[Mendele] Mendele Personal Notices and Announcements--Der shrayber Aleksander Shpiglblat avek in der eybikayt

Mon Dec 2 19:37:39 EST 2013

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Mendele Personal Notices and Announcements

December 2, 2013

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>From :  SCZUCKER at aol.com

Date: Dec. 2, 2013 11:18 PM (20 hours ago)

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  Mendele Personals - Der shrayber Aleksander Shpiglblat avek in der
eybikayt

 English follows Yiddish
Dem 25stn November 2013 iz in Petakh-Tikve, Yisroel avek in der eybikayt
der poet un prozaiker Aleksander Shpiglblat, eyner fun di letste groyse
shraybers in der Yidisher shprakh. Tsum badoyern hot er nit bakumen di
geherike onerkenung vos er hot fardint vi a shrayber. Me hot im oykh veynik
ibergezetst af English un mistome oykh af andere leshoynes. Ikh breng do
tsvey lider  kedey der leyener zol khotsh krign a bisl dem tam fun zayn
shraybn. Dos ershte lid mit der iberzetsung gefinen zikh af mayn blog,
Liderlikht: Yidishe lider vegn mames – shevazucker.com/blog. Beyde lider
hobn zikh gedrukt in dem zhurnal Afn Shvel, fun velkhn er iz zint 2008
geven a mitglid fun der redkolyege. Nokh di lider kumt a kurtse byografye.

DER MAMES HENT
Ven der vokhediker umet
Minyet in November-groy,
Ruft aroys mayn benkshaft
Fraytik-tsu-nakhtsn vayte,
Ven di mame fleg a forkhtike
Ontsindn di Shabes-likht.
Nit azoy di likht, leman-hoemes,
Ruft aroys mayn benkshaft,
Vi der mames bentshndike hent,
Vos hobn frum getsoybert
Un geflatert iber zey,
Iber di flemlekh
Geshpiglt in glants
Fun laykhter, zilberne.
Dergeyt tsu mir atsind
Der heyliker geflater
Fun der mames hent,
Un tut a blend
In mayn vokhedikn umet
fun November-groy.
*Afn Shvel*, #348-349, 2010

 A FREMDKAYT
?A fremdkayt a vayse
Tut zikh on af mir
Vi dem zeydns kitl
Vos er flegt onton
Far Kol-nidre,
Kedey tsu zayn opgesheydt
Fun oylem-haze
Vi a mes.

Benk ikh atsind
Nokh dem heymishn beged
Vos kh’hob farzetst
Bam lombard far a kholem
In eynem mit Tales-un-tfiln,
Un ken zey shoyn itst
Mer nit oysleyzn.
Afn Shvel, #342-343, 2008.

Aleksander Shpiglblat iz geboyrn gevorn in 1927 in Kimpeling, Bukovine.  Er
hot gelernt in kheyder un in a rumenisher gimnazye. Er hot ibergelebt di
milkhome in kontsentratsye-lagern in Transnistriye. Nokh der milkhome hot
er zikh gelernt in Bukareshter universitet un iz gevorn a lektor in der
rusisher literatur. In 1964 hot er oyle geven un gevoynt in Petakh-Tivke
biz zayn ptire. Er iz geven der redaktsye-sekretar fun dem zhurnal Di
Goldene Keyt fun 1971 biz er hot zikh farmakht in 1995. Zayne zikhrones
vegn dem zhurnal un zayn legendarn redaktor Avrom Sutskever ken men leyenen
in zayn bikhl Durkh farreykherte shayblekh, (Leyvik-Farlag, 2007).
In 1984 hot er gevunen di Manger-premye. Er iz der mekhaber fun a tuts
bikhlekh poezye un proze, tsvishn zey zibn aroysgegebn in dem nayem
yortoyznt: Durkhn shpaktiv fun a zeyger-makher; 2000, Bloe vinklen – Itsik
Manger, lebn, lid un balade; 2003, Krimeve – an altfrenkishe mayse; 2005,
Griner umet: lider; 2007, Durkh farreykherte shayblekh; 2007, Getunken in
honik-tsar; 2009 un ersht mit a por vokhn tsurik iz ongekumen tsu mir zayn
nayst verk, A moshl zukht a nimshel: Araynblik in di mesholim fun Eliezer
Shteynbarg; 2013.
Vegn zayn poezye hot Y. Yanosovitsh geshribn in dem Leksikon fun der nayer
yidisher literatur, “Poetisher tsimtsem, lirishe miniatur, dos kleyne lid
hobn in Shpiglblatn gefunen a talantfuln zinger.”
Ikh hob gehat di skhiye tsu zayn tsu gast ba im un zayn liber froy Lucie in
Petakh-Tikve etlekhe mol. Er iz geven an eydeler mentsh mit a shtiler
ironye. Koved zayn likhtikn ondenk.

