Appendix: Poems in Yiddish, Nov. 13, 2024

I decided to include in the book, an appendix of the twenty poems I had translated in their entirety, in their original Yiddish. I did this to give readers who are able to read and understand Yiddish an opportunity to compare my English translations with their Yiddish originals, and simply, because the book is so much about Yiddish, to allow readers to see how beautiful the script looks in print. Here is one such English translation, an eight line poem prologue which opens his first book, dated Montreal, 1950. It translates as follows:

Although my poem is poor,

like a candle for a penny

I take pride in its Yiddish language

and its place on the table.

Not for appearance's sake

not as a memorial candle

but right next to a loaf of bread

and a jug of fresh water.

I found such love poems to Yiddish throughout my father's books. In this one he expresses how integral Yiddish was to his daily life and spiritual survival.