
having supportthemselves, they were being she sought and received permission fromthe
forcedintotheChristianworld.Theirinad- Belzerrebbeto beginherwork.17 In 1918,
equateJewisheducation,however,madethem despitederision,sheopenedin Cracow a
moresusceptible thanmento assimilation, women'slibraryand thena girls'schoolwhich
especiallyto thepoliticsofa strengthening shecalledBeysyakovfHouseofJacob.The first
Polishfeminist movement.16 classconsistedof25 pupils;a yearlater,more
Her epiphanyabouttheneedforJewish than300 girlsand womenwereenrolled.Atthis
educationfor women led Sore to make a point,bowingto orthodoxywhichdid not
commitment. In a revealing passage,the ordi- acceptwomenin publicleadershiproles,Sore
is
naryseamstress replacedby a zealous warrior turned overtheschools'administration and
fashioning spiritualarmor. The innervoice guidance to the modern, but orthodox Agudat
directing heris clearand singleminded: Israel,which,amongotherthings,was commit-
tedto fendingoffassimilationist influences from
sk
•pi "pa -pr jikt /prow h pynN*pxri,, the Reform,Zionist, and socialistmovements.
ova tin *\\iT "insnyr^p ljra is ins -njrrw Thirtyyearslater,on theeve ofWorld
njn iN3 D'izrrfraijmyp'w tin"pra-iyoyn71 War II, Beysyakovhad morethan250 schools
Centraland EasternEurope- in
DXTO H ^T 'TTNJTaiM WTK 191 "1N3.TOW throughout
- Lithuania,Latvia,Czechoslovakia,Rumania,
70 uxn paxiya ntn "ny^a v^omp^sN h "pa
Hungary,and Austria- withalmost40,000
.traiN nypTW^n nyris m^yi
pupils.Over theyears,Beysyakovorganized
conferences, vocationalcourses,and basic
"Throwawayyourmachine, renounce your training advancedstudiesforteachers.It
and
tradeofsewingclothesforthebody and instead also publishedtwoperiodicals,Der kindergortn
takeup sewingand piecingtogether clothes for [Thekindergarten] and theBeysyakovzhurnall
thesoul,fortheJewishsoul,so thatit will be journal. Until her death in 1935, Sorewas a
protected fromthearrowsof heresy" - thiswas frequent contributor to both and an honored
thethoughtthaturged me on to myfuture work. speaker at school graduations.In 1933 Agudat
(p. 15) Israelpublished collectedwritings,
her primarily
sermon-like essays instructing young women
Sorenow had a specificmission:to provide and obligations.
about theirresponsibilities
religiousand vocationaleducationforJewish Sore'scommitment to preservingtraditional
women.Butshewas a realistwithno illusions was connected to her
yidishkayt intimately
about how sucha plan would be receivedbythe devotionto theYiddish Because to
language.
enlightened Jewishcommunity: her, Yiddish and Jewishidentity were inter-
twined, sheviewedtheuse of Polishas inevitably
H o^s-tapa otti ypNip'Ti/urnso"n t»n The problemwas not
- - leadingto assimilation.
lyay-is70 iy» wn onii .pjNiy*ivmKnoyi minor:theearlyissuesoftheschool'sjournal
]yT3 pmx ido^i! D"iyi3in-iN" lyDop'mnx fN werebilingualto accommodatePolishspeakers.
TETpETTNTIND^pOVlB IX lyDDyD yflTTNH Butin a 1931 issueof thesamejournal(now
entirely in Yiddish),Sorepublished"Yidishkayt
un y/dfrsfc/Jewishness and Yiddish"in whichshe
discussedtheconnectionbetweenlanguage
and identity:

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 March18, 1930. Note signin Polish.From
Beysyakovstudentsat a gathering,
1933. PhotocourtesyYIVO.
Gezamlteshriftn,

TX,"|O"VITO .fiKH 112IVTVD n1 PX ]VBfr0X1 ... Alwaystherealist,Soreunderstoodthata

"[IDp*.&l "1 -IV1VD"IV7D^E BT_Htf"lyTJHff
"IV"! younger would resistherarguments:
generation
.iw1?-ray-isx wi "iv tx .13 .pxn i^t yis i"o "ivi
:HKTuvn -lnrp yarnviayr-x wa m .crn ^x
*r_?ll
"lVp"TNT,"lV"T ."7EV")DTIN frD*i ^ "|X"71MVT
- uxrror-x .Er^ia pyi fixErr- udvd irr ivp vn
x *px "|nt div^p ffu:ivn
innrn tip1?"rny-ia
T"K]W^ V^"T" OKI TN.p-n "|N"I
T-I^nT^ TT31N
...p^nx mxdd-^ fp d^3

/knowthatmorethanone ofmychildren
1"3vt-i^1?nv"ru^n uvti fi^ pxn d^t^t-iv^v willsay: we can be stronglyJewishand speak
pvu^v vivnaiK "indovuvsdn^ix t-i1?^fi^ Tn Polish,one has nothing to do withtheother.
VpNU T^K .DVT pn X "IV3K WIV pV"l IS Tinn (Ibid)
,D7""TX^D^TN ^11 .p^^H H31N "IKD ^T"1
*?D"1TN
But,Sorearguedback,forJews,theinternallife
urruvnvipxn"inn^na ^d^itn:
.n^Ton cannotbe separatedfromtheexternal.Language
yw1?dv"tD^n U3rn -|N3pvn iik px- "ivunvi^in bindsthetwo together. We shouldspeak
Yiddish,Soreinstructed, notonlybecause,as the
language of our foremothers and forefathers,
itis
... languageis thepen oftheheart.We know "heylikl\\o\y" butalso because"azoy fil
thatthewriterwriteswitha pen fromthedepth tsadikim, hasidim/so manysaintsand Hasidim
ofhis heart. So when he writesin an alien spoke Yiddish for hundreds of years."Afterall,
language, then his must
feelings also be alien udos loshn iz oykh der levush,dos kleydfunder
becausethispersonis thinking in an alien neshome/languagz is also thegarmentof the
language. We must, therefore,know that the soul" (Ibid).
Yiddishlanguageis dearto us becauseour Sore anticipatedthatputtingtheoryinto
mothers, grandfathers, great-grandfathers practicewould notbe easy.In thesame essay,
and
spoke this language.So we are obliged,out of she supportedan AgudatIsraelproposalwhich
reverence for our ancestors,to speak Yiddish. askedindividualsto speakonlyYiddishforthree
(p. 175)18 months.She hopedthatsucha periodwould

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 helpdevelopa lifetime
habit."Red noryidishll After1948, AgudatIsrael,thoughstillnon-
Speak onlyYiddish!Call each otherbyYiddish Zionist,beganto participate activelyin the
names!"she urged;thinkof waysto carryout Israeligovernment and to receivemoneyforits
thisprogramamongyoursocietiesand circles. schools.WhenGolda Meir was nominated
For example,shesuggested thatpeople PrimeMinister,AgudatIsraelopposedhersolely
on thegroundsthatshewas a womanand
-itiom ysru njrnrrx p'frpoiN -prrtook ... shouldnotgovernovermen.22
*px -wax .pga-iyi udx rfrnn f?ynoxn ,onyaya AmongpresentBeysyakovstudents, Sore
wt11 1X3wy\ rpanwnx yirni trw py Shenirer is a revered figure. Outside the ortho-
dox community, sheremainsalmostunknown.
... razgfosefecftfmonitorforeachgroup Withtheexceptionoffeminist criticDeborah
who willgivefrequent reminders [to speak Weissman's fine article on the schools, Sorehas
Yiddish]...[or hang]largesignseveryfewfeet: received minimal acknowledgment in histories
ofpre-Holocaustlifein EasternEurope.A brief
"SpeakonlyYiddish!"(p. 176)
excerptin Englishfromherautobiographical
In additionto thespokenlanguage,Sore
essayis includedin LucyS. Dawidowicz's
was also interested in orthography. She wanted The GoldenTraditionand a facsimileofher
everyoneto adoptthescientific rulesof Dr.
originalYiddishessayon Yiddishappearsin
ShloymeBirnboym, thepioneering Yiddish JoshuaA. Fishman'sNeverSay Die! One
and of
linguist supporter religiousorthodoxy, as ThousandYearsof YiddishinJewishLifeand
outlinedin hisbook Yidishkayt un loshn Letters.ThoughboththeEncyclopediaJudaica
[Yidishkayt and language].19 Recognizing the and The Universal JewishEncyclopediahave
existing chaos in written and printedYiddish, shortentriesforBeysyakov,neitherhas a
she agreedwithBirnboym's call forstandardiza-
separateentryforitsfounder.
tion(which,in fact,did notcorrespondto the
standardization beingpromotedbysecularists at
thenewlyfoundedYIVO, in Vilna). AneHellerRozenthal
Duringherlifetime, Sorereshapedtheworld Her desireto protectJewishwomenfrom
forobservantwomen.Her approachto effecting the
in theendingofthis dangerousinfluences of secularist Bundists
changeis bestreflected likeAneHellerRozenthalin partfueledSore
1931 essay,in whichshewrappeda traditional Shenirer's work.AtthetimeofSore'sbirth,Ane
prayerof hope fortheJewishpeoplearoundher was 11 and had alreadygivenup davenenl
own concerns: dokhsay vi saynit
prayingbecause"ikhfarshtey
vos ikh davnfi don't understand anywaywhat
dxto rs /|nwmp pyi axD py tt T& ^KT•••
I'm saying"(p. 422J,23 an explanationwhich
•px :wnvnpaydtx tnyoyr*trayaxD uvi TT her
provokedtheonlyphysicalpunishment
nxnnrutf?y*?x,y*?x wt t? to f?ynurnyn fatherever
gave her. Alreadysecular, hadshe
.D^«nT "pxpaip "paxra notyetlearnedthecomplexemotionssurround-
ingobservanceevenamongenlightened Jews.
...letus givean accounteverydayifon that AneHellerRozenthalwas bornon October
daywe improvedin thesphereof Yiddishand, 14, 1872 in Vokoyusk(Grodnoprovince),
G-d willing,we willcertainly all gatherin childofa wealthy,respected
Russia,thefifth
Jerusalem. (Ibid)
family. She was givenwhatshe believedto be a
In the'30s, despiteitsnon-Zionistposition, haphazard secular educationand was as dissatis-
Beysyakovbegana training farmforgirlswho fiedwith it as Sore Shenirer was withhers.In her
wantedto immigrate to Palestine.20 Its work 1939 memoir "Bletlekh funa lebns-geshikhtel
groundto a haltduringWorldWar II. One Pages from a lifehistory," Ane detailsthe
extraordinary episodein Cracow,however,has unavailability of books as well as thelack of
becomelegendary in Holocausthistory. Ninety- appropriate educational materials and systematic
threeyoungBeysyakovteacherscommitted to
approaches teaching. With no libraryto go to,
masssuicideratherthanbe takento German she was dependent on itinerant pakn-tregersl
brothels.21 book peddlersand on weeklycoach deliveries

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 /drewmyfirstimpressions ofthesurrounding
ofhardship,and desolationmorefrom
injustice,
thepeasantsthanfromthepoorJewsofthe
shtetlekhwithwhomI metinfrequently. (Ibid)
She observedtheharshpovertyofothersand
wrotemovingly about theconditionsofher
workerswho,sheclaimed
father'snon-Jewish
and
(bothtruthfully defensively),werefarbetter
offthanthepeasants:

_ -
lyr^r -)y-uypx yEKB,yuKu nnBwnymi n
pxrk tro Dynyitnx.ik^dsnd r^x ^w isx^ya
"yp^v^,,k ]y:3xny]irx ix^usku py rn ;"tid^
oyENEh ^a lyirp .irp y^p x d^o (y^yi-n)
,-r^yD*px^nqudk ,"iK""iyiy pxnya pxaya lyarr
IN" 25-20 is lyrjTiyna ""i .uynnxiy*7p-n rx
pxn y^x uy^D .oay^yao-iKi^jxi i-nlynya
20 trn lyryao^xiin iD^paxip-iy-naT1Np-^yi
Ane in theearly1920s in Vilna. .-lyu^y"iks
PhotocourtesyYIVO. ps oynyr^y pyiao-ix l^y^D nyum py
fromthelibraryin Bialystok.Thoughshespoke lyiayiamxpx u-iyDSH lix fOK^-ixpo
Yiddishwithfamilymembers, hertutorsinsisted 1"Kiyn,1^X3payiyai"N .nyirp"iyuiyi3in
shespeakRussianwiththemand,eventually, y^x piNu^yiDt'iKlyurn i--ktk ivarrDyyQND
shemadean independent decisionto stopusing .nyiyryrx ^rD-TD is .nyrrp
Yiddishall together. Her loveof readingdrew
herbackto Yiddishand she beganto readboth The wholefamily- father, motherand
Russianand Yiddishliterature. Years latershe children- slepton one sofacoveredbya sack
maintained:"Di literatur hoton shumsefek
ofstraw.Next to each sofahunga cradlewitha
gehata groysehashpoeoyfmaynoysdruk. . ./ smallchild.Mothersgave birtheveryyear,often
Withouta doubt,literature had a greatinfluence in thefieldswhileworking.By theage of 20 or
on myattitudetowardsthelifearoundme. 25, thewomenwerecompletely depleted.
It explainedthemeaningof all thephenomenon Almostall sufferedfromgynecological diseases
which,untilthen,I had acceptedonlyemotion- and looked20 yearsolderthantheirrealage.
ally"(p. 425). Theseearlyfrustrations and her
Everywinterscarletfeverand diphtheria
lifelonglove of influenced
literature the focusof
epidemicswould breakout and killhundredsof
herlaterpoliticalactivities. children.I remember instanceswhenduringone
Ane'smemoirmakesclearthatherearly wintereverychildin everyfamilywould die-
was thebasisforthematurecon-
sensitivity fouror fivein each. (p. 426)
sciousnesswhichembracedbothrevolutionary
and women'scauses.Like otherswho were This awarenessof thedifferencebetweenher
Ane did notfirstperceivethe materialcircumstances and thoseof others
middle-class,
world'sinequitiesin relationto herown people: evokedfeelings of acute and
self-consciousness
to
guiltwhichare probablyfamiliar many
activistswho strugglewithissuesofclass:
"payrj?oiprrurx yusnyn
,-wraixlp-nnNny-r
11a"lymlympxn
py1? "pxtru*pa
tn axnm1??
■Ht»ntr*poyiNiwrnr "iy"r
*pa*y\
.tmyis *i "pa
-prnxrr
"wyu^yr tra^y&yvw
-pxyr^yn
.pNnuyajyflxm

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 pa pa Drx yma h axrr■pfaynya"px hertime,combinedto pushAne at a veryyoung
h IIS p^ya ^py-irc rpinvx py*7ipTTDomga age to takecontrolof herfuture:
ly'nyrx 77 axn -px xmyia h is lyaavxxa *?xyTxpa rx /|xvnv nyDona pa pa
r? pypx p^-frwpnayDff tt D^aya yixDaywya
.p'aaynaxpr d^j .p'WDra^yT pyn ix iynya
to jyn,i??tra Day^a ly^ra m .pnyiya-px
•h DTSya pxrryrftyii .nyma h yiaonyiairga
yar-frxxn d"»olyaxra "waitiay*?a
h ^ix t»b DTByaBTiK....ifl'in h i^x pflyvya
,uypx-ip *px*prribik fraw ooya yny-ixayaaim Vm
pa pa nyi np?ynyi vxn lyp^xiyayp^rxi
-iyi*px ynxaaxp nyay^na x *pxprr-iyrx
T»t yrcaa'a h ipnaypxa dxh ya^yn.nyooyw
lyaiplay^s nnyna n fix,-ixnxaoam yttx-iyn oxn Domyad^
,*pnisx -ix**
yay^wywynayaax
-ptyixpnyo px oyoxpn ira V?yapa
Tin Dxnyammnly^y vxn px ixd ix yi D^a
.Drx n lyawmxa oyaxa h •••n,pip:ixf?yDvnns
priixoTiK tt px^xa Doya axrrt»x .pTO x
-
yp^DO^Dixix ,yp-iytznpx ix pyn o^n ivi pa
Duringmyentireconsciouslifein the x nyix
I suffered overtheattitudes .yp"iyr_s3^
courtyard, terribly
towardsthepeasants.InwardlyI was ashamed Fromffce beginning ofmyyouth,myideal
and constantly feltguilty.Summertime I remem- was to become notto be depen-
self-sufficient,
berhow painfulitwas whenwe and our who conducted
dent,especiallyon mybrothers
wealthyguestsplayedcroquetor weremerry, businessin thecourtyard... I was led to these
sittingon theverandahbythesamovarand the thoughtsbythefateofmysisterwho,after
peasantswould comefromthefieldswiththeir finishing gimnazium,24 spenta coupleofboring
scythesand sicklesand standaroundstaringat years in thecourtyard, notknowingwhatto do
how thegentry passed thetime.(p. 427) withherself and thenfinally got marriedthrough
Buttheprivileges ofherpositiondid not a matchmaker. I madea firmresolveto get
obscureherown restrictions as a woman. myself out of thehouse- to becomea midwife,
ThoughAneknewherproblemsdiffered from a dentistor a seamstress, (p. 427)
thoseofthe workers and peasants,she also knew In 1888, whenshe was sixteen,Ane con-
theywerereal.Duringthedevastating 1891-92 vincedhermotherto lethergo to Vilna to study.
famine,forexample,sheeagerlyreadofTolstoy's For a briefperiodshe was drawnto Zionism,
callsto "youthand radicalintellectuals" to go and she quicklybecamefluentenoughin
intothecountryside to distributefoodand Hebrewto readZionistjournals.Butthenshe
medicineto thepeasants.Butshewas a Jewand becamepartofthepoliticalcirclesofPattiand
shewas a girl;sheknewshecouldnotgo:
ArkadyKremerand PavelRozenthal,who
nxn-px involved
herin activitieswhich,duringthenext
-iynxjnyT y*?xh lyaafrvya
■p-i tenyears,would laythefoundationforthe
tx /prmypyad*j n *ppDxn oy ^axox^s establishment oftheBund.In thisearlyperiod,
.aaiaynga-iyirx V^inx iTPDpxix iyay:i*?xr-px politicalfactionswerestillfluidand Ane met
/|ynya p^x oxi vx i^yns is px Dm ix Pavelat a Zionistmeeting.ThoughPavelwas,
accordingto herbiographicalessay,halfassimi-
/ devouredall thesenewsreports,butpurely itwas throughhimthatAne became
lated,25
theoretically. Therecould be no talkofmy awareofthepoliticalissueof using"zhargon/
takingan activepartin thismovement. It was all
jargon"(Yiddish)withJewishworkersto whom
too farand too alien,(p. 427)
revolutionary propagandain Russianremained
Her convictionthattherewas a needforpeople inaccessible. TypicalofmanyfutureBundists
to act and herrealizationthatshecould not and their student and intellectualadherents,
madeherevenmoredetermined. Immediately Pavel lectured on Yiddishin Russian.
followingthispassage,shegivesus somedetails Withina shorttime,Ane herselfbecamea
ofheroldersister'slifewhich,together withher memberoftheZhargonCommitteeand overthe
frustrations overherown educationand her nextdecadeparticipated in variousactivities,
longingto participateactivelyin theeventsof includinghelping publishYiddishpolitical
to

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 Ane,secondfrom
left,withother
Bundists,around
1900.
Courtesyof YIVO.

and literary workmade difficult

pamphlets, by WhenPavelleftVilnato studymedicine,Ane
theever-vigilant
censorand bythelow levelof tookoverhiswork.Duringthistimeshe became
literacyamongJewishworkers: thehead ofthenaturalscienceand political
economycircles,and also workedwiththeRed
rx uxnyiTB pxrr 'jN-iyDNo dvt pr*?paN ora Crossand withpoliticalprisoners.
dixd -ly-iyViaNa x rx -lyuyanx"i py* is iyrr Simultaneously Ane completedherprepara-
-iyuya"ix si oxn ,my*Tyay^ttSNiwcm tions forteaching continuedstudying
and
!V3Vpf?XT
dentistry. Afterthefoundingof theBundin
.ly1?^^ "7 fiDupy-n lyaipxa *frn-lyp^rTix 1897 in
Vilna,she becamea memberof the
pm f?NT oxn .p-iynywucHuy^ya - "px px
firstVilna BundCommittee.Fortyyearslater,
uoyuxiD "-Tra ipyn.frsyi y*?N*XNo y-iy-Ttin on theBund's Ane described
anniversary,
"iy"Tiynyat^xly^D^nynrx .lyaaio-u^^xp px women'scontribution duringthisearlyperiod:
pxa iynyau"3 an oxi rx is
pD .]yrsyi nyiw
D^ip uxrr oxn ,-iyuymx iui^d tins ly^i^yu^-iXD
ix tfrDffyjiix p^ytw fiDpxn lyns -l
"ix D^yu^yisx -|-tpxn -i-n.lyay"1? u^ypyji ora .uuyiiNa"iyEn:nanyi tx ^xn yp'nnyynx
ds3oy uxn iiTayx-i nyaxmm y-x3Na,,
]ixn iruynNa-nywaiN"lyw'T"-lyi*palynxa
...ITN^yiDin trV7D^-tmo-iN i^dx -p "t
fix^xx "iy*7
"|-t uxn ya^n tx aauyiiNa-ioNQ-i .uytrvrupx
Tfcgselectionofmaterialwas guidedbyour n *i
desireto presentscientific .oriywaiN-pNaND iid ip---iDO iid p-inyaaN
newsin a popular
yoNQ-iy-na yn-oNah .yny^x px or-iyax^pxT
formso as to enabletheworkersto comprehend
itdirectly fromthepamphletsand withoutany oriyuya-ixy^xr-N px ]xuy^ "in x "i^ruxn
outsidehelp;[we looked]also forbelletristic px oriyiD yp^ra-oo^x ir-nyio-nN "^t ]axn
writing which would work on their socialist ypmaaa "lyDy^D-ixnujioxa lyomNa pxrr
emotions, awakenin themfeelingsofprotest .lawynNaiyi pa oaN^iyTaaN ^"t]^x oauoxD
and struggle. Suchpamphletswerehardto find.
ForthemostpartyPeretzwas completely
incomprehensible to theordinaryworkerswho Womenalwaysplayeda conspicuousrolein
barely knew how to read. We did select theBund.Duringthedawn oftheworkers
"BontshetheSilent," butthecensorwouldn't movement, theydistinguishedthemselves by
pass it... (p. 434 )26 theirnumbersand activities.Vilna'smass

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 VilnaBundistgathering;late 1930s. Seated:Ane,secondfromleft;PattiKremmer,
Bundistleader,fourthfromleft.CourtesyofYIVO.
movement beganwiththestrikesofwomen "We all actedas equals. Togetherwiththe
tobaccoworkers,sock makersand others.The menwe placed ourselvesin thebattleforjustice
passivewomenmassessuddenlymovedand and werereadyto die,ifnecessary.We believe
individualwomenworkersprovedthemselves to thata humanlifeis nottoo higha priceto pay
honored
be giftedactivistsand heldresponsible, fortherealizationof theidealsforwhichwe're
positionsin theleadershipofthemovement.11 We takeupon ourselvesthefull
striving.
moralresponsibilityforeverything thathas
She and Pavelmarriedin 1898 and a year "2*
occurred.
latermovedto BialystokwhereAnecontinuedto
active.Then sheand Pavelwere
be politically WiththeotherRomanovkes,Ane and Pavel
arrestedand sentencedto 6 yearsexilein Siberia receivedsentencesof 12 yearsof hardlabor.All
intheYakutskregion,wheretheybecame werefreedin 1905; Ane and Pavelreturned to
participantsin the1904 revoltof theexiles Vilna.
knownas the"Romanovka."Ane builtbarri- In theyearsthatfollowed,theirapartment
cades,carriedarms.Aftertherevoltwas crushed becamethecenterofVilna'sBundactivities. Ane
and therevolutionaries captured,theTsarist remainedactivein theVilna Bundand servedas
prosecutor offered to separatethewomento a memberof itsCentralCommittee.Conscious
enablethemto receivelighter sentences.In an of women'sconcerns,she becamea founding
impassionedspeech,Ane,representing the memberoftheBund's YAF: Yidisherarbeter
the
women,rejected proposal: /royen/Jewish workingwomen.In additionto
tryingto improvethelot of workingwomen,
""itrnivnxnx ."p4^ ^^ trtnaxnyji ]ixri t&, Ane organizedto establishdaycarecentersin
inxp irayiya mxu^yuwyjitt to ]ikti-lyjyo Vilna forchildrenofpoor and workingmothers.
nyaiyr-T,iympmx uD-ixiyjirtwi ]?n mx px Possiblybecauseof herown experiences,
ixd tx to .tr-u Ane was particularlydrawnto children'sand
HDy^pTinNDnyi .n^xrr lynyi
tq yr^ynis f?xyrx h p£D
x rx .py-iDff educational causes. She was activein CYSHO:
Centraleyidisheshulorganizatsye/Centrzl
to r-is lyny^u is rp deh py1?"|y^^u:yn
Yiddishschoolorganization29 and in the
y^xixn y^iD""7-|-t^ix lynya Centrale Education
bildungscomitet/Ccntrsl
."ly^yirx dxti.y^x ixd u^pDy^onxnu^xiXD Committee, and she servedas a boardmember

