HeyJaredDiary of a Bad Yiddishist
Occasional and eclectic forays into the life and works of Yiddish poet, playwright and journalist H. Leivick (1888-1962)
- Indexed issues, last 90 days
- 16
- Latest publication
- Oct 1, 2026
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- Earliest in this view
- Jul 23, 2026
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Fists (opens the original)
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A bit more of my own mischief, carried over from last week.I vaguely knew that in addition to running Shriftn, the Sholem Aleichem youth organisation’s journal, together with Daniel Leivick, the actor David Opatoshu had written a collection of stories, called Tsvishn yam un midbar (Between Sea and Sand,1 CYCO, 1947). After a while, I went on to encounter H. Leivick’s
Mischief (opens the original)
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I’ll never get to translate Opatoshu even semi-formally, and I don’t poke too hard at my permission-ish for Leivick for fear of having it revoked, but please enjoy my decidedly under-the-table efforts at Englishing some born of affection (some my own, some second-hand).1 I’ve actually got drafts of quite a few more of his stories because I think they’re really wonderful and I really enjoy working on them and making them accessible to more people.Warning: this story contains violence ag
Yom Kippur, 1954 (opens the original)
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Other pieces from or connected to October of 1954: Izi Kharik, attending shul for Kol Nidre, Leivick’s poem dedicated to Opatoshu, his essay marking Opatoshu’s first yahrzeit and the aftermath of the Castle
On An Old Hill (opens the original)
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Unlike many of his colleagues, H. Leivick never really translated other works. Borrowed from them — certainly, but only really from other Yiddish texts or from translations into Yiddish. Even when citing the Tanakh, it’s typically Yehoash’s translation he employs (if bothering to translate at all) rather than attempting any kind of translation or paraphrasing of his own.There’s one exception, though, that comes immediately to mind.Text within this block will maintain its original spacing when pu
In Tsarist Katorga (opens the original)
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If I’ve ever hesitated in these virtual pages to call Oyf Tsarisher Katorge (1959) purely autobiography, it’s primarily on the basis of Leivick’s own statements about the way he works, his stated view on what an author should put on the page, and what he declares as his own intentions in the brief introduction to the book. <a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!c0MH!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.a
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