Texts & Translations

Avro­hom Eliy­ohu Plotkin served as the rab­bi of Ostashkov, a provin­cial town mid­way between Moscow and Leningrad, after the Russ­ian Rev­o­lu­tion, at a time when the Jew­ish Sec­tions (Evsek­t­si­ia) of the Com­mu­nist Par­ty — sup­port­ed by oth­er agents of the Sovi­et state — were forcibly clos­ing all the insti­tu­tions that made Jew­ish reli­gious life pos­si­ble. In 1927, Ray­atz was arrest­ed in Leningrad and sen­tenced to death. An inter­na­tion­al pres­sure cam­paign secured a com­mu­ta­tion and safe pas­sage to Latvia. ​“Kad­dish Denied” is a semi-auto­bi­o­graph­i­cal tale that unfolds in the after­math of Rayatz’s arrest and departure. 

Apr 11, 2024

A short sto­ry by Mimi Pinzón about a young girl grow­ing up in an Argen­tine conventillo. 

Mar 01, 2024

A col­lec­tion of recent Yid­dish poet­ry pub­lished and per­formed in the wake of the war. 

Feb 15, 2024

An excerpt from Kacz­er­gin­ski’s mem­oir on the ori­gins of the Par­ti­san Hymn.

Jan 26, 2024

A trans­la­tion of Kadya Molodowsky’s response to Melech Rav­it­sh’s arti­cle about women writers. 

Dec 07, 2023

A trans­la­tion of Melech Rav­it­sh’s ​“Mey­delkh, froyen, vay­ber — yidishe dikhterins.”

Dec 07, 2023

A trans­la­tion of Chana Blankshteyn’s repotage on Sore Reyzn’s speech in the Wom­en’s Union in March 1927. 

Dec 07, 2023

A trans­la­tion of Sarah Reisen’s poem to her broth­er, Avrom. 

Dec 07, 2023

Trans­la­tions of excerpts from Mal­ka Lee’s mem­oir, Durkh kinder­she oygn.

Dec 07, 2023

A trans­la­tion of Froym-Leyb Volf­son’s satir­i­cal poem about women writers. 

Dec 07, 2023