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oftheY.L. Peretzeveningschool.Her commit- remembered. She was - bycontemporary
mentto "a healthypedagogicalbasisforschools womenBundistswho survivedthewar. In 1952,
throughthestandardization of all shules[secular MiriamRaynhartzpublishedin theIsraeliBund
Yiddishschools],"30led herto helppublish journalLebens-fragn [Lifequestions]thearticle
textbooksand pedagogicaljournals,and to "Ane Rozenthal(1872-1941): Zikhroynesin
founda Yiddishteachers'seminary. She was also shaykhesmitn5Stnyoyvlfun'bund'/Recollec-
instrumental in providingmedicalservicesfor tionson theoccasionofthe55thanniversary of
schoolchildrenin poor sectionsofpost-war theBund" whereshe describesAne as "unsenti-
Vilnaand was a leaderin boththeBund's mental,butveryemotional,"alwayselegant,
SKIF: Sotsyalistishekinderfarayn/Socizlist and mythic forherenergyin trying to makea
children'sunionand itsyouthorganization realityoftheBund'ssocialistideals.34Ane was
Tsukunftl Future.Paveldiedin 1924. Ane memorialized
officially byDina Blond,another
continuedwithherworkand,afteritsfounding extraordinary Bundist,who wrotean extended
in 1925, becameactivein YTVO,Institute for biographicalessayforDoyresbundistn[Genera-
JewishResearch. tionsof Bundists](1956). An appreciationof
WithPavel,Ane had co-authoredtwo books Ane'slifeand achievements based on Dina
on libraryscienceand cataloging.Afterhis Blond'sessaywas publishedin 1978 byHelen
death,sheseemedto wantto recordmoreofher Jacobs,a daughterofBundistsurvivors, in the
ideas and life,thoughshe neverconsidered feministjournalCountryWomen.
herselfa writer.31Her writingsinclude:her
recollectionsabout theRomanovkerevoltand
theworkers'movement in Vilna;essaysabout Gina Birenzweig
Medem
ArkadyKremer'slastyearsand theyoung
activistSonia StupelKahan; a brochureabout
womenin theBund(written in 1937 on the
Bund's40thanniversary) in whichshe records
theachievements of,amongothers,Taybetshke
Ashmaynska, EstherRiskind,Roze Levit-Fride;
and a biographicalessayaboutPaveland the
firstpartof herown memoir.32
Immediately aftertheHitler-Stalinpact in
1939, theSovietsoccupiedVilnaand quickly
movedto "Russify"Jewishschools.Sevenweeks
later,Ane was arrested,thentransferred to a
Sovietprison.Thoughexactdetailsare not
known,she is reportedto havediedof illnessin
a Minskprisonin 1941. Her obituaryappeared
in 1942 in New York Cityin theBundistjournal
Unzertsayt[Our time].33
Aneonce describedtheBundistactivist
Taybetshke Zeldov as:
Gina in 1937. FromA lebensveg[A Wayof
iyi T»konyftyr
yDJKpKMix "H112yr-x ... Life],1950.
traly^Dimyjif?xslyayjyiy-Toxn .uuyniq
In thelate 1930s, whileAne was developing
.yuD^yi "iy"T
h i?-in Yiddisheducationand strengthening Bundismin
Vilna,Gina Medem, a formerBundist and now
... one of thoseunknownsoldiersin our
ardentcommunist, was livingin theStates
movement whosenamesare normallynot
includedin history, writingYiddishessaysextollingthevirtuesof
(p. 432) theSovietUnion'sJewishAutono-
Biribidjan,
AneinsistedthatTaybetshkehaveherplace in mousRegion,whoseactiveJewishcommunist
Butsheherself
history. also wantedto be leadershipwas, by 1937, eitherin prisonor

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 and LithuanianJews,withtheir"spekulative-
gesheftsgayst/sptculativebusinessspirit"(p. 71).
Although herfriendswere Poles,Gina sensedshe
was different.
Eagerto understand theworldaroundher,
shepaid close attentionto thepoliticaldiscus-
sionsofadults.It was a Jewishvegetablepeddler
who firsttoldherabout Zionismand the
upcoming1897 ZionistCongress.A Zionist
cousintriedto explainZionisttheory,butGina
could notaccepthispremisethatshe was a Jew,
nota Pole. Theyagreedto meetaftershe'd freed
Polandand he'd freedPalestine.It was a conver-
sationshe would alwaysremember.
At firstGina attendedprivatePolishschools,
wheresheprovedto be a giftedstudent.Her
descriptionof theseyearsrevealspridein
learning,relishforcompetition. To meet
universityrequirements, she attendeda Russian
gimnazium, where her antagonism Russia
for
and Russianbrokedown and herlife-long
loyaltyto Russianradicalpoliticsbegan.
Atthegimnaziwnshe becameaware of
sexismand laterwrote:

-n Eny-nxya -px tx .doixtoi yw nan -px

Gina at age six. FromA lebensveg. -pixyw nxn-px .px* yr^o "pxiv^i^n ... "H
lyi trn^r^ x ]vn Duyiiq .nyr1?,tx.woixnya
dead,victimsofStalin'spurges.35 The two "Ttx :o*nx tfT^n-toxn v"pi"w px p "paoxe
women,whosepoliticalworldsoverlappedin tfxrrDNi px ."nnnx pyay: is hd ,]"wrT fin
theearlypartofthecentury(it'sverypossible .□"mm"i yrm pxx p^n x tro u^-ayaax"|"Q
thattheymet),bythe'30s stillsharedYiddishas to iay*?a""Tiyn,]iyfrwu^xny: ^»n *"•?
nxn"|-x
thelanguageoftheirpoliticalwork,butlittle
else.Theyrepresent x ^pix"iyix,iyuxyupx .ojg i-x ^-aaxa
one of themostbittersplits
in theYiddishradicalworldhereand in Europe. Diyi3iTX2
UDxrryji nxrryx .^xn-i^yiiDD
-
Gina Birenzweig Medemwas bornintoan px ypiXDW,]yuvyp-i^ns^ .ywiryi
f-nrr
assimilatedmerchant familyin thetownof ■py^a ,a-u"iyilynyalyr-r"T ^-n .yp-inyn
oxn
Tomashov(nearLodz), Polandin 1886. As in .lyna -i mix iyi3yi2
theYiddishfolksongwhere"yornhotdos kind
bloyzdray,un shprakhnhotes fir/the childis
only and
three, speaksfour languages,"Gina /alreadyknewthatI was different from
spoke Polishwith and
family friends, French other.. . girlsmyage. I also knewthata girl,
withtutors,and Germanand Yiddishwiththe unfortunately, is acceptedaccordingto her
familyofhermaternalgrandfather, therabbiof beauty and charm;thatshe mustbe beautifulin
Memel.In hermemoirA lebensveg[A way of orderto pleasea boy. Thisfilledme withwild
life](1950),36Gina revealsheridentification
with furytowardstheboys.I simplywantedto beat
herfather's Polishnationalism,hispridein themup whenevertheyfollowedme in thestreet
Copernicus, Chopin,Mickiewicz.UnlikeAne or at thetheateror at studentballs.I especially
who wantedto refineherRussian,Gina was despisedthehealthy,high-spirited youths,strong
contemptuous oftheCossacks'oppressive and loud,becausetheywerethetypeswho
a
language, contemptwhichincludedRussian broughtwomentrouble,(p. 124)

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AtthegimnaziumGina becamepoliticized The injusticeand injuries,thepovertyand
througha girls'revolutionary circletiedto the abandonmentare actuallyworseamongthe
Bund.To themortification of herfamily,she Jewishartisansand girls.However,thephysical
beganagitatingamong heruncle's workers. The powerand strength aregreateramongthe
chasm
linguistic - which reflectedboth class Christianmasses,(p. 144)
and culturaldifferences- betweenJewish
Was she a Jewor a Pole?To workwiththe
workersand therevolutionary intellectuals
to them is evoked in Gina's Jewishor Polishmovement? For now shechose
wanting organize
firstaddressat a secretmeeting.She spoketo Jewsand theBundbecause,she said,she
admiredthe"umdershroknkayti fearlessness" of
them,she says,in a "modnemlosWstrange theJewishworkers(p. 145). Her Bundist
language"whichconsistedof "dray-fertl daytsh, commitment would notlast.
a bislyidishun dos resht:poylish,un mitdi
Like manyothermiddle-class Jewish
fowf/three-fourthsGerman,a bitofYiddishand studentsseekingprofessional Gina
therest:Polishand hands" (p. 107). Her con- training,
wentabroad in 1904 to studymedicinein
sciousnessofthelanguageproblemwas sharp-
Switzerland. She returnedto Lodz in 1905 and,
enedlaterwhenshe metmoreBundistactivists:
untilherarresttwo yearslater,was activein the
■p n isKiDva ,pw nyi tk .nywstf 3Nn -px
Bund'slocal branch.Her imprisonment lasted
eightmonths, afterwhich, in 1908, she leftfor
lynyi iva^r yr^yn jmnn tin oyD-an -lyuytznNU
Switzerland to continueherstudies.Thereshe
fix imp ycpTN-iryis t»n wmNyi /"ran,t»n met
againVladimirMedem,theBundisttheore-
pn DNi . . .rrx rp pvi t?3Npyji w»a pxn
tician,alreadyillwitha fatalkidneydisease.
nyi ^in opNiN"iN3ny^NaN'XNa-grtr^Nsn lynyi Lookingback,Gina wrotethatat 22 she was
ayi yuan Yrra?nyirDpyiNp TiflVwi n }i3 -po fullyaware oftheimplications ofherdecisionto
p^yn u^Nnyi dnpt iya p^yn .p'wgsyiNn iettn marry this famous Bundist:
W»3 "iy2NflPtr^NSO'S H *pN f?yW T»T
D'N pH^yn ]1N . . .-|N-!3W inh .yrwDrN lya^vcfrT'a ziynNB n d'td
H ly^ND^IND
1ND 1NDrpNT JN DN11,DXNffya3N Mf?3rf?S TN
lis ^ysyso ,po'3vs h ps owin h iid lynyDNi
. . ."DParx-iywrnN*ip^D^NQyTayi fpiaDN^Nu ,]uv /|yaNTr»N oyi on
•"itnpyi tf?ynnyi iNp -iy:ftyn/lyTfi-nyDyaiN
L^^r, in Switzerland, I meta lot of Warsaw
jt *?ntonti ,-iysyaylyrsyi yi *?ntoy riN >d
and boyfriends
girlfriends who werein the
y^N 113.py1?1D3WI 1*?NQ-|N3 N 11311NT3N
Bund, worked in Polish-Jewishcirclesand
yTKWNs h ]T^ onti ,oyrn tin paynnysopy
couldn'tspeak Yiddish...Thiswas a political-
- ^r^a nyiN -iinn-
nationalparadox based on thecollective guilt i^uaya par n -ps
towardstheJewishtoilers,whomtheywantedto ly^yaN^oysNiB n ps t»t iintbn ont pnao^a^N
helpstandon theirown politicalfeetand to .ynyiNp
rescuefromthearmsof Zionism,especiallyof
Labor Zionism...butwhoselanguagetheydidn't I suddenly
Witha strange, girlishintuition,
understand...(p. 96)
understoodwhatI had to do forthissolitary,
AlthoughBundismwas hardlyfueledbyguilt, young,talentedworkers9 leaderwho couldgive
Gina feltguilty.Byherown admission,shewas theworldso muchifonlythereweresomeone
conflictedaboutherobligationsto Jews.She elsewho would renouncea normal,healthylife
knewthat: and all theexperiments and journeyswhich
stimulatetheimagination ofa youngperson-
TinD^pnyiN h .rftTiy
tin ynmp h -
boyor girl includingthatofa professional
y«rTN h "3 lynya-iyoyu ypND pn tr'pavmgs career,(p. 196)
liN DDN-ipyvps h .nyVr^o pN oiDN^n-^yn Theirweddingwas a Shakespeareancomedy.
h wa "lyoynalynyapn nynND^p^^DD^nn Gina's motherdisapprovedofVladimirwhose
•Ionq yay^Donp and baptizedhim
Jewishparentshad converted
in theRussianOrthodoxChurch.Yet hermother

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couldn'tbearforGina to convertor live"ille- opposingtheSovietswas a fascistand deserved
gally."SincetheRussianOrthodoxChurch exposure;she attackedDer forverts, eventhe
wouldinsiston Gina'sconversion, Vladimirbe- Bund'sMedem SanitariumoutsideofWarsaw,
camea Lutheran.WithBundistfriends forwit- establishedin 1925 to care forpoor Jewish
nesses,they were married by a Lutheran minister. children.Bundistscould notforgiveher;afterthe
Fromthenuntilhisdeathin 1923 at age 44, Hitler-Stalin
pact,theyaccusedherof fascism.38
Gina's lifewas dominatedbyVladimir.She Once on herown,Gina's energywas
traveledwithhim,nursedhimafterthreeprison enormous.For threeyearsafterVladimir's
terms,coaxed himout ofhisdepressions, and death,hopingto mustersupport,she lecturedin
caredforhimduringhisfinalillnessin New New York Cityforcommunist/left workers
York City.She was 37 whenhe died. clubson thestatusofpeasants,womenand Jews
She was now freeto pursueherown in theSovietUnion.Thoughpermanently settled
politicallife.ThoughGina keptMedem's name in theStates,she was drawnto thepolitical
- whichafterhisdeathbecamesynonymous dramaabroad. After1926, she begana decade
withtheBund- she abandonedhispolitics. of travelwhichincludedtripsto Poland and the
WhileVladimirwas stillalive,Gina's feelings for SovietUnion,whereshe visitedBiribidjan,"the
theBundhad turnedcompletely hostile,butshe land ofIsraelin our country."38*
Theseand trips
keptthemprivate.(She does nottracethe to France,Greece,Italy(shetriedto see
change,so we can onlyspeculate.)After Mussoliniwhomshe'dtutoredin Switzerland)
Vladimir'sdeath,Gina wagedwar on theBund and Palestinebecamematerialforlectures
foritsanti-Soviet stance.In 1921, Vladimirhad framedin pro-Sovietideologyand deliveredin
vehemently attacked theYiddishnewspaperDer SouthAfrica,Scandinavia,Europe,Latin
forverts/The JewishDaily Forwardforexcusing Americaand theU.S. In 1936, sheleftforSpain,
theSovietUnion'ssuspensionofdemocratic whereshe reportedon Madridradioin Yiddish
freedoms. Der forvertsretreated,and, by 1923, and wrotein Spanishon Jewishfreedomfighters
was ardently anti-communist.37 To Gina anyone in theCivilWar.39

Coverof Gina'sbrochureDos kindin dervelt[The childin theworld],1936, Photo courtesyYIVO.

