The New Country: Stories from the Yiddish

A classic work revisited and a testament to the beauty and endurance of the Mame-loshn (mother tongue) through the trials and tribulations of Americanization.

Foreword

xiii

Elie Wiesel

The Dora Teitelboim Center for Yiddish Culture

xv

Preface to the Original Edition

xvii

Introduction

xxi

PART ONE Getting Settled

The Tenement House (By Way of a Backdrop)

Leon Kobrin

Into the ghetto of growing emotional entanglements go the bewildered immigrants

3

(7)

Alone in a Strange World

Sholem Asch

The loneliness enforced on a newcomer of pious leanings

10

(10)

On the Streets of New York

Sholem Aleichem

Youngsters discover the expansive air of an American city

20

(5)

A Wall

Zalmon Libin

When a wall, blocking out air and view, goes down, the rent goes up

25

(7)

Imprisoned

Isaac Raboy

Did he flee a short jail term at home for permanent confinement in a shop?

32

(7)

His Trip to America

Abraham Raisin

Wanting to travel to America, he is forced to lower his expectations

39

(4)

We Strike

Sholem Aleichem

The joy of youngsters when a garment strike provides a holiday

43

(5)

The Greenhorns

Chaver Paver

Young immigrants reveal character in their first reaction to the new country

48

(13)

PART TWO Making a Living

Chaim Becomes a Real-Estatenik

Tashrak

Customer-peddler finds a new way to quick riches

61

(5)

Chaim and Chaye

Zalmon Libin

When his wife is sick, he is freed from the candy store

66

(4)

We Work in a Shop

Sholem Aleichem

Conditions to which immigrants are subjected

70

(5)

Point of a Needle

Zalmon Libin

A dramatic incident in a clothing shop

75

(4)

Chaim Thanks God for Deliverance

Tashrak

Chaim saves his life in a strange adventure

79

(4)

The Quiet Jubilee

Zalmon Libin

A worker figures up the total output of his working years

83

(7)

Reb Yankele Pickpocket

Chone Gottesfeld

The hardships faced by a pious pickpocket

90

(5)

PART THREE And What of the Children?

Yossele

Sholem Asch

A child on the ``Island of Tears''

95

(5)

A Sign of Summer

Zalmon Libin

A mother seeks assurance her ailing son will survive

100

(3)

The American Europeans

Abraham Raisin

A young American Jewess is bewildered by values brought by young European Jews

103

(4)

House on Goerick Street

Joseph Opatoshu

A benighted Orthodox father marries off his Americanized daughter to a man like himself

107

(5)

The Father (A Monologue)

Abraham Raisin

He talks about his son in the American army

112

(5)

Kaddish

Aaron Maizel

A father mourns his son killed in the factory where both worked

117

(4)

Madame Marquis

Joseph Opatoshu

Married to an Italian, a mother talks Yiddish to her child

121

(4)

Simcha and Sammy

Chone Gottesfeld

A garment worker lets his infant son taste mother's milk enjoyed by his wealthy employer's son

125

(6)

PART FOUR There's Laughter, Too

Why the Taracans Are My Enemies

Zalmon Libin

A writer is exploited by landsleit (townsmen)

131

(4)

Chaim Does His Duty as a Citizen

Tashrak

Family civil strife over an upcoming election campaign

135

(5)

First Row Balcony

Abraham Raisin

Zalmon generously buys tickets to a benefit performance

140

(4)

I-as Echo

Moishe Nadir

Working as an echo is not as easy as it sounds

144

(3)

Moishe ``Liar''

Joseph Opatoshu

A panhandler gets the surprise of his life

147

(5)

A Eulogist

Chone Gottesfeld

A funeral orator receives the shock of his life

152

(4)

Chaim Buys a Piano for His Daughter

Tashrak

Used as cupboard, a piano goes on strike

156

(7)

PART FIVE Not Lost in the Crowd

Story about a Greenhorn

Sholem Aleichem

The operations of a swindler

163

(6)

She Reads the World

Abraham Raisin

An unemployed girl compares her lot with that of glamour girls in the news

169

(4)

Moishe the Poet

Chaver Paver

Down and out, a poet rejects bohemianism

173

(6)

His Brother's Check

Abraham Raisin

A signature reveals a tortured soul

179

(3)

The Dog

Sheen Miller

An encounter with a dog opens a hidden door and leads to an unexpected outcome

182

(13)

PART SIX Not All Greenhorns Are Jewish!

Quiet words

Borech Glassman

A gentile girl dissuaded from an act of vengeance

195

(11)

Race

Joseph Opatoshu

A Jewess discovers anti-Semitism next door

206

(5)

Everything under Control

Jacob Gordin

A worker is late to work because he helped prevent a train disaster

211

(4)

In a Drugstore

B. Applebaum

A Jew sees a young black man humiliated

215

(3)

A Heart Divided

Peretz Hirschbein

Converted to Judaism many years ago, she now demands that her sons be allowed to attend church

218

(7)

My Indian Mother

Sheen Daixel

A Jewish writer finds kinship among Native Americans

225

(14)

The Authors

239

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The New Country: Stories from the Yiddish About Life in America

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Table of Contents

Supplemental Materials