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Wrestling with Identity: What Happens When Old Country Meets New?

1/14/2017

17 Comments

 
Picture
"Old Country Meets New Country." (Courtesy of "Tablet Magazine": goo.gl/CK5Sfh, 1901 illustration Hebrew Publishing Company, accessed 1-14-17.)
​My clients often ask me about the type of themes and subject matter that I encounter in my unusual line of work.  In the nearly twenty years since I began translating Yiddish texts, I have definitely found certain themes that are relatively common and widespread among family letters, in particular.  In thinking this over recently, I was able to break down those frequent topics of correspondence into the following general groups:

1.  Shortages of money and/or food – This is especially prevalent in letters written in Eastern Europe during times of economic depression, and/or warfare (e.g., World War I and II).  Since many of the letters I encounter stem from the interwar period, I can say without question that these hardships become increasingly pronounced during the final years and months leading up to The Second World War.  In certain instances, this coincides quite blatantly with the anti-Jewish laws that were enacted against Jews in large swaths of Eastern Europe.

2.  Instructions regarding maintenance of the family business – Be it about business conducted in Europe (the proverbial “Old Country”) or already in the United States, South America, Palestine – “Eretz Yisrael” – or elsewhere (the proverbial “New Country”), this is a theme that frequently repeats itself – generally between fathers and sons, brothers, and other male family members.  Only in rarer instances have I seen female family members included in these financial discussions. 

3.  Hope that the family will soon be reunited in the “New Country.”  In the current state, the family is fragmented, divided between different continents – the “Old Country” versus the “New Country.”  Occasionally this division is simply between different cities within the “Old Country.”  It is entirely common to find the “Almighty’s” name invoked here.  Many parents and grandparents (and other family members) often write something akin to: “I hope that the blessed Lord will help me in seeing you in-person, once again.”  Sometimes the invocation is even more dramatic and imploring: “May I still lay eyes on you one last time before I depart this earth.”

4.  Illness and death – References to family tragedies and misfortunes are not wholly uncommon.  Usually these subjects are mentioned in conjunction with the worsening physical state of a parent or grandparent (or other close relative) and/or news of his/her untimely death.  Sometimes this is clearly linked to the generally nefarious condition for Jews in Eastern Europe prior to (and leading into) the Holocaust.  At times, when the letter is directed at a son, he is entreated with the responsibility of saying Kaddish (the Jewish prayer for the dead) and observing the seven-day period of Shiva (the time allotted within traditional Judaism for mourning).  Traditionally, it was the obligation of the son/s to recite Kaddish for a year following the death of a parent. 

​5.  Maintenance of religious traditions, primarily in the migration from the “Old Country” to the “New Country.”  It was well-known that America, in particular, was not so much the proverbial “Goldene Medine” (Golden Land) - referenced by the likes of Jewish immigrant writers such as Anzia Yezierska (1880?-1970) in Hungry Hearts and other related works. Rather, for many Jews, America represented the “Treyfe Medine” (Unkosher Land) – at least for those Jews who continued to adhere to traditional, religiously observant Judaism.  This realization on the part of Jews who remained behind in the “Old Country” regarding the decline of religious observance set in as early as the turn of the previous century.  What’s more, it lasted right up until the outbreak of World War II.  This is reflected in several letters that come to mind from the interwar period, usually written by admonishing parents to their children who had already immigrated to the “New Country” (mostly, from the letters I have translated, the United States).  
Picture
“New Country”: Scene of the Lower East Side of New York City, turn of the 20th Century. Note that none of the adult males depicted here – many, if not all of them, likely Jewish immigrants – have beards, a typical mark of a religiously observant adult Jewish male. Also note that in many cases, business and shop signs bear Yiddish advertisements (sometimes, without the accompanying English translation). (Courtesy of the Tenement Museum New York: goo.gl/1Ob7Xw, accessed 12-31-16.)
Anecdotally speaking, I will never forget a vignette my grandfather related to me vis-à-vis the perceived decline of observant Judaism in the “New Country,” in contrast with that of the “Old Country.”  According to my grandfather, who was born in Kielce, Poland in 1904 – prior to such historical events as the sinking of the Titanic (which my grandfather recalled) and World War I (which, for some reason, my grandfather never mentioned to me) – there had been a local Jew in his community who had actually “gotten out” before World War II (my grandfather’s words) and come to America.  Yet unbelievably, he returned to Kielce sometime during the interwar period, because as he informed the local Jewish community, it was impossible to maintain one’s “Yidishkeyt” (observance of traditional Judaism) in the “New Country,” as it was entirely “treyf” (unkosher). 