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 In thelate '30s Gina authoredtwo Yiddish was intendedforchildren, perhapsbecauseshe
brochures.One foryoungadults,Dos kindin didn'tfeelinvolved.
dervelt[Thechildin theworld],(1936), Her brochureDi froyin hoyz,infabrik,in
discussed,amongotherthings,theScottsboro gezeltshaftlekhnlebn[Thewomanat home,in
case, lynchings and dailyracismin North thefactory,in society],(1937) was issuedbythe
America.Publishedin BuenesAires(a Yiddish YiddishCooperativeLeague oftheJewish
publishing centereventoday),itused the sectionoftheInternational WorkersOrder,a
dehebraizedorthography mandatedin theSoviet militantcommunist organization.Her identifica-
Union(whereHebrewwas seenas bourgeois, tionwiththesubjectand herown marital
i.e.,Zionistand religious).40The firstsection,a probablyaccountforthedepthof
frustrations
rareinstanceof Gina's focusingon political feelingwhich,despitetheusualpoliticalrhetoric,
issueson thiscontinent, was Dos vaysekindun seepsto thesurfaceofthewriting:
dos shvartsekind/The whitechildand theBlack
child,"whichcontraststhearrivalofAfricans
withthoseof Europeanimmigrants: iwtttya ivn,jxd pa lynywyayamxa h *px
h t»k,ioxjih fx itms yox&x ]ynwyr.iDymx
lia nytMHya h ixb ^yaxixDoyn.o^tqxo
pmx p*r -lyD-iyuin tra -pixlynx lyrn oy
x trniffDjyn ayD y/ayixn px yix,X3UiDsytm h px /|D3ytm
ypnax p3 pixnyiDDX-nyi -
oxn ,-ixnyx-ixnff d^b ,w"\n
-lyxixnw .frnxaxtrixpx pn:nx3 px ojtnxrDXDWpx
ytf?TrHpyi
h uxnyi wn pxn oxn px^ptfiynyilyr^r ?pjfrx "t pxa oxn p3 ?"Tlyrn nyn
,10X1h nyn^xp^ ix irx wtiixti oxinxs
...tf?xnyapxrr"T oxn ixd is px pu ix trwna - trnxia oiyuxyo h
oxn ,^D3yn-iyo"nnyi ivoipvirx oy px px oyruxa h i^bi^x
"iyrx irnyirx p'T ina yny^x witfrnnyn
1X3lyauyi "|xtx *n"T px Tiy -iy"TlynwiirK
xn ,pxDi27pyn xn ,ipn2X3px ppxb iyi
Ds^p-ixa ]?n ^ is^pixs p-ixapx DTsyi px -pr
.irra px ^axtnxp ,3yo ;nya px loxi h ix ,mos3npx Dymx-o^xnx
tra ^y^ynyppx ^vi pn^^ip-ixBly^oyjnyurn
f]xypnyax-Tixarp MX-aya ^t wxn]yn -
- ]3^ yo^-ii px yrx^Ti ,ddx3X3pxa p3 pxi fjx iy^x3
]yo- p^p *pxuT^yi
Dxrr
,Dymxnyi pa vayBnKTivao'ms ^DiyaainyaoiK
-
iy& oyoxnpa lyirp .priis oyoxo dt^ws
,-pT"1X3D^nntyuw x a^is yr pnaaipnga
Tvagnxh l^n po nxna poay^p pxa ^t dxh
v^bk lix/px^yji yDxst^a nv^rD^a
,D3x^yrya nyi px •'nsnyT p3 juftyowh
.dx**
"pxis-ixnyjirj?ix
^yma-nn ^yma iia pni yayT^^nsa h
-
B«^ <2/sohundredsofyearsago peoplewith p*?xoxi yitofwyux-craK ^yna-nywmg
blackskinsand curlyblackhairwerebrought n iyn,D3xip yena x - waiK yp'ttoom x r^x
fromAfrica- theywereslaveswho did not vngr^Ko ^iT^B^on ,DTr3X]nxfx
havethefreedomto go and do whatthey IXU3^p-|X3D0y3PX T»T^TIS UpT^XIXS
wanted... x "ixb^xp oyi px loynywrxyiy^r ipn^Dixs
The whiteman cameytookovertheirsoil
.py1?ix D^pay^iyo nyay^j .nywirya
and theirbodiesliketheywerehispossessions
and led themto themarketto selllikehorses,
pots,potatoesand bread. Duringthebusyhoursof theday when
They were brought to NorthAmerica in peopleare at work,we see massesofwomenin
chainson largeships.Fatherswereseparated thestreets,in subways,restaurants,in frontof
from theirsons,childrenfrom theirmothers. At shop windows, insideshopsand, on warmdays,
thefaintest signthatthey wanted to be with in cityparks or in cars.
theirfamiliestheywerebeatenand eventhrown Who are they?How do theyearna living?
in theocean.41 Whydo theyhavetimeto runaround,to fill
Her raisingtheissueofracismis significant; theatersand moviesformatinees- while
butthediscussionis limited,perhapsbecauseit millionsofotherssitbentoverfactory machines,

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 inshops,at forcedlaborinprisons;[or] sell Gina's majorprojectswereherautobio-
bagelsand combsand hairpinson streetsor in graphyand collectionoftravelessays.A
alleys;[or stand]at nighton corners,homeless, lebensveg(1950) coversherlifeuntil1927 and
hungry, out ofwork;[or] selltheirbodiesfora herfirstreturnto Polandand theSovietUnion.
pieceof bread forthemselves or fortheir Despiteitslack ofa coherentnarrative, this
families? Who are they? engaging volume vividlypinpoints the contradic-
The statusofwomenin society,thevarious tionsof an assimilatedgirlhoodand of radical
groupsof women- housewives, working politicsin EasternEuropeanYiddishrevolution-
women,officeworkers- thisis a hugearmy,a arycircles.It providesportraits of activistsand,
massivepowerwhenorganized,disciplined, ofcourse,ofVladimir.Gina's depictionof
unitedin solidarity,tightlyboundto defendtheir herself as thewifeof a famousfigureevoke
interestsin thebattlefora chanceat a healthy, thetensionbetweenpersonaland political
happylife.{p. I?1 concernsand therootsofhercommitment to
women'srights.
Pointingto thehousewife'slack ofwages,Gina Butherpoliticsare difficult to excuse.It is
arguesardently forherneedto organize.Like
in A lebensveg^ notso muchherattackson theBund,as her
muchofthewriting theengage-
silenceaboutthecontext- thelate'40s - in
mentherecontrastssharplywithhermechanical
whichshemakestheseattacks:aftertheHitler-
politicalrhetoric.Her analyticaldescriptions
are
Stalinpact,afterthevirtualdestruction of
startlingin theirempathy and indirect
anger: EasternEuropeanJewishlifeand Yiddishculture,
iDya-ixyDy^trixiiDJX-iXD ,y-iyw x iks oxn afterverified reportsofSovietanti-Semitic
and and aftertheestablish-
rx "iy:rp jmnyx D"paxT:rx % ixd oxn px persecutions purges,
mentofIsrael.Shewas a Yiddishwriteraddress-
tra tmyryiDX -pr]ixn y*?x.^xtx"1? .xd^ ingan exclusively Jewishaudience.Yet shehas
.•p^x nrr px p^ayj rx v .pynxlym fixtx no wordsofprotestor regret. Her silenceon the
^lwid DDX^yi.ytftzny h i|y:ixDtmDrix drasticchangeinJewishlifeand hercontinued
>w "px"t DTDyipynx,-iyirph ixuyjux admiration fortheSovietsare dumbfounding.
xa pyayi -pr,td nyi ix titiotq nyi tr^ga However, because manyindividualepisodesare
written
skillfully and we can readA
discrete,
ny- D^nx Y7xa lyaip uyanx"iyipD *?xtnyd^x
lebensvegfocusing onlyon itsmajorstrength: the
oysy ixn h *?xtny,iftyji ^p pyio*iNd^j *?xt accountofa youngassimilated Jewishwoman's
../pawr-pin dis nr'wix pkidis iy^ development duringa revolutionary era.
x qx yi ^n ^t .ra fx ^r .p^x n rx dx yix Her silencecan hardlybe ignored,however,
^t-lyax- lypaxiyah p^paiaix ^^yDt^sxwa'» in Lender,felker, kamfn[Lands,Peoples,
lia "|y^yi y"7X.^vgo x fx ^ .d^x rp wa uxn Battles]. Consistingoftravelessayswritten
"lyxaxanyi oa^a d^ tx .]&t> ino fwa iyr
30-40 years earlier,thecollectionappearedin
1963, afterKruschev'srevelations, when
Stalinistterrorism and itsspecificconsequences
Wfettdifficult, forJewswereimpossibleto deny.The opening
responsible work!And what
sectionon Palestine(c. 1929), forexample,
lonelinessat home.No one is there.She is alone.
describesepisodesof Zionisthostility to Yiddish.
Everyonesaid good-byeand left.She is alone in
thehouse. Was thefirsttogetup, makebreak- (Gina created a sensation to
bydaring speak
Yiddishpubliclyand laterarguedwithBialik
fast, dressed the children, took them to school,
escortedtheoldestson to thedoor,asked himto overYiddish.)43 ButGina saysnothingabout the
state of Yiddish in theworldin 1963 as com-
comehomerightafterwork,notto spendany
pared to that of 1929. More disturbing is the
moneyso thatthisweekhe could contribute
moreto thefamilyincome... on
essay Biribidjan, one of themore cynical
And so she is alone. She is tired.She wants Sovietmanipulations of SovietJewry. Again
to stopfora minuteto collectherthoughts - Gina is silenton Sovietmis-representations for
butshe doesn'thavetime.She is a machine.All Jewishresettlement, lack of Jewish cultural
thewheelsof themachinemustturn,otherwise development, and twopurges,in thelate '30s
thewholemechanismstops,(p. 9) and late'40s, whichhad put an end to the

