•
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
C
December 26, 1975 33
Centennial of Yiddish Poet Reisen Will Be Commemorated Next Year
By ALLEN A. WARSEN
Abraham Reisen, the
great Yiddish poet and short
story teller, was born in
Kaidanoff, Russia in 1876
and died in New York in
1953. He was raised in a tra-
ditional Jewish home and
received his religious and
secular education in his na-
tive town.
•• •
**
•
by HATTIE •
SCHWARTZ •
•
356-8563 :
• •
STATIONERY•
TY FAVORS XMAS CARDS
* ENTERTAINMENT * * *•
SEYMOUR
• CARICATURES
MUSIC SHOWS SCHWARTZ •
AGENCY
•
PSYCHICS
:HOLIDAY
sHows'356-8525
His father Kalman, a reli- still a teenager, and at an
gious man, wrote Yiddish early age published his
poems. His sister Sarah was first volume of short sto-
a well-known Yiddish prose ries.
writer and poet. Her works
Some of Reisen's poems,
include "Cholem un .Vahr" because of their melodius
(Dream and Awakening") quality, became folk-songs.
and "Lieder" ("Poems").
The most popular ones are
His brother Zalman was a "Mai Ka Mashma-lon?"
Yiddish lexicographer and ("What Does It Tell Me?")
grammarian. He authored "Der Gemoreh Niegen"
the four volume "Lexicon (chant). "Di Vant" ("The
fun der Yiddisher Litera- Wall"), and "A Winterlied"
ture, Presse un Filologie" ("A Winter Song"). Its first
(Lexicon of Yiddish Litera- verse reads: "Huliet, huliet
ture, Press and Philology"). beize vintn." The last two
The Bolsheviks killed him in folksongs were sung in the
cold blood when they in- Hitler ghettos and concen-
vaded Vilna during the hey- tration camps.
day of the Hitler-Stalin
In his poems Reisen ex-
Pact.
pressed a concern for the
Reisen composed his downtrodden: the cobbler,
first published poem when the maid-servant (di dien-
I I MILE ROAD & LAHSER
IN SOUTHFIELD
//
DEC. 26 'TIL JAN. 11
COME IN OUT OF
THE COLD FOR 414,
BARGAINS GALORE!
HARVARD ROW MALL
WISHES A JOYOUS
AND PROSPEROUS
NEW YEAR TO ALL OUR
PATRONS
Harvard Row Merchants
Aladdin Drugs
Athens Souvlaki, Rest.
Burton's Gal
Charlotte's Knit Shop
DiRosa Hair Fashions
Jules Doneson Travel
Empress Gardens, Rest.
Fanner Jack's
Haber Cleaners
H. R. Barber Shop
H. R. Kosher Meats
Heritage House Books
Moris Huppert Clothier
Jerome's Shoes
Jewel Bakery
Maker Furs
National Bank of Southfield
George Ohrenstein Jeweler
Original Esquire Rest. & Deli
Parisian Fashions
Reflections of Love Florist
Shoe Time
Spitzer's Hebrew Book
Warren Optometric Center
stmeidel), the yeshiva
bokher, the underpaid me-
lamed (religious teacher).
Reisen masterfully-
weaved, integrated and har-
monized Hebrew biblical
concepts with his Yiddish
poetic creations.
His verses are balanced,
rhythmic, have breadth
and depth and elicit vivid
and striking images and
feelings of mood. Some
evoke pathos. A good ex-
ample is the poem "In In-
dependence Hall," written
in 1919 on the occasion of
the founding of the Ameri-
can Jewish Congress in
Independence Hall in Phil-
adelphia.
In Independence Hall
Permeated with sanctity,
At the bell that
proclaimed
A great nation's liberty
We stood in awe
Chanting the Hatikva.
And the Flag, the
"White and Blue,"
Weary of assaults,
To the flag of
"Stars and Stripes"
Clung and waved.