Cases in point of this growing religious divide between the older generation in the “Old Country” and the younger generation in the “New Country” may be seen for example, in some of the entries in the Forverts' /Yiddish Forward’'s advice column, known as “Dos Bintel Brief.”  The column, which in Yiddish, literally means “The Bundle of Letters,” ran for over 60 years (from 1906 until at least 1970), and doled out various forms of advice regarding the struggles and woes of Jewish “greenhorns” – and their offspring – in the United States.  The following abbreviated excerpt is but one such case highlighting this very divide: 

1908

Worthy Editor,

I have been in America almost three years.  I came from Russia where I studied at a yeshiva.  My parents were proud and happy at the thought that I would become a rabbi.  But at the age of twenty I had to go to America.  Before I left I gave my father my word that I would walk the righteous path and be good and pious.  But America makes one forget everything.

Here I became an operator, and at night I went to school … entered a preparatory school, where for two subjects I had a Gentile girl as teacher…

I don’t know what I would have done without her help.  I began to love her, but with mixed feelings of respect and anguish … and I never imagined she thought of marrying me…

Then she spoke frankly of her love for me and her hope that I would love her…

I was confused and I couldn’t answer her immediately.  In Europe I had been absorbed in the yeshiva … She is pretty, intelligent, educated, and has a good character.  But I am in despair when I think of my parents.  What heartaches they will have when they learn of this!

I asked her to give me a few days to think it over.  I go around confused and yet I am drawn to her.  I must see her every day, but when I am there I think of my parents and I am torn by doubt…

Respectfully,
Skeptic from Philadelphia

(A Bintel Brief, edited and with an introduction by Isaac Metzker.  New York: Ballantine Books, 1972, pp. 77-78.)
Picture
“New Country”: Abe Cahan (1860-1951), long-time editor of the Forverts and its regular advice column, “Dos Bintel Brief.” (Courtesy of Yiddish Penny Songs: http://www.yiddishpennysongs.com/2016/02/dos-bintel-brief-yiddish-song-about.html, accessed 12-31-16).
In contrast to the above categories, I may also add here – should the reader be wondering about themes that are scarcely discussed in the letters that I have translated – that I have a brief list, as seen in the following:

1.  Serious financial corruption and fall-out within families;
2.  Family members marrying outside of the Jewish faith;
3. Marital indiscretions, illegitimate births, abortions, and the like. 
Perhaps not surprisingly, this category, as well as the previous one, are typically referred to in rather euphemistic terms. 

I would like to focus on the last category of my most frequent themes in my current blog (“Maintenance of religious traditions”), as it is a subject that has appeared with greater recurrence in letters that I have translated recently.  In order to shed further light on this phenomenon, I shall provide one excerpt here from some of these letters – to be continued (ideally) in my next month’s blog.  However, in order to honor the privacy of my client, names have either been omitted or changed here.
Picture
“Old Country”: Religious male Jews praying at the grave of the Rema (Rabbi Moses Isserles, 1520-1572) in Kraków, Poland, c. 1931. (Courtesy of Krakow: Unesco City of Literature: http://kody.miastoliteratury.pl/b/rabin-mojzesz-isserles-zwany-remu, accessed 1-4-17.)
p. 1