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"JewishAutonomousRegion."The Biribidjan Jewishwomenofhergenerationand ofsome
she had seenno longerexistedin 1963. She gives partsoftheJewishcommunity at thattime
neither thefactnorthereasonsforit. whichwe cannotignoreor simplify.
In a 10-pageessayon theStates(1936), Her allieshelpedpublishbothof herbooks.
Gina wrote:"Amerikeis azoy fremdunz - di She diedin 1965 and is listedin theLexiconof
nit-lang gekwnenedoJ'Americais so aliento us YiddishWriters. In 1977 on the80thanniver-
- who are newlyarrivedhere."44 She'd already saryof herbirth,theNew York CityMorgn-
beenhere15 years,butshe was and would frayhayt [MorningFreedom]carriedan ex-
remaina permanent, never-to-be acculturated tendedtributeto Gina's lifeand workand
immigrant. She wroteabouttheStateslikea describedan eveningofcelebrationorganizedby
tourist- froma distance.Yet itwas during the"progresive yidishegezelshaft/progressivc
theseyearsthatshecould haveparticipated in Jewishsociety."45No Englishbiographical
U.S. Communists'mostsuccessful organizing ef- materialon VladimirMedem (as faras I know)
forts.Gina's attention and heartwereelsewhere. refersto hismarriageto Gina Birenzweig.
A youngGina questionedwhereto puther
energies:in a Jewishor a broadermassmove- KadyaMolodowsky
ment?She chosethelatter,withironicconse-
quences.Her supportofVladimirbecame
instrumental in hissucceedingto solidify the
Bundismshe'dcometo despise.It also tiedher
to hisradicalEasternEuropeanYiddishworld,
which,after15 years,had becomehers.Though
sherefusedto admitit,firstStalin,thenHitler
destroyed mostofthatworld.She knewshe
couldnotgo back. Her Medem name,and her
Jewishness would haveimprisoned her,most
likelykilledher.Butshewas unableto giveup
herpoliticsand she was now rootedin a lan-
guagewhichwas rapidlydisappearing. Within
theremaining Yiddishsecularworld,commu-
nistswereevenmoremarginalized. The young
womanwho had wantedto findthebroadest
basisforherpoliticalwork,endedherlifein the
narrowest ofJewishpoliticalspheres.
Her visitsto Biribidjantriggered Gina's
vividmemoriesofthebrutality and oppression
underTsaristrule.In thelate 1920s and '30s as
shewatchedfromthetrainthepassingcountry-
Kadya in NY City,1970. Photo byArnold
side,Gina saw againthesuffering ofmillionsof
Chekow,courtesy ofKathrynHellerstein.
peasants and workers and thousands of radicals
who,beforethe 1917 revolution, had giventheir No womancould be outwardlymore
livesin ordinarypursuitsand in revolutionary fromGina thanKadya Molodowsky-
different
conspiracy. Her writingmakesclearthatthis currentlythebestknownamongnon-Yiddish
history was morerealto herthanwhatshe was speakersofall womenYiddishwriters.Every
actuallywitnessing. Nothingthathappenedafter poem,storyand essayis infusedwithherBiblical
1917, in theStates or in theSovietUnion,would knowledgeand Jewishhistory, religiouscustom,
moveheras much.Thistruncated memory, contemporary Yiddishthoughtand literature.
whichonlyincludedpre-revolutionary Russia, She knewand used thefullbreadthoftraditional
blockedGina fromseeingand actingon manyof and secularyidishkayt.It was thebone and flesh
theinjustices oftheimmediatepresent. ofhercreations.Still,thereare strikingresem-
Gina'srefusalto look objectively at Soviet blancesbetweenGina and Kadya. Like Gina,
politicsand itsanti-Semitism and herongoing Kadya had greatdifficulty in accuratelyassessing
involvement withJewsand Yiddishare difficult thepresent.Her memoryofthepast,whichshe
to reconcile.Buttheyrepresent a realityof some romanticizedand refusedto acceptas irrevoca-

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 blygone,was powerfulenoughto preventher promotedYiddish- whichbyimplication was
fromconstructively addressingtheabandonment theantidoteto all theseevils- as thetrue
of Yiddishand yidishkayt in theUnitedStates. mediumofJewishconsciousness, morality
Kadya Molodowsky was bornin 1894 in and identity.
Bereza-Kartuska, Poland.Her fatherwas a Typicalis theopeningessayof a 1963 issue
melamed/relifpous teacherwho allowedherto (thesameyearthatGina publishedhertravel
study with hispupils.Togetherwithhercomple- essays).In "Opgeshlognfunbeydebregn:vegn
tionoftheHebrewSeminary in Warsaw,this yidnvos shrabynoyffremde shprakhn/Cut off
earlyexperience accounts for the ease with frombothshores:aboutJewswho writein alien
whichshe drewfromJewishhistoryand litera- [i.e.non-Jewish] languages,"47Kadya compares
turein Yiddishand Hebrew.She beganearning non-Yiddishwriters to "vaserbhtmenon
herlivingas a teacherin Yiddishschools.Politic- vortslenvos vernmitgeshlept mitnshtroml
ally,herearlyaffinity was towardcommunism, rootlesswaterflowersdraggedalongbythe
thenBundismand socialism.Thesesympathies current"(p. 2). As theessaycontinues, this
and herstrongempathyfortheplightofthe secularistpoet's vocabularybegins to sound very
Jewishmasseswerereflected in herpoetryand in similarto thatofthepious Sore Shenirer who,
herchildren'sstorieswhichoftendepictedthe thirtyyearsearlierin Poland,was also concerned
poor and workingJewsin urbancenters. withJewishrootlessness/assimilation and loss of
Duringherlifein Polandand priorto her Yiddish.Over and overagain,Kadya directsthe
emigration, Kadya was extremely consciousof Jewishwriterto be liketheseamstress/warrior
herselfas a woman.In the 1920s,shewrote, and to protectJewishnationallifeand identity
amongothers,herremarkable, feminist seriesof bycontinuing to use and to preservetheYiddish
poems,"Froyen liderfWomtn in
songs," which language:
she expressesJewishwomen'sfrustrations and
anger over traditional/religious limitations. By
thetimeKadya emigrated to theStatesin 1936, •psmofrny*?xiw ,dvtnyix ,d3N"id"iyrx
she was already40, withan establishedreputa- -iypx lrnnx-mnxyixyajq-yr'T ,yax&-ywxD
tionin theYiddishliterary worldon bothsides .D'Va^i id x *ps"lyiyiu-iyipx ny .Dfrmnis
oftheAtlantic.This reputation has remained
intact.Today sheis anthologizedand discussed The writertellsus notonlywhathe feelsor
in Englishmorefrequently thananyother thinksor sees,butall thedreamsof ourparents,
womanpoetwriting in Yiddish. grandparents, and ancestors.He embodiesmany
Whatis generally notdiscussed,however,is incarnations,(p. 4)
Kadya'sprose - her novels, shortstories,and
of these she included in her
essays.Many -|xrx prax ixd rcn^ax -m m px inxnx
Yiddishliterary quarterly Svive [Environment], .raw yjyr*xix dxhoyim ,iyawnm
whichshepublishedand editedin New York
City.The journal,begunin thelate'40s, lasted A wordis notsimplya garmentforcallinga
onlyfor10 issues.In 1960, however,sherevived
it and,forthenext13 years,almostuntilshe thingbyitsname;ithas itsown soul. (Ibid)
died,nursedit alongthroughthefinancialcrises
inherentin suchan enterprise.46 Svivewas ly^yj "t rix jiurofryrayis *pK priv oxn ]tx
Kadya's effort to keepyidishkayt alivein this p"in ^jiioa trj "T lyr^r,"TPDX?a,
"TTttx/a, ieptx x
the
country, very same yidishkayt whichfor yf?yn y-iyn ^xra hd x
.-lyr-w-oiny1?pya ix
decadeshad nurtured and shapedU.S. Jewish ixiinn "iyi"Tiftsyjp/|rxlyr^T
"Ttxlyjypnyi
politicaland literary
intellectual, life(in Yiddish
x ,no"7n
,rr-a•»») yxxryuxjnxny^rx x «
and English).Sviverepresented heractivismto
countertheinsidiousAmericanculture,which ny^TDwxiq px tr&nyT*pxfliryayujKp
she accurately perceived,as destroying it.In her x px oy spy px pnr .orrax ps dxupsx
editorialsand essays,Kadya ragedagainst ■p^ixVvvffx pnm ix is mm iy&it -iyr*w
Americanmaterialism, moralcorruption, literary "iyyDoxny^xnlya^yTiis urn ^xt ]ynhd >r^s
commercialism and assimilation, and steadfastly .unynya

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Jewswho writein alienlanguages,iftheyuse a be reconstructed. One thing,however,was still
Jewish"motif,"are unablethroughthe"motif alive, could still be saved- Yiddish.Like the
to depicta way oflife.In orderforus to recog- precious few dropsof oil whichburnedforeight
nizetheheroesas Jews,theauthorsnapsthem days, a small groupof Yiddishwriters could
ontoa Jewishorganization(B'nai Brith, becometheguardiansofJewishsurvival.
Hadassah,a congregation,)4* and withthattheir Languagecould continuehereand preservethe
lineagefrom Abraham, Isaac andJacobis essenceof thelifewhichwe had there.Yiddish
established.It's similarto thecustomof tyinga literatureis notabout art,butabout national
stringto a turkey's wingin orderto indicate preservation. The Yiddishwriteris notan artist
whichhousewifeitbelongsto. (p. 5) buttheguardianof guardianswho miraculously
ensuresthattheYiddishflamenevergoes out.
Althoughthisis one ofKadya's strongest
k D&ya]y&7VT1 i*tdntinTn:n--|N-isff 191trnN essaysabout therelationship betweenYiddish
uypN3 tinoymNn dtik 19 DBiptpdnbvbttk and Jewishidentity, position- unequivocal
her
.TOWNIN*pN when theessayis read in isolation- becomes
morecomplexwhenreadtogether withone of
Wfcew we w/nte in an alienlanguage,we lose our herown shortstories,whichsheplaced in the
languagememoryand evenwhenwe takeon a sameissueabout 30 pageslater.The protagonist
Jewish theme it comes out barefoot and naked of "E/«*/Alone,"50 is HarryShlayen(in Yiddish,
withouta soul. (p. 6) a kindof fish),once a proudand successful
ownerofa New York restaurant famousforits
191 tn tnynyirN pn onii jtunid h potatoes, who, now widowed and havinggiven
INpx pynnyrK ^aya/DiN vn -|n-iswnwrx up therestaurant, shinesshoeson New York
Citystreets.An immigrant in thepresent,Harry
constantly longs for the past in whichhe was
The tragedywhichis wovenintotheYiddish truly himself, the successful restaurantowner.
But thepast is forever lostand Harryremains,
languageis impossibleto renderin another
in a sense,a fishout ofwater.Less actionthan
language,(p. 7)
characterization, "£to" depictsthepain of
Harry'sinability expresshisfullidentity
to in
Kadya closestheessaywiththefollowing:
thepresent.
-|Niswnyrana n *px pnvyi tttinb"wtn n Whenthestoryopens,Harryis livingwith
bn^Tav «rron n in did dntiiiano n nrraa pk hisson Michael,a businessman who has
19 ivp pmndiy3N ,«PTonp*p lyro^Niypiy Anglicizedhisname,and hisdaughter-in-law
Annie,an aspiringpianistwitha dubious
musicaltalent.In thishouseholdHarryis
A Jewishmotifwritten in an alienlanguageis of as he putsit,an "eygenerlont of
simultaneously,
thesame speciesas themisnagid49 who putson a our own" and a 42).
"/r^mJ^r/stranger" (p.
Hassidichat.He looks likea Hassid,buthe To add to hisdiscomfort, Annieuses Harry's
can'tdance. (Ibid) roomas a kindofstoragespace.As thenarrator
Thereis a quasi-religious attitudetowards describesAnnie'spilesofhatboxes and photo-
Yiddishin someofthesepassages,mostevident graphs,shealso mentionsthat:
in theanalogyofthelast.Nowheredoes Kadya
statewhatwe mightbe writingabout.A "Jewish iya onti.DMira y^iN^D^N h tra -iy:m]t?N3 h
theme,"afterall, is barelydetectableifpresented -iy?rxt»nd^nrn v viri nvn m yw "T d^sb
in anything butYiddish.Yiddishis notwords,
bprv n t»nyiK^TNsnyi *pN
grammar, syntax.It is the"languagememory,"
thecollectiveJewishsoul,thedistilledessenceof
Jewishness whichcan restoreus morallyand She keptthemusicbooks withtheold-
keep us whole.Language is all. fashionedmelodieswhichno one played
Religion,dress,custom, the urban ghetto anymorein Harry'sroomin a corneron the
and ruralshtetlweregone,destroyed, neverto floor,(p. 42)

