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, and though they are not wide-
ead their names at least are
vn to the English-reading
; ic. Curiously enough there is
, Yiddish author whose name is
) ily known to the English-read-
oub'lic but whose one work, a
,ia, has been seen by tens, per-
hundreds of thousands of
mis on the stage, in the movies
a few years ago, on television,
is S. Anski, pen name of
,:non Rappaport, author of the
tieal “Dybbuk,” one of the
t moving dramas of the twen-
a century in any language. (In
; ,.i and in this country even
. eras were made out of "The
I n iibuk.”) This is the penalty an
author often, incurs for writing
onlv one work, no matter how
•-cal ■ '
Anski's masterpiece was issued
tin- year in a new translation, by
Jodi C. Landis, in a paperback
vlume entitled "The Dybbuk and
Other Great Yiddish plays” (pub
lished by Bantam Books, Inc.) and
let us hope that this book will
finally impress upon American
readers that "The Dybbuk” was
v 1 itten by somebody, and that
this somebody was known by his
pen-name of S. Anski. Let us also
hope that three out of the four
other Yiddish plays which were
also translated by Prof. Landis,
will serve to introduce a new gen
eration of English readers to such
fine Yiddish writers as H Leivick,
who is represented here by his
loin; mystical play "The Golem.”
Peretz Hirshbein. author of the
pastoral drama "Green Fields."
and David Pinski. whose "King
David and His Wives" is a del
ectable tidbit. These three authors
were translated into English about
four decades ago but the books
have gone out of print. The fifth
play which is published in this
paperback volume is the contro
versial "God of Vengeance" By
Sholom Asch, one Yiddish author
who hardly needs any introduc
tion to an English-reading pub
lic
In 1953, Viking Press got out a
big anthology of (130 pages, en-
t tied "A Treasury of Yiddish
Stories." edited by Irving Howe
and Eliezer Greenberg, to which
this writer contributed a transla
tion. It was subsequently issued as
a paperback by World Publishing
Co in 1958 and has since gone
'hrough six printings, (the last in
t**> 1 ). an indication of the con-
' nued popularity of the Yiddish
'tort story in English renderings,
few years ago there came out
London a new edition of Jos-
ph Leftwich’s "The Golden Pea-
■ck." a huge anthology of Yiddish
ctry in' English translation. Left-
■ l 'h. a well-known Anglo-Jewish
uriialist, author and translator
I now hear, planning to edit
anthology of Yiddish essays,
mething which has never before
cii attempted in English.
There are several questions
inch arise in connection with the
' s ent popularity of Yiddish lit
erature in English translation.
Who are the people who read this
translated Yiddish literature? Is
their interest in translated Yiddish
literature a steady or only an
ephemeral one? If it is a sustained
interest, can it continue for long'.’
One cannot delve into these
matters within the space of a
short article. But we might say in
closing that the present-day inter
est of an English-reading public,
which we presume is overwhelm
ingly Jewish, in Yiddish litera
ture appears to meet a need among
at least a large sector of Amer
ican Jewish youth for understand
ing their immediate past, a need
which may serve to bring to the
attention of American youth other
Yiddish writers besides the three
or four who are popular today.
Immoral Law
Continued fiom page 12
is: At what point does the in
dividual choose to demonstrate
which loyalty he will follow,
if he feels he must choose?
As a preliminary observa
tion. Rabbi Broude stresses
that the committed individual
is not breaking the law to
show his independence but to
fulfil a higher law, or to have
a more just law enacted, or to
bring about a condition of
greater freedom or justice. In
addition. Rabbi Broude holds,
the person involved in civil
disobedience must be willing
to accept the consequences of
breaking a law he believes to
be wrong. Rabbi Broude then
defines civil disobedience as
an action or an inaction, moti
vated by love, in defiance of
civil laws, which has as its goal
the accomplishment of right
eousness and justice.
Jewish lore is replete with
examples of Jews whose con
sciences compelled them to
protest what they considered
wicked actions by those in
power. One only need mention
Samuel and Saul, Nathan and
David. Micah speaking against
Ahab. and others.
Rabbi Broude then notes the
introduction into Jewish law
of the concept of Dina D'mal-
chuta Dina, which translates to
mean that to the Jew. the law
of the land in which he dwells
is his law. This pronouncement
made it possible for the Jewry
of third century Babylonia to
accept the civil law as binding
in all matters not directly in
conflict with Jewish religious
principles. As in all such rules,
the issue turned on when and
how such conflicts could arise.
There are those. Rabbi Broude
notes, who argue that 1 this
principle makes any deviation
from the law of the land as not
in accord with Jewish tradi
tion.
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