With God’s help
November 25, c. 1920s, Podgórze (Kraków)
 
Dearest daughter, Lea,
 
I received your letter today. Your words shook my heart, such that I could not calm down from crying.  I had joy and suffering.  For every word, I wished [you] well; that everything should always go well for you, and that my eyes should yet see you.  For you recognize your sin.  Therefore, the blessed Lord will forgive you; and I forgive you, as well.  I am very glad that you are living a Jewish lifestyle.  The blessed Lord will always help you…   

p. 2
 
…. And that which you write, that Rifke says that since you write, she need not also write … Were she still to have feelings toward her parents.  But I see that her feelings have already been extinguished.  The most significant thing is that she does not live a Jewish lifestyle, so she has no heart to write her parents.  She must wrangle with the fact that nobody lives forever; not be [unduly] proud about her little house, seeing as her father had more than she has.  And she did not take anything with her, now that she had an opportunity to do penance [i.e., for the sins/wrongdoings she did to her parents and in not living a Jewish lifestyle] and left it to you [i.e., that “you” should be responsible for writing, since she has no heart to do so].  Thus, I do not envy her.  
 
As I learned from my client regarding the above excerpt, which I translated from a larger body of text, the author of this letter was a very pious woman.  Several of her children were already living in the United States at the time when she wrote these words to one of her daughters.  The author, known by her descendants as “Bubbe [Grandmother] Dina,” was quite adamant that her children maintain their religiously observant lifestyles – regardless of whether they were now living in a more “open” and less Jewish environment overseas.  What disturbed her most, though, as my client related, was that one of her daughters – Rifke – had decided to marry a man who was not religiously observant.  The family’s oral tradition was that Rifke had always been “the rebellious child” – the one who had distanced herself from the rest of the family, stopped observing the Jewish Sabbath, keeping kosher, and the like.  As such, my client was not in the least bit surprised to read (in translation) these admonishing words of “Bubbe Dina” regarding Rifke’s not living a “Jewish lifestyle.”
Picture
“Old Country”: Góra Kalwaria, Poland. ‘Eydl Karbman at her modest Sabbath table’ (courtesy of YIVO Institute for Jewish Research, RG 1270_617: goo.gl/424vIf, accessed 12-29-16).

​The above letter excerpt – translated from the original Yiddish – is but a small window into the types of subject matter that I frequently encounter in my work as a Yiddish translator.  In my next blog, I will pick up this subject again – and possibly some of the other themes I mentioned above.  As one can see from the words expressed here, there was an evident growing divide – certainly along the lines of religious Jewish observance between the older and younger generations, even within close-knit families.  This divide was all the more blatant when the older generation (that generally constituted the authors of the letters that I receive) still remained behind in the “Old Country” and the younger generation had already immigrated to the “New Country.” 

I would imagine that many of my readers are familiar with this phenomenon within their own families.  As such, I invite you to please share you own accounts of this particular theme in your comments following my blog post.  I am always interested in and intrigued by reading about such family “sagas” in my work as a Yiddish translator.
Picture
“New Country”: Delancey and Essex Streets on the Lower East Side of New York City, c. 1908. This was formerly one of the most prominently Jewish immigrant neighborhoods in all of New York. Faint Yiddish advertisements may be seen in the background. (Courtesy of Old NYC Photos: oldnycphotos.com: goo.gl/jr5agn, accessed 12-31-16.)

​Should you have any such family letters pertaining to any of the subject matter discussed here or beyond that you would like translated from the Yiddish, please do not hesitate to contact me at: ​​rivka@rivkasyiddish.com.
Picture
“Old Country, New Country”: Illustration that may be interpreted to represent the stark contrast between the “Old Country,” as demonstrated by the lone traditional Jewish shtetl fiddler situated amidst the large and looming urban landscape of the “New Country” (in this case, New York City). (Courtesy of Timeline Touring: http://timelinetouring.com/images/fiddler.jpg, accessed 12-31-16.)
17 Comments
David Golden
1/22/2017 09:42:36 am

Very interesting. This reminds me of stories I heard growing up in the suburbs about my grandparents' siblings and their relationships with their parents who remind in their shtetls in Poland. I recall one of my grandfather always being upset that even though he had completed the sponsorship for my great-grandparents to come to America in the 1930's, they decided to remain in their old world shtetl life as they didn't feel America was religious and unfortunately were murdered by the German during the war. How sad.