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 This singledetailundercuts theassertiveness discussesYiddishand Jewishissueswithina
and politicalfireoftheessayon identity and Jewishmalecontext(liketheabove:
traditional
language.Though in the essay Yiddish and the Abraham, Isaac and Jacob;or thehatswornby
Yiddishwriterare deemedthesole hope for menHassidim).On therareoccasionswhenshe
Jewishsurvival,in "JE/nt" Kadya letsslipher does publishwomen,itis almostexclusively
beliefthatthehope is gone,thattheoil has theirpoetry,nottheirintellectual
prose.
burnedout. Yiddishcultureis equatedwith Kadya continuedpublishing Sviveuntil
"di altmodishenigunim/thc old-fashioned 1973. She diedtwo yearslaterin New
melodies"- irrelevant and forgotten. It is not York City.
that
unlikely Kadya was envisioning own
her
Yiddishpoetrybooks and issuesofSvivestacked
up in somedustycornerand accessibleto fewer
and fewerfluentYiddishreaders.
The mostobviouscontradiction of boththe
dogmaticessay and the more human storyis that
Kadya's analysis and plea - for Yiddish, for
yidishkayt^for the Yiddish writer - were being
presented in Yiddishand were,therefore,
inaccessibleto theverypeopleshewantedto
reach.Her argument was withwriters who
wrotein "fremde"languages,buttheywere
unlikelyto knowabout it.
Thereare othercontradictions in Kadya's
complicated inner life.
Consider the Zionismof
herlateryears- thesameyearssheso ardently
promotedYiddishin theStates- and then
balanceitwithZionist/Israeli hostility and
determination to distanceitselffromYiddishand
theyidishkayt ofEasternEurope.Much as she
railedagainsttheStatesand Americanization,
Kadyacouldnotbringherself to makealiyah;sl
sheknewthatas a Yiddishistin Israelshewould AdrienneRichand Kadya Molodowskyat
be pittedagainsttheHebraists.Hebrew,in that the92 StreetY on November2, 1969.
context,wouldhavebecomeforherdos fremde PhotobyArnoldChekow.Courtesyof
loshn/thcalienlanguage.
KathrynHellerstein.
Equallystrangeis Kadya's laterattitudeto
women.Amongfeminists, theopeninglinesof
hersequence"Froyenlider/W 'omensongs,"is
oftenreadas an invitation to all Jewishwomen, IV. Feminism, and the
Yidishkayt
pastand present, to come and presenttheir PoliticsofMemory
grievances: Evena briefpresentation of thelivesof these
fourwomenshowsthatYiddishtextsexist
nnDtftt"lyrmx"paivns *i f?ynoy whichcan informus ofthehistoryof women
who playeda distinctive rolein different,often
warring,segments of theJewishcommunity. We
The womenin ourfamily
mustfindothersand incorporate themintothe
willcometo me at nightin dreamsand say?1
generalhistoryof EasternEuropeanJewry,
Fortyyearslaterin theUnitedStates,withthe yidishkaytand women'shistory. Thesetextsare
exceptionof RokhlKorn(whosepoetryappears vitalto us in shapingand developingtheideas,
in almosteveryotherissueofSvive), Kadya and politicsof secularJewishfemi-
literature
barelypublishesanywomenwriters, neverraises nism.Jewishactivists,in particular,are invested
theissueofwomenin heressays.She always thesewomento theirrightful
in restoring place

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inJewishhistorybecausetheyarepartofour
secular,politicalfeminist legacyand,without ...we simplycannotdependon
them, we can never be fullyourselves,develop
fullyourJewishidentity and pull ourselvesout anyonebutourselvestoprotect
ofthepresent, post-Holocaust, post-Zionist ourfeminist
interests.
culturalgoles.
Buta returnto a rootedselfwhereour An obviousone: feminism and women's
politicsand identity havean equal partin concernswereneverfullyembracedor under-
shaping our lives and actionscan onlyoccurif stoodbyEasternEuropeanJewishsocietyor
we takethetimeto educateourselvesand evenbytheradicalmovements whichpromoted
supportresearch,scholarlywork,and transla- them.International Women'sDay was on every
tion.Our goals as feminists cannotbe limitedtoleftradicalcalendar,buthow manypeople
correcting historicalrecords or translating absorbeditstruesignificance?
texts, (We can gauge
thoughclearly this must be done almostbeforethatbylookingat our own progressive move-
anything else.I viewfeminist scholarshipas mentsand organizations whichin theoryare
inherently politicaland havingan agenda.My committed to fightingsexismand in practice...)
personalagenda is to make womenlikeSore, Bundistsurvivors, forexample,werescrupulous
Ane,Gina,Kadya and theirsisterspartofthe in yizkerbikher/memorial booksto recordthe
consciousnessof all women,Jewishand non- biographiesofBundistwomenactivists, butthey
Jewish,butespeciallyofthosewhoserootsreach nevercontinuedto promotetheirfeminist
back to EasternEuropeand Yiddishculture. politics.Withoutstrongwomenwho are both
That meansthatour scholarship mustnotbe knowledgeable about women'shistoryand
visibleonlyin academiaor in academicjournals. committed to passingit on, feminism and
It mustalso be accessible- notwritten in thefeminists are abandonedand forgotten. This
coded languagewhichonlyacademicsunder- shouldserveas a warningto us in relationto our
stand- and availablein newspapers, women's presentwork- whetherin thearea ofwomen
journals, and affordable books (since are
we or peace in theMiddleEast or womenin Eastern
living depression).Bridges a good model
in a is Europe- we simplycannotdependon anyone
ofone suchoutlet.We needto thinkaboutother butourselvesto protectourfeminist interests.
creativewaysof disseminating ourhistory. Feminists alone mustreclaimwomen'screativity
in Yiddishculture;we understand whatwe need,
. . .duringtheirlives,these whatwe seek,and whatthebestapproachesare
to women'slivesand women'swriting.53
womenwereknownand
Anotherreasonfortheabsenceofwomenin
respected bytheir thepopularconceptionofyidishkayt in North
contemporaries. AmericanJewishconsciousnessmaybe more
complicated.The editorsof The Encyclopedia
We also needto be clearabout someofthe Judaica,forexample,gavePavelRozenthala
obstacles"out there"as well as amongour- mainentryand subsumedAne (who is only
selves.EarlierI pointedto thesexismwhichedits givena paragraphat theend- in smaller
out women'scontribution in thetranslated typeface).54 Yet theEncyclopedialistsas a
recordsofYiddishculture,especiallyin thearea primary source,Dina Blond'sessayon Anein
of intellectualdiscourse.Yet duringtheirlives, Doyresbundistn[Generations ofBundists].This
thesewomenwereknownand respectedbytheir two-volume collectionof biographieshas,in
contemporaries. The Yiddishmaterialsin this fact,chaptertitleswhichincludethenamesof
articleare notpiecedtogether fromfaded husbandand wifeactivists. Butin thecase of
manuscripts or fragmentary but
letters, from Pavel,who wrote under the nameof "Anman"
materialspublishedand fullysupportedbymen (Ane'shusband),55 themale editoroftheYiddish
(evenSvive,thoughrunbya woman,had almost collectiondid notconsiderhimimportant
exclusively malebacking).We needto examine enoughto have a chapterofhisown,or evento
theforceswhichburiedthewritings and livesof sharethechaptertitlewithAne.Whythendid
thesewomen. theeditorsoftheEncyclopediarewriteBundist

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 history and designatePaveltheprominent leader
credibilityto an apoliticalimageofYiddish
whileAnewas renderedalmostinvisible? culture.Womenare notimmuneto thisconser-
Similarly, SoreShenirer's Gezamlteshriftn vativetrend.Ifsomeare openlyskirting theterm
[CollectedWritings], publishedin 1933 in Lodz "feminism," thenwhatchancedo "politics"or
by the male-controlled Beysyakovmovement, "socialism"have?
containeda full-page photographofSoreand The resultof sentimentalizing is this:
manyphotographs girlstudentsand women
of Yiddishis almostexclusively associatedwiththe
teachersat variousseminarsand conferences. pre-warshtetlekh ofEasternEuropewhichare
Yet the'50s Brooklyneditionhas onlytwo as
depicted poor, but contentin theirpiety,
photographs: one ofitsBeysyakovbuildingand timelessand untouchedby20th-century history
theotheroftheschool'shead rabbi.Though or politics,livinga peacefulexistencewhichis
Gezmalteshriftn is bya womanforwomen,the disruptedonlybyanti-Semites duringpogroms.
U.S. editioneraseswomenas activeparticipants, Feminists shouldnotperpetuate thisimage.58
as physicaland historicalbeings. Sore,Ane,Gina and Kadya,as we haveseen,are
Theseare indicationsthatJewishsexism notpartofit,and theyare notunique.Any
intensifiedon thissideoftheAtlanticand is far feminist reconsideration or reconstruction of
worsethanitwas in EasternEurope.56 Perhaps yidishkayt mustincludeitsvariouscontentious,
thisexplainsin partKadya's shiftfromwriting politicalcomponents.
feminist poetrylike"Froyenlider"in the1920s Sentimentalization has beenaccompaniedby
in Polandto ignoring womenaltogether a kindofikonizationof Yiddish,whichis
40 years
laterin theStates.Consciouslyor not,shewas apparentalreadyin the'60s in Kadya's rheto-
responding to a stronger sexism.A studyofthe For somesecularJews,learningYiddish
ric.59
writings and livesof otherwomenrootedin becomestheir"Jewishactivity," theirassertion
Yiddishculturein Europe,butwho had to and expressionoftheirJewishidentity. This is
"translatethemselves" intoU.S. culture,could good,forithelpsthemto reconnect withthat
proveveryvaluablein gaininggreaterunder- cultureand keepsYiddishalive.I tryto encour-
standingofthestatusofJewishwomenin our age studentswho are motivatedthisway. ButI
community. havealso observedstudents, witha strong
emotionalattachment to Yiddish,butno
Sentimentalization has been knowledgeofthelanguage,who are stunned
whenI ask themto learnto conjugateverbsand
accompaniedbya kindof to declinenouns.What?Grammar?Syntax?
ikonizationofYiddish... TheythinkthatsomehowYiddishwill "come
back to them,"likea mysticalexperienceand
In additionto erasingwomen,however,the makethemwhole.Unbeknownst to them,they
Jewishcommunity herehas,fora longtime are Kadya's disciples.
now,beensentimentalizing and depoliticizing Yiddishis a language,nota religionoffici-
thepopularimageofYiddishculture.57 Though atedbya few,eliteYiddishpriests.It is marked
thisprocesswas alreadyunderwaybeforeWorld by 1,000 yearsof Ashkenazihistoryin Europe
War II throughimmigrant nostalgia,afterthe and itis quitespecial.Butitis nottheonly
Holocaustitaccelarated.DespairlikeKadya's legitimateor authenticlanguageofJewish
overthedisappearanceofYiddishcultureand an expression.Thereare dozensofJewishlan-
erroneousbeliefthat,forvictimsto be mourned, guagesbesidesYiddish- Ladino,forexample,
theyhad to be reveredas flawlessand innocent whichis as richas Yiddish,butmarkedby
- heightened thesentimentalitywithwhich Sephardichistory. We've also had majorJewish
EasternEuropeanlifewas viewed.The startof writerswho havecreatedsignificant Jewish
theCold War,McCarthyism and Jewishfearsof worksin non-Jewish/"alien" languages,most
beingidentified withtheleftand suspectedof recentlyNellySachs,PrimoLevi,and Andre
disloyalty, contributed to a desireto
further Schwartzbart writingin German,Italianand
createa non-political popularimage.The French.In thesixteenth century,SamuelUsques
collapseoftheSovietUnion,therushto declare wroteConsolationsof Israel,themonumental
all socialistprinciplesbankruptlendevenmore workaboutJewsand theSpanishInquisition-

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in Portuguese.Kadya could notimagine"real" theleftand therightside ofherbrain,said
Jewish lifewithout Yiddish.Kadya was wrong. totallyoppositethingsbecauseshecould not
Her contradiction is ourreality.Jewishtragedies bearthepain ofreality.
- and joys,forthatmatter- can be and have Determined, alwaysactive,unsentiment-
beenexpressedin thenon-Jewish languagesin alized,unidealized,thesewomenseemveryreal
whichtheywereexperienced. We shouldbe to me,remindme ofmyself and otherfeminists
turning to Yiddishto enrichour lives,rather who struggle and
consciously unconsciously
thanfeelinginferior or inauthentic becausewe withinternaland externaltensions.In our desire
do notknowit. to findwomen"likeus," or rolemodelswho
Butequallyobstructive to our own feminist willinspireus, we are in dangerof notseeingthe
of
reclaiming yidishkayt is our depoliticization of complexity and fullspectrumofwomen's
feminism. Feminism, depoliticized,is distorted and erasingwomenwithwhomwe
activities
and diluted,forit depictswomenas either disagreeor evendisapprove.
victimsor victors.Neithergivesus an accurate
pictureoftheconflicts and inconsistencies of . . .KadyaMolodowskywho,
women'slives,norofour abilityto changeour
circumstances.Thereis SoreShenirer, the unitingfromtheleftand ihe
advocateofJewishorthodoxyand piety,who rightside ofherbrain,said
sneakedoffto hearlecturesbyChristianwomen.
at the
totallyoppositethings
Insistingon preserving Jewishtradition becauseshecouldnotbear
sametimethatshe brokewithit,Soretrans-
formedorthodoxwomen'seducation.Having ..
ihepain ofreality.
achievedhergoal, shethengaveup herpoweras
theleaderoftheschool.She continuedto write Writingand thinking aboutthispiecehas
and speakabout women'straditional rolesin thenotchangedmypolitics;I am stillan incorrigible
Jewish home and community, but she herself secularistand socialist,theproductofa Bundist
nevermarried.Thereis Ane Rozenthalwho, upbringing. Yet I have beentakenaback at my
fromherearliestconsciousness, longedfor own responsesto thesewomen,havefelt
independence; she understood women's empathyor angerin instancesI wouldn'thave
predicted.Throughout, I havefeltengagedand
Butequallyobstructive to our foundmyself arguingwiththem,tellingthem
ownfeminist whenI thoughttheywerewrong.My knowledge
reclaiming of ofthem,thedebatewhichtheirown wordsand
yidishkayt is our voicesdrewme intohas createda linkI did not
depoliticization offeminism. havebeforeI beganworkingon thisproject.
Theirdifferences do notstopme from
and
struggles fought to better theirlives,but she identifying with them. I thinkofthemwhenI do
could notwriteuntilafterherhusbanddiedand, something in theafternoon whichtotally
eventhen,neverthoughtof herself as a writer. contradicts whatI had written thatmorning.
Ane admiredthemanywomenactivists who AndI thinkofthemwhen,as I preparea talk
anonymously contributed to thesocialist promoting Yiddishand yidishkayt, I despair-
movement; yetshe herself shunnedanonymity, realizingI haveto look up a wordformaybethe
insistedon publishingherautobiography in a twentieth timebecauseI don'tuse it enoughto
scholarlyvolume and so concretized her legacy. retain itsmeaning. Or whenI thinkaboutmy
Thereis Gina Medem,so clear-eyed about politicalbeliefin theequalityof all women,of
abouttheneedforthemassesto be
injustice, theneedfortheumbakantezelner/unknovm
relievedofcapriciouspowerand capitalist soldiersin our movement - and how that
exploitation,who yearnedto havethebroadest commitment clasheswiththeambitionthat
influencein orderto achievethegreatest change, drivesme,as itdoes all artists, to standapart
yet who was unable to see therealitiesof Soviet and gain recognition.
lifeand politicsforJewsand non-Jews. And Sore,Ane,Gina and Kadya - likemanyof
thereis Kadya Molodowskywho,writing -
from us wererootedin different partsoftheJewish