Reisen, the author of
more than 800 poems, is re-
garded as the first great
20th Century Yiddish poet.
In contrast, Mendele
Mokher Seforim, Sholom
Aleichem and I. L. Peretz,
Liberia's Stand on Zionism
NEW YORK — When the anti-Semitism gave birth to
United Nations General the Zionist movement. From
Assembly passed an Arab- the year 613 to the year
sponsored resolution equat- 1492, the Jews were expelled
ing Zionism with racism, on from Spain, and they were
Nov. 10, 35 countries voted also expelled from England,
against the proposition, 32 France and Austria. In
abstained and three were 1890, an Anti-Semitic Party
absent. Among the African was formed in Germany
nations strongly opposed to which lasted until 1935.
the resolution was Liberia.
Even though the Zionist
The following is an 'ex-
cerpt of the statement made movement was founded in
by David Weahplah Wilson, 1897, many Jews through-
First Secretary of the Per- out the world hesitated to
manent Mission of Liberia, join it or be associated with
as part of the official UN it, probably because they
record, explaining Liberia's were not too sure whether
the idea of the Jewish home-
position.
land would materialize. -
Apartheid, or racism as it
But because of the trag-
applies to South Africa, has
a definite connotation which edy of the Jews in Nazi Ger-
relates to the separation of many, many Jews through-
the races on the basis of the out the world embraced the
color of their skin. Is this movement. They did so_ not
because of racism, but be-
true of Zionism?
During the debate in the cause the very survival of
Third Committee, some of the Jewish people was at
us were very much sur- stake. -
prised and bitterly disap-
pointed to observe that in.
all those brilliant and elo-
quent statements not one
word was said about the
Programme for the Decade
which is designed to help
our brothers and sisters,
some of whom are now
languishing in the prisons
in Namibia, Zimbabwe
and South Africa.
It was most regrettable,
Our Annual
indeed that the Programme
for the Decade, which we
Clearance
cherish so dearly, was com-
pletely overshadowed by the
Sale Is Now
question of equating Zion-
ism with racism. If a mem-
In Progress
ber of the racist regime of
South Africa had been pre-
sent at that meeting he
would probably have danced
with joy.
It is a historic fact that
the founders of modern Yid-
dish literature, are consid-
ered 19th Century writers.
As already mentioned,
Reisen was also an author
of short stories. Some of
them are "The Rabbi and
His SeforiM" (sacred
books), "The Polish
Priest," "The Old Mag-
gid" (itinerant preacher),
and "A City Without
Women." These stories, in
their brevity and compact-
ness, resemble those of
O'Henry. They are mean-
ingful, perceptiVe, and
profound.
Reisen, it is interesting to
note, authored the first Yid-
dish reader, and edited and
published literary maga-
zines, including "The Twen-
tieth Century," "New Yid-
dish," and "The New Land."
The year 1976 will mark
Reisen's 100th birthday, and
already Jews the world over
are making preparations to
observe this important
event.
MORRIS
BUICK
IS THE GUY
IS THE BUY
You Get More Buick
For Less Money !
AT MORRIS
BUICK
14500 W. 7 Mile
AT LODGE X-WAY
342-7100
YEAR END
FUR SALE
Akiva Wins Prize
in WZO Contest
Akiva Hebrew Day School
won third prize in the edu-
cational project, Lanu
Ha'aretz, organized by the
Torah education depart-
ment of the American Sec-
tion of the World Zionist
Organization.
The school was awarded a
$200 subsidy towards its
annual "Kita Yud-Bet" —
12th year study program in
Israel — "for the most suc-
cessful school project, in
which all students, from
kindergarten through 12th
grade, participated."
ALL OUR
FINE FURS
DRASTICALLY
REDUCED
M LTER
e/e/C1-- INC
Designers of Fine Furs
OF HARVARD ROW
HARVARD ROW MALL
21742 W. 11 Mile Road, Southfield
358-0850