Reply
Rivka Schiller link
1/22/2017 12:26:25 pm

Thank you, David, for your nice and informative remarks.

Sadly, very few Jews could see precisely what was coming just around the bend in Eastern and Central Europe shortly before WWII. In most cases, though, to further complicate the situation, the possibility of finding a point of immigration was virtually impossible -- especially as time went on.

The fact is that America was perceived by many traditional religious Jews in Europe -- not inaccurately, for that matter -- as a loose and unscrupulous environment that was anathema to religious Jewish observance and practices.

This becomes all the more evident when one reads through many of the letters of "Dos Bintel Brief," which I wrote about in my blog. And indeed, in the case of the man who returned from America to my grandfather's city in Poland -- he, too, shared the same tragic fate of your great grandparents.

Thanks again for taking the time to read and share your thoughts,
Rivka

Reply
Debbie
1/22/2017 12:09:49 pm

Dear Rivka:

Thanks so much for forwarding your incredible blog, which I passed along.

I wonder if you could shed some clarification on the following question:

I came across a Ketubah from Poland where the "marital status" of both bride & groom stated "widow and widower". All older family members shown this know for a fact that this was not the case ..both bride & groom were "single". By the way, the Ketubah was dated Nov. 29, 1938.

How would you interpret this?

I would very much appreciate your input and thank you so much for your return reply.


Regards,
Debbie

Reply
Rivka Schiller link
1/22/2017 12:40:07 pm

Dear Debbie,

Thank you very much for your lovely remarks and for your interesting query.

Unfortunately, I don't have a great deal of context here to give you a definitive answer to your question. It is possible that if, indeed, the couple you mention actually lied about their marital status on their Ketubah (or Jewish marriage certificate), that it may have had something to do with trying to emigrate from Poland.

After all, by 1938, the situation for Jews in Poland was already quite toxic, and it was far from easy to be admitted just anywhere as an immigrant. I could certainly see desperation leading one to make false claims such as these -- even on a religious marriage certificate.

But again, this is simply a loose supposition on my part. I would be especially interested to know if any of my other readers have seen or heard of a situation similar to this one. I therefore invite my readers to share their own knowledge and educated guesses re: this seemingly unusual situation.

Best wishes and thanks again,
Rivka

Reply
Harold Cohen
1/23/2017 07:16:07 pm

The following was written by a reader as another reply to Debbie's query (posted above):

Just speculation but since it was difficult to come to America from Poland in the late 1930's as the winds of war were approaching, perhaps one of both spouses claimed to be married to a deceased previous spouse (who died in America) in order to get immigration papers?

Annette Halpern
1/22/2017 12:56:06 pm

Thank you, Rivka.

This made for some fascinating reading on a rare rainy morning in Southern California. I so appreciate your efforts to keep our people's legacies alive.

The work that you are doing reminds me of mining for the gold of our ancestors' histories and the nuggets you extract for your readers are like buried treasures.

Thank you again.

Sincerely yours,
Annette Halpern

Reply
Rivka Schiller link
1/22/2017 01:49:12 pm

Dear Annette,

Thank you so much for your very appreciative remarks regarding the work that I do. I especially like your vivid metaphor of the mining for golden nuggets -- buried treasures. What a "glowing" tribute!

With much gratitude,
Rivka

Reply
Susan J. Gordon
1/22/2017 01:10:12 pm

I'm in New York (where it's also rainy) but Rivka's stories and pictures have enriched the past for me, and brightened my day. Memories of my grandmother having long phone call conversations in Yiddish with her siblings remind me of the powerful importance of birth languages. That's how the "children" understood each other best. Thanks, Rivka!