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 community and oftenhad differenceswhich and unsympathetic witheach other,does not
could notbe reconciled.Theyeach had loyalties diminishthemforme.It makesthemreal,
to politicalgroupswhichworkedto undermine human,fallible.
each other.I doubtthattheirpoliticswould have I wantto endnotwiththem,butwitha
permitted themto gettogether on a panel or a namelesswoman,one ofthoseumbakante
conference - and iftheyhad,whetherthey zelnerwhosewordsI came acrossunexpectedly.
could havesurviveda discussionwithoutone of It is hardto describetheshockand excitement I
themstorming out. Theytoo wouldhave experienced when,lookingthrough the Bund
probablyerasedeach others'contributions or archives,I casuallyopenedan ordinarymanila
simplyforgotten whatwomen,outsideoftheir folderand foundmyself readingan original
own politicalcircle,had achieved.Our memory YiddishflyerfromYAF: Yidisherarbeterfroyenl
is imperfect notonlybecausewe are fallible,but Jewishworkingwomen,thewomen'sorganiza-
becausewe havepassions,perspectives and tionoftheBund,one of whosefounderswas
politicswhichshapehow we remember and AneRozenthal.Printedand distributed in
becausewe have specificideas ofthekindof in
Warsaw,probably 1937, it is a call to all
historywe wantto leave behind.The factthat Jewish women to become members:
thesewomenmayhavebeenintolerant, angry

DEARCOMRADE!JEWISH
WORKINGWOMAN!
Have youheardthatthereis an organization
ofJewishworking
women,YAF? Do youknowthatJewishworkingwomen,
mothersofchildren,housewives,workersin factories
and shops
and domesticworkers,womenjustlikeyouhaveorganizedin
orderto fight
fora betterand morebeautiful
life?Andthatthey
haveorganizedthemselves withinYAF?..,
The workingwomenhaveorganizedthemselves inYAF because
theyhaveunderstoodthatthosetimesaregonewhena woman
couldbe onlya mother,
onlya housekeeperand did nothaveto
thinkaboutworldissuesbecauseshecouldleavethatto her
husband...

You too,dearcomrade,mustunderstand this.You too must

withall Jewishworkingwomenwho liveas
organizetogether
youdo, who sufferas youdo in orderto wagethebattleforyour
own liberation
and theliberationofall who are oppressed...
LONG LIVE THE ORGANIZATION OF JEWISH
WORKING WOMEN!

DOWN WITH CAPITALISM! DOWN WITH FASCISM!

LONG LIVE SOCIALISM!

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 WINTER/SPRING 1994/41

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 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS critiquing whichinevitably leavesme wiserand
I am indebtedto a numberofpeoplewho eagerto getbackto work.
havehelpedme duringthreestagesofthis
article'sevolution.First,theorganizers ofthe NOTES
February 1993 Toronto Conference "Jewish Translationsofall Yiddishtextscitedare my
Women'sVoices:Past and Present"whose own. In orderto showthevarietyofYiddish
invitation to givethekeynoteaddressled me to
orthography duringthisperiod,thesetexts,
researchand presentthematerialwhichis the unlikepreviousYiddishtextspublishedin
basisforthisarticle.I am especiallyindebtedto
Bridges,havenotbeenmodernizedor standard-
FriedaFormanwho discussedwithme manyof ized. Contrasts, however,are notas starkas in
thesignificant issues.Second,Jeffrey Yankl theoriginalssinceno singletypesetting program
Salantand Chava Koster,co-directors ofthe could duplicateall thevariationsand diacritical
UrielWeinreichProgramin YiddishLanguage, marks.
Literature and Cultureat ColumbiaUniversity
and YIVO, who askedme to presentthis L
materialto thestudents, whichled to another
transformation. The youngwomen'sexcitement, a. September1, 1939: Hitler'sarmyinvaded
theirfeminism and politicalawareness,encour- Poland,thestartofWWII. May 14, 1948:
aged me in my own work and gave me a great The DeclarationofIndependenceofthe
deal ofhope aboutthefutureoffeminist Yiddish Stateof Israelis proclaimedin Tel Aviv.
scholarship. Third,themembersoftheBridges June5, 1967: The beginning oftheSix-Day
collectivewho acceptedthearticleand urgedme War whichled to Israel'scaptureand
to developitfurther. Theirprobingcomments occupationofseveralareas on itsborders,
-
(and patience) especiallyEllyBulkin, Clare includingtheWestBankand Gaza.
Kinberg, and Adrienne Rich - allowed me to
1. "Warsaw,1983: Umschlagplatz" in my
reconsider thesefourwomen'slives,thepolitical
collectionA Few Wordsin theMother
and culturalcontextin whichtheyfound
and theimplications ofyidishkayt Tongue:PoemsSelectedand New (Eighth
themselves, Mountain:1990).
and secularJewishidentity forcontemporary
feminists. 2. It is interesting thatalmosteverypeace
I am grateful forassistancefromYIVO activistI spoketo expressedsurpriseand
librariansDina Abramowiczand ZacharyBaker reliefthatthepeace settlement had happened
and archivists MarekWeb, Leo Greenbaum, so soon and ragethatithadn'thappened
and Eve Sicular.LorinSklamberg, as always, sooner.
typeset the Yiddish quickly and accurately and
3. 1 am writingas ifpeace betweenIsraelisand
kepthisgood humordespitetheinevitable rush
Palestinians is assured.However,I am aware
at theend.
that, in reality,thepeace processis very
My motherRose PerczykowKlepfisz
becameonce againa researchcenter- always fragile.
availableto answerhistorical and cultural ThroughoutthisarticleI makebroad
questions,point me in therightdirection, generalizations. I am aware,forexample,
translateand spellYiddishand Polishwords, thatamongIsraeliand U.S. Jewstherehave
and checkon finepointsat thelastminute.Sue beenpeace activistsand feminists who have
Cooper and Cheryl Ruhman providedgood been criticalof Israeli
policies and who all
company, some TV and meals when I was along have questioned Zionism and the
"stuck"or tired.Cherylalso contributed characterofIsraelisocietyand thatsomeof
reproductions ofsomeofthephotographs. theseissueswereraisedevenbefore1948.
Finally, I am indebted to Judy Waterman Discussionoftheseissuesintensified for
who, over the 12
past months, has listened to me manyJews after thestartof the intifadain
discussthesewomenand readvariousversions December1987, and,in bothIsraeland the
ofthisspeech/article at everystageofitsdevelop- U.S., manyJewsbeganto wonderwhattheir
ment.Judyhas fullymasteredthatdelicateartof Zionistidentity requiredthemto do and to

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 accept.Despitethis,I don'tbelievemost EasternEuropeanJewishculture.Children
Jewshave beenquestioning thebasic mayhavereadsomeSholemAleykhem in
and
assumptions premises Zionismand
of Hebrewand theKnessetbuildingmay
itsimplicationforJewishidentityinsideand displayChagall'sglass-stainedwindows
outsideIsrael.Nor has thespecificquestion withtheirfanciful of
depiction shtetllife,
of secularismoutsideofIsraelbeenad- butYiddishhas notbeentolerated.It is only
dressedbythe^organized,butminority, veryrecently, perhapsin thelastdecade,
Jewishcommunity. thatYiddishwas givenas a languageoption
in somehighschools.Israelicollegestu-
4. All displaysat theMuseumare multilingual.
I copiedthisEnglishstatement
verbatim in dents,however,are showingmoreinterest
and Yiddishscholarshipis now well estab-
1989.
lishedin Israeliacademia.Thisis, ofcourse,
5. 1 am buildingon mypreviouswriting on occurring aftertheAshkenazipopulationno
secularism, yidishkayt,Zionism and the has
longer anyknowledgeofthelanguage.
Holocaust: "Resistingand Surviving
8. For a detailedand cleardiscussionofthe
America"(1982), "SecularJewishIdentity:
Bund'srelationship withtheRSDWP, see
Yidishkayt in America"(1986), "Yom
A Medita- HenryJ.Tobias, TheJewishBundfromIts
Hashoab, Yom Yerushalayim:
tion" (1989) and "/CWoymes/Dreams in Originsto 1905 (Stanford UP, 1972); Nora
Politicsand Levin,WhileMessiahTarried:Jewish
Progress: Culture, Jewish SocialistMovements1871-191 7 (Schocken,
Identity"(1990), whichare all includedin
1977); and Nora Levin,TheJewsin the
mycollectionDreams ofan Insomniac: SovietUnionSince1917 (IB Tauris,1988).
JewishFeministEssays,Speechesand
Diatribes(EighthMountain,1990). In the 9. 1 firstheardtheterm"post-Zionism"in
following, briefsummary
necessarily of 1984 inJerusalem fromthelateactivist
political debateat theturn ofthecentury, I Naomi Kies. See, "Naomi Kies," The Tribe
am generalizing thepositionsofall three ofDina: A JewishWomen'sAnthology, eds.
politicalmovements. I am awarethatwithin MelanieKaye/Kantrowitz and IrenaKlepfisz
thesethreethereweremanydisagreements (Beacon,1989), pp. 212-13. The term
and that,in fact,thesethreewerenotthe "post-Zionism"has beenused bynon-
onlypoliticalmovements whichwereactive. Zioniststo indicatethatZionism,as an
I believe,however,thatthesegeneralizations ideology,is no longerneededbecausethe
are stillusefulguidesin enteringthemodern Zionistmovement, focusedon establishinga
worldofEasternEuropeanJewry. Jewish has
state, achieveditsgoal. I've heard
thetermused morefrequently in thelastfew
6. In hisintroduction to Brivkaynmedines
isroel[Lettersto Israel](1955), Dr. Emanuel years,possibly sign impatienceon the
a of
"Monie" Patt,a "ben bundist/son of a partofJewswho wantto moveahead,but
who feeltheycan onlydo so ifIsraeli's
Bundist,"explainsthathe wentto Israelto situationis normalized.When "post-
see ifanypartof "deroytser"(p. 8) had
Zionism"actuallybeginsis, as always,
beenpreservedthere.Thislife-long Bundist, debatable.
who came to theU.S. in 1940 and servedin
theU.S. Army,neveroncementionsthe 10. Goles and galutare thesameword,spelled
wordZionismin theentireintroduction. He thesameway,meaningthesamething,but
refersto theU.S. as "unzerheym/our home" pronounceddifferently.Yiddishspeakers,
and maintainsin classicBundisttermsthat whatevertheirpolitics,would saygolesin
now umayngoyrliz farbundn mitngoyrl to theDiaspora. I am trying
reference to use
fundoziknyidntum/my fatehas become thewordin a differentway.
intertwined withthefateofthis[country's -
11. ThereareJewishgroupsin thiscountry
U.S.] Jewry"(p. 9). focusedon secularismand on Yiddish.For
7. AshkenazidominanceofIsraelicultureand themostparttheyare small,each tryingto
governmenthas hiddenitsbasic antipathy
to developitswork while its
enlarging follow-