On November 25, 2013 in Petach-Tikvah, Israel, Alexander Spiegelblatt, one
of the last great Yiddish writers passed away. Unfortunately, he did not
get the literary recognition he deserved. Very little of his work is as yet
translated into English. I would like to offer two of his poems so that the
reader may get a taste of his poetry. The first poem, “My Mother’s Hands”
and my translation can be found on my blog: Candles of Song: Yiddish Poems
about Mothers – shevazucker.com/blog. Both poems were published in the
Yiddish magazine Afn Shvel.

*My Mother’s Hands*
When the workaday sorrow
Glistens in the November-grey
My longing summons forth
Far-off Sabbath eves
When my mother, full of awe,
Would light the Sabbath candles.
It is not so much the candles, truth to tell,
That summon forth my longing,
As my mother’s blessing hands,
That quietly worked magic
And fluttered over them,
Over the tiny flames
Reflected in the gleam
Of silver candlesticks.
Now the holy flutter
Of my mother’s hands
Finds it way to me,
And sends a dazzle of light
Into my week-a-day sorrow
of November grey.
Tr. Sheva Zucker

A Strangeness

A white strangeness
Puts itself on me
Like the kitl
That my grandfather used to put on
Before Kol-nidre,
So that he might be separated
>From This World
Like a dead man.

So now I long
For that familiar garment
That I pawned
In the pawnshop  for a dream
Together with my tales and tfiln,
And that now I can
No longer redeem.
Tr. Sheva Zucker

Alexander Spiegelblatt was born in Kimpelung, Bukovinain in 1927. He went
to a traditional kheyder (school) and then to a Romanian gimnazye (high
school). He survived the war in concentration camps in Romanian
Transnistria. After the war he studied in The University of Bucharest and
became a lecturer in Russian literature. In 1964 he emigrated to Israel and
settled in Petach Tikvah where he resided until his death. From 1971 until
it closed in 1995 he was editorial-manager of the magazine, *Di goldene
keyt*, a Yiddish literary periodical of the highest order. One can read his
reminiscences about the magazine and its legendary editor Avrom Sutzkever
in his book Durkh farreykherte shayblekh (Through smoky windowpanes;
2007).  In 1984 Spiegelblatt won the Manger Prize, the highest honor
Yiddish literature has to offer.
He is the author of a dozen books of poetry and prose, among them seven
published in this millenium: *Durkhn shpaktiv fun a zeyger-makher* (Through
a watchmaker’s  spyglass; 2000), *Bloe vinklen – Itsik Manger: lebn, lid un
balade* (Blue corners – Itsik Manger, life, song and ballad: 2003), *Krimeve
– an altfrenkishe mayse* (Krimeve – an old-fashioned story; 2005), *Griner
umet: lider* (Green sorrow: poems; 2007), *Durkh farreykherte
shayblekh*(Through smoky windowpanes; 2007),  *Getunken
in honik-tsar* (Dipped in honied sorrow; 2009). Just a few weeks ago I
received his newest volume, A moshl zukht a nimshel: Araynblik in di
mesholim fun Eliezer Shteynbarg (A parable seeks a lesson; Insight into the
parables of Eliezer Shteynbarg; 2013).
In the Lexicon of New Yiddish Literature the critic Y. Yanosovich wrote
this about his poetry, “Poetic conciseness, lyric miniature, the small poem
have found a talented singer in Spiegelblatt.”
I had the honor of visiting him and his dear wife Lucie several times in
Israel. He was a gentle man possessed of a quiet irony.

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