Reply
Rivka Schiller link
1/22/2017 02:35:18 pm

Susan,

Thank you so much sharing your thoughts. I genuinely appreciate your kind words.

Given the themes you discuss in your memoir "Because of Eva: A Jewish Genealogical Journey," I imagine that some of my blog's contents also resonate with you. As for the power of birth languages -- in Yiddish, "Mame loshn" (mother tongue) -- you are so correct.

I am not at all surprised that your grandmother conversed with her siblings in Yiddish -- even if she was already living in the US for many years at that time. Not to mention that there was usually the wish to hide things from the children and/or from the grandchildren, who didn't necessarily understand Yiddish. That is a theme that I hear and see in writing time after time -- one that I even included on my website Home page.

In closing, for those who haven't yet read Susan's thoughtful genealogical memoir and tribute, "Because of Eva," you are welcome to read more about it here: http://www.becauseofeva.com/.
I highly recommend you get yourselves a copy of this fine work!

With all good wishes,
Rivka

Reply
Irene Rogers
1/22/2017 10:22:23 pm

Dear Rivka,

Nice to hear from you. I like the old Jewish times better but it is nice to know that we are here for the new Jewish times. There was such closeness. Rivka I am so proud of you that you have the old Jewish voice and yet the new voice except we the Jews have a hard job today.

Reply
Rivka Schiller link
1/23/2017 10:11:13 am

Dear Irene,

Thanks so much for writing. Yes, times have certainly changed for Jews and for society as a whole. I understand what you mean about closeness, even though I have to admit that not all families or communities were necessarily close (and the same holds true as of today). But I appreciate what you are saying, and I greatly value your recognition for my work.

Thank you, Irene!

With kindest regards,
Rivka

Reply
Klara Odinocki
1/23/2017 08:37:59 am

What a wonderful blog! Thank you! Hoping to read more on your blogs. They are very dear to my heart!

Reply
Rivka Schiller
1/23/2017 09:35:01 am

Klara,

Thank you very much for your glowing words! I am glad that you have enjoyed reading this blog, and hope that you will have the opportunity to read many more of my past and future blogs.

Warm regards,
Rivka

Reply
Shari Nilsen
1/23/2017 10:27:25 am

I've read some of your blog posts, and they are absolutely fascinating! I have signed up for your monthly blog, and am looking forward to it. Thanks for posting this!

Reply
Rivka Schiller link
1/23/2017 10:36:55 am

Shari,

Thanks so much for taking the time to read and write these heartfelt words! I am glad that you have enjoyed reading the "fruits of my labor." I also appreciate your signing up for my blog.

Gratefully,
Rivka

Reply
Marlene Chomsky
1/23/2017 07:12:58 pm

I looked at your blog site and I'm so happy for those you can help. It is a beautiful service that you offer and so very important. My mom came to the US from Poland in 1928 at about the age of 18. She told me so much about what happened before and after she left but I have nothing in writing. The most vivid memory I have was the contents of the last letter she and her sister received from home. I was fluent in Yiddish as a child, nothing was hidden from me. I don't think you can help me but bless you Rivka for your work! I made a promise to my mother that I would never forget so that her family didn't die in vain -- I never will.

Reply
Rivka Schiller
1/24/2017 08:40:01 am

Marlene,

Thank you very much for your complimentary words re: my work as a Yiddish translator.

I am glad that I can help provide such services to individuals such as you who have family letters -- and other types of materials -- in Yiddish. In many cases, I work with clients who present me with materials that have begged to be translated for several decades.

I hope that I will be able to continue to offer this service. I also hope that you have found your own way to keep the memory of your loved ones alive. My most sincere thanks to you, Marlene, for your recognition and meaningful wishes!

Warmly,
Rivka

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