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 ing.To contactthem,write:Congressof shrewdand sentherto someonewho was
SecularJewishOrganizations, 419 W. Mt. morelikelyto approveherplan.
PleasantAvenue,Philadelphia, PA 19119.
18. Facsimileof originalYiddisharticlein
For ongoingdiscussionof secularismand
NeverSay Die! A ThousandYearsof
I urgereadersto subscribeto
yidishkayt, YiddishinJewishLifeand Letters,ed.
Jewish Currentsat: 22 East 17thSt. Suite
New JoshuaA. Fishman(The Hague: Mouton,
601, York,NY 10003.
1981), pp. 173-76. Paginationincluded
n. in text.
19. He "workedin a framework oftraditional-
12. In Yiddish,"yid" meansboth"Jew"and istJewishOrthodoxy,and hisYiddishism
"Jewishman." was deeplyrootedin theinherent religiosity
13. It is ironicthatthreeofthemostardent oftraditional speakersofthelanguage."The
Yiddishistcriticsand histori- BlackwellCompaniontoJewishCulture,ed.
contemporary
ans are womenwho are equallyardentanti- GlendaAbramson(Oxford:BasilBlackwell,
feminists: thelateLucyDawidowicz, 1989), p. 95.
Cynthia Ozick and RuthWisse.Though 20. Weissman,p. 143.
each has contributed a wealthofinforma-
tionand translations whichhaveenriched 21. Ibid; also Froyenin digetoszamlung
ourknowledgeofyidishkayt, all threehave [Womenin theghettoescollection](New
beenhostileto York:PioneerWomen,1946), vi.
openly theoryand
feminist
scholarship, and have notincluded women 22. RabbiJosephTelushkin,
JewishLiteracy
in mostoftheirwork. (New York:WilliamMorrow,1991),
14. Thereare a fewexceptionslikeNormaFain p. 304.
Prattin her"Cultureand RadicalPolitics: AneHellerRozenthal
YiddishWomenWriters1890-1940,"
AmericanJewishHistory,LXX (1981), 60- 23. AneRozenthal,"Bletlekhfuna lebns-
91. As I was finalizing
thisarticle,I saw a geshikhte/Pagesfroma lifehistory"in Di
copyofNaomi Shepherd'snewlyreleased bavegungbiz der
yidishesotsyalistishe
A PriceBelow Rubies:JewishWomenas grindung fun"bund" [TheJewishsocialist
Rebelsand Radicals(HarvardUP, 1993). It movement untilthefoundingofthe
lookslikea wonderful historyofwomen- "Bund"],eds. A. Tsherikoveret al., Volume
-
whichnamesnames witha close analysis 3 ofHistorisheshriftn[Historicalwritings]
of seven.I havenotreadityet,butI am (Vilna:YIVO, 1939), pp. 416-37. Pagina-
assumingitwillspurfurther feminist tionincludedin text.
research.
24. gimnazium(Polish):highschool,butmore
m. advancedand possiblyequivalentto thefirst
one or two yearsofourcollegeeducation.
SoreShenirer 25. AneRozenthal,"PavelRozenthal- Anman,"
15. In GezamlteShriftn p. 439. Pavelfrequently
Tsherikover, signed
[CollectedWritings]
publishedarticleswiththename "Anman"
(Lodz, 1933). Paginationincludedin text.
(Ane'shusband).
16. DeborahWeissman,"Bais Yaakov:A
26. Consideredone ofI. L. Peretz'smost
HistoricalModel forJewishFeminists"in
TheJewishWoman:New Perspectives, ed. revolutionary stories,"BontsheShvaygf
BontshetheSilent"has as itsheroa porter
ElizabethKoltun(New York:Schocken,
who passivelyacceptseveryinjusticemeted
1976), p. 141. out to him.An Englishtranslation byHilde
17. WeissmanstatesthattheBelzerHasidim Abelis includedin /.L. Peretz:Selected
were"politicallyactivein responseto the Stories,eds. IrvingHowe and Eliezer
Enlightenment" (p. 142). Sore'sbrotherwas Greenberg (New York:Schocken,1974).

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27. AneRozenthal,"Froyen-geshtaltn in 'bund' purged,imprisoned and executed.For more
/Womenpersonalities in the'Bund'," Unzer on Biribidjan,
see Levin,SovietUnion,
tsayt[Our time],#3-4(Nov.-Dec. 1947), p. pp. 282-311. Also,Zvi Gitelman,A Century
60. The originalbrochureis notin theBund ofAmbivalence:TheJewsof Russiaand the
archivesor in theYIVO library.I am not SovietUnion- 1881 to thePresent
clearwhethertheUnzertsaytarticle,which (New York:Schocken& YIVO, 1988),
appearedon the50thanniversary ofthe pp. 157-62.
Bund, is a of
reprint theentirepieceor 36. Gina Medem,A lebensveg:otobiografishe
abridged. notitsn[A way oflife:autobiographical
28. Citedin Dina Blond's"Ane Rozenthal,"in notes](Gina Medem Book Committee,
Doyresbundistn[Generations ofBundists] 1950). Paginationincludedin text.
(New York:FarlagUnserTsait,1956), p. 37. Medem'scritiquesofDer forverts
are
187. 1 havebeenunableto findAne's
describedbyIrvingHowe in The Worldof
memoiron theRomanovkerevolt.
Our Fathers(HarcourtBraceJovanovich,
29. A memorialbook of almost600 pages with 1976), pp. 541-42.
thebiographiesof CYSHO teacherswas
38. ThroughoutA lebensveg,Gina returns to
publishedafterthewar:Lerer-yizker-bukh: Der forverts'fascism.Her characterizing the
di umgekumene lererfunCYSHO shulnin
Medem Sanitarium as "fascist"was
poyln[Teachermemorialbook: The in thejournal
murdered teachersof CYSHO schoolsin reportedbyVolfVarshafski
Der veker[Thewaker],February,1939,
Poland],ed. Kh. Z. Kazhdan (New York: fromUnzershtime[Our
CYSHO MemorialCommittee, p. 7, reprinted
1952-1954).
voice]in Paris.Bundists'outragethatshe
30. Blond,p. 190. was usingMedem's nameto promotethe
cause oftheenemy(communism) appeared
31. Ibid.
againin Unzershtime,aftertheHitler-Stalin
32. The listofAne'swritings is derivedfrom pact,in an articlebyA. Almi,"Di almone
Dina Blond'sessay.I haveonlyfoundthe vos farshvekht demnomenfunman/The
autobiographical memoir,theessayon widow who desecrates thenameof her
Pavel,and thereprint on womenin the husband,"April20, 1940.
Bund.
38a.Zvi Gitelman,A CenturyofAmbivalence.
33. Unzertsayt,January1942, pp. 29-31.
39. Accordingto theLexiconof Yiddish
34. MiriamRaynhartz, Lebens-fragn [Life Writers, Gina also wrotereportsforthe
Questions](Tel Aviv)(October-November, radicalNew Yorkjournal,New Masses.I
1952), p. 19. havebeenunableto locateanyreportswith
herbyline.
Gina Medem
40. This is Gina's onlypublishedwritingthat
35. Biribidjan(1928-1940) was designatedas uses "dehebraized"orthography.
theplace forJewishresettlement in partto Dehebraization:All componentsof Yiddish
"productivize" Jewsbyengagingthemin (German,Slavicand others)are spelled
agricultural labor and collectivefarming.It phonetically,exceptfortheloshn-koydeshl
was located1,000 milesfromMoscow holylanguagecomponent(Hebrewand
partlyalongtheChineseborderand took 10 Aramaic)whichusesconsonants- like
daysto reachbytrain.It was, amongother modernHebrew.Becausethesourcesofthis
things,supposedto helpdevelopSoviet componentare religioustextsand because
Yiddishcultureand preserveYiddish.There theZionistspromotedHebrew,theSoviets,
has beena lot ofdebateaboutthereal withJewishcommunists' support,insisted
Sovietintent.Few Jewswantedto settle thatloshn-koydesh wordsbe "dehebraized"
thereand in thelate 1930s and againin the and spelledphonetically,therebyerasing
late '40s, Jewishleadersand artistswere theirreligiousand Zionistassociation.See

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 in
RachelErlich,"Politicsand Linguistics 49. Misnagid:orthodoxJewwho strongly
theStandardizationof SovietYiddish"in opposesHassidism.
JoshuaA. Fishman'sNeverSay Die!,
pp. 40-44. Paginationincludedin
50. "£//#,"
pp. 699-708. Therewerealso Bundists text.
who wantedto "neutralize"thesewords,
sometimes forpoliticalreasons,sometimes 51. aliyah:permanent in Israelbya
settlement
forthesake ofconsistency. Buttheymet DiasporaJew.
withresistance,evenfromstaunchsecular-
52. E. Korman,ed., Yidishedikhterin
ists,who,accordingto Max Weinreich, felt
itwas "tearingthelanguagefromits antologyes[Jewish poetessesanthology]
source"Erlich,(p. 702).
traditional (Chicago,1928), p. 190. The collection
includeswomenpoetsfrom1888-1927.
41. Dos kindin dervelt(1936), p. 2. The restof
thepamphletfocuseson a Japaneseboy, IV
and childrenofdifferentethnicbackgrounds 53. See article"Canon
KathrynHellerstein's
(includingJewish)in Biribidjan. and Gender:WomenPoetsin Two Modern
42. Difroy... (New York:Kooperativefolks- YiddishAnthologies"forone possible
farlag- IWO, 1937). Pagination includedin approachto analyzinghow and whywomen
text. poetsare includedin Yiddishanthologies,in
Shofar,Vol. 9, No. 4 (Summer1991), pp. 9-
43. HayyimNahmanBialik(1873-1934),
23, a specialissueon "EasternEuropean
Hebrewpoet and essayist. To America
JewishWomenImmigrants:
44. Lender,felker,kamfn (New York: Gina and to Pre-StateIsrael"editedbyNorma
Medem Book Committee, 1963), p. 224. Fain Pratt.
45. AvromKvaterka,"Dos maydlfun 54. EncyclopediaJudaica,Vol. 14, pp. 296-7.
tomashovlThe girlfromTomashov,"March 55. See note25.
29, 1977, pp. and 6. The Lexiconof Yid-
3
dishWriters as 1888
listsGina's birthdate 56. In theoriginalspeechI gave in Toronto,I
- whichwould havemadeher89 in 1977. suggestedthat,generally, women'spoetryis
moreacknowledgedthantheirintellectual
KadyaMolodowsky or fictionprosebecausepoetryis errone-
ouslyconsideredunintellectual and more
46. Thereis something touchingabout Kadya's emotional- morein thespheremencan
appealsto hersubscribers and herreminders
tolerate;thisanalysis,ifcorrect,would
thatSvivedoes nothavethestaffor money accountforthegreatervisibility of women's
to sendrenewalnotices.The secondseriesof Yiddishpoetry.It was pointedout to me,
Svivedid notcontinuethenumbering ofthe
however,thatin EasternEuropepoetswere
but
first, beganagain with #1. consideredpowerful(and,therefore,
47. Svive(secondseries),#10(September1963), dangerous).I stillthinkI'm right,thoughI
p. 207. Paginationincludedin text. would haveto comparethestatusofnon-
Jewishpoetsin Russia and Polandwith
48. Kadya frequently used Englishin Yiddish thoseof Yiddishpoetsin theJewishcommu-
transliteration
to reflecthow AmericanJews
nityin thesamecountries.My suspicionis
actuallyspoke.Sometimesthiswas done thatYiddishprosewriters havereceived
withironyand affection, sometimes with if
greaterrespect.However, poetswere
contempt, as in thepassagejustcited.But theerasurehereof
equal withprosewriters,
whateverthetone,forKadya,theinfiltra- womenpoetsin Yiddishculturewould be
tionofEnglishintotheYiddishlanguage theresultofgreatersexismon thisside of
alwayssignaledthedecayofJewishvalues theAtlantic.For discussionsof thediffer-
and morals. encein sexismhereand in Europe,see
CharlotteBaum,Paula Hyman,Sonya
Michel,TheJewishWomanin America.

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57. Marc Chagall'spaintings, and movieslike
Fiddleron theRoof and Yentlrepresent the
mostpopularand bestknownimagesof
EasternEuropeanJewishlife.Becauseofhis
own politicalcommitments, IrvingHowe,
despitecompletely ignoring women,mustbe
givencreditforinsisting in hishistories
and
anthologies on thedeeplypoliticalaspectsof
secularyidishkayt. BookslikeLucjan
Dobroszycki and Barbara Kirshenblatt-
Gimblett's ImageBeforeMy Eyes:A
Photographic HistoryofJewishLifein
Poland, 1864-1939 (New York:Schocken
and YIVO, 1977) and Zvi Gitelman'sA
CenturyofAmbivalence:TheJewsofRussia
and theSovietUnion,1881 to thePresent
also givea veryaccurateand balancedview
ofJewishlifein EasternEurope.Butneither
Howe's viewsnorthosepresented in these
bookshave beenincorporated intothe
popularimagination, exceptpossiblyby
anti-Semites who use Jewishprogressive
politicsto smearJews.
58. Therehas beenfinefeminist scholarship
abouttkhines, Jewishwomen's
traditional
prayersin Yiddish;althoughthisworkis
veryvaluable,becausetherehas beenlittle
secularscholarshipto contextualize
this
theimageofJewsonly
material,itreinforces
as pious.
59. AmongYiddishwriters therehas always
beena tensionbetweenthosewho feel
firstobligationis to art
Yiddishliterature's
and thosewho feelit shouldreflect Jewish
nationalaspirationsand values(Is itgood
fortheJews?).Kadya's positionwas
and moreextreme.
different

WINTER/SPRING 1994/47

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