Jacob comes into the tent
but Rachel does not even sense
it.
Rapture washes over her face,
her head.
* *
Then did a great repose descend
upon her.
The breath of her nostrils would
not stir a feather.
They laid her down among
mountain stones
and made her no lament.
To die like Rachel,
that’s what I want.
One of the poems that resonated with Israel’s current situation was “But She Had a Son,” read in English by Michael Horvitz and in its original Hebrew by Guri Stark. This poem describes a woman named Rachel whose son was killed in battle. Its final verse:
And she tells him night and day,
summer and winter, feast day and holiday:
I am Rachel, your mother
of clear mind and free will
I will not be comforted.
At the end of the first part of the program, featuring the Ravikovitch poetry, Elisheva Edelson sang the song, “Rabbi Akiva,” telling the story of Rachel, the wife of Akiba, the shepherd-turned Rabbi, and her selfless love, which allowed him to leave her for 20 years to study, returning as one of the greatest rabbis of Israel.
“On the Road at Night, There Stands the Man,” was inspired by Ravikovich’s memories of her dead father. It was read by Susie Meltzer in English and Yaira Haas in Hebrew.
“Delight,” read in English by Phyllis Schwartz and Sam Sasson in Hebrew, was a well-known poem from Sasson’s childhood. “Surely You Remember.” was read by Libe Sherman in English and Aric Dumai in Hebrew. All the Hebrew readers were native Israelis.
I introduced the second half of the program with a biographical sketch of Abraham Sutzkever, called the greatest Yiddish poet of the Holocaust. He was born in a little town south of Vilna, and the family moved to Siberia at the start of World War I. In 1920, his father died and his mother and he moved back to Vilna where the boy attended Polish-Jewish schools. Later, he audited Polish literature classes at the Vilna University and studied Yiddish literature privately. He became part of the artist group, Young Vilna, and began publishing his poetry. When the Nazis invaded, he was one of the 60,000 Jews herded into the Vilna Ghetto.
He was assigned to collect Yiddish books to be sent to Frankfurt for an “Institute to Study the Jewish Question.” He and his colleagues managed to hide many of the valuable volumes as well as to smuggle arms into the ghetto. After the Nazis murdered his mother and his infant child, heand his wife managed to escape the ghetto and join the Partisans. Through the efforts of a Russian-Jewish Anti-Fascist group, the pair was airlifted to Moscow where they were able to survive the war. There, their first daughter was born.
He bore witness at the Nuremberg Trials about the Jews of Vilna. After the war, they returned to Vilna to retrieve the hidden books, but because of Russia’s repressive regime, they did not remain. They settled first in Lodz, Poland, then in Paris, France, before immigrating, in 1947, to pre-state Israel. In the Jewish State, the couple had their second daughter. In 1949, Sutzkever founded and edited Di Goldene Keyt (The Golden Chain), a journal of Jewish poetry and writings that continued for 46 years. He received the Israel Prize for his work to preserve and encourage Yiddish culture.
The first three poems, “To My Child,” “Frozen Jews” and “A Wagon of Shoes,” were written by Sutzkever during the Holocaust. Danny Myers, Jane Zeer and Eli Meltzer delivered them in English, Bernardo Bicas, Sylvia Rosenthal and Jack Cohen read the Yiddish originals.
The horror and heartbreak were palpable in verses such as these from “Wagon of Shoes:”
I must not ask you whose,
My heart, it skips a beat:
Tell me the truth, oh, shoes,
Where disappeared the feet?The feet of pumps so shoddy,
With buttondrops like dew —
Where is the little body?
Where is the woman too?
All children’s shoes — but where
Are all the children’s feet?
Why does the bride not wear
Her shoes so bright and neat?
‘Mid clogs and children’s sandals,
My Mama’s shoes I see!
On Sabbath, like the candles,
She’d put them on in glee.
The heels tap with no malice:
Where do they pull us in?
From ancient Vilna alleys,
They drive us to Berlin.
While living in Israel, Sutzkever wrote about happier topics, such as his poems “Chagall’s Garden,” read by Lisa Schwartz and Maty Bicas, “Chosen Tree,” read by Jane Zeer and Sylvia Rosenthal, “I Already Know the Taste,” read by Eli Meltzer and Jack Cohen and “The Way to Paradise,” read by Lisa Schwartz and Maty Bicas. The last poem, “Who Will Remain?” although written nearly thirty years after the Holocaust, still alluded to that bitter time. it was read by Danny Myers and Bernardo Bicas.
Excerpt from “Chagall’s Garden:”
Behind the gate, in 18 carat dew your bride bathes herself.
She swims anxiously into the palette
together with blue balsam.
Your vision becomes a garden. Oh, nightingale night!
The paints kiss each other. Your paintbrush, alone
a homunculus
over a milky way of canvas,
The evening concluded with the Yiddish song, “Unter Dayne Wayse Shtern (Under Your White Stars).” The plaintive melody was later hummed by the audience as Elisheva Edelson, accompanying herself on the guitar, repeated the sad song with its lyrics by Abraham Sutzkever.
Excerpt: “Under Your White Stars”
Peculiar things are chasing me
Stairs and courtyards with a goad,
I hang, a torn violin string
And I sing to you thus:
Under your white stars
Stretch out to me your white hand,
My words are tears,
They want to rest in your hand.
Bernardo and Maty Bicas, Sylvia Rosenthal and Elisheva Edelson spoke Yiddish from childhood in their native Mexico. Jack Cohen learned his Yiddish growing up in Brooklyn. All the readers, in English, Hebrew and Yiddish were excellent and Elisheva Edelson’s singing added special beauty to the evening. Nineteen community members participated in presenting this outstanding cultural event, supported and publicized by Melanie Rubin, Director of the JCC Senior Department for almost 30 years and wearing various other hats during that time.
This was Rubin’s last program with Jewish Poets–Jewish Voices and the committee and all the Jewish poets whose programs she has supported wish her well on her future endeavors. Her help and encouragement was always invaluable. She will be greatly missed.
*
Eileen Wingard is a freelance writer specializing in coverage of the arts.
Thank you Eileen for helping preserve our Jewish culture through poetry reading and songs!
Great article.