Immigrant, Multiplied (Women’s History Day Two)

 My friends know that I’m not someone who regularly listens to podcasts – until my harbour walks during the pandemic led me to find a new friend, and a way to learn much more about Yiddish kultur. “The Schmooze,” hosted by the Yiddish Book Center, has introduced me to authors new and old, translators and translations, musik, events, places…

A couple months ago, I listened to an interview with Anita Norich, who recently translated Kadya Molodowsky’s novel פֿון לובלין ביז ניו יאָרק (From Lublin to New York). The most interesting moment as I listened to Anita talk was her choices in spelling certain words differently, in order to communicate the struggle to learn a new language, including the ways immigrants (or language learners) may use new words.

A colourful image from Yiddishkayt, where you can also read her חשוונדיקע נעכט (Cheshvan Nights)

Kadya, Belarusian by birth, immigrated twice as an adult: once to the U.S. (settling in New York), then to Israel (where she lived in Tel Aviv). She was also an immigrant in relating her upbringing and religious culture to everyday life – struggling with the role of women and the ways they were written about, along with creating literature for and about them.

My favourite picture of Kadya, from Great Jewish Books

Found in an article from the Forward (here in Yiddish) about Kadya, here is an excerpt of her poem אַ מאַנטל פֿון אַ טונקעלן געוואַנטל (A Coat from Dark Cloth/The Dark Mantle), translated into the English in the article.

כ׳האָב פֿון אים דעם רעכטן לאַץ
אָפּגעשענקט דער שוואַרצער קאַץ
און דערנאָך דעם לינקן לאַץ
אָפּגעשענקט דער ווײַסער קאַץ
און די רעשטע, לאָך אויף לאָך,
וועט אָנקומען די צווייטע וואָך

To learn more about Kadya Molodowsky, check out these resources: a journal article about her Froyen-Lider (Women’s Poems), her YIVO biography, and the article about her in the Jewish Women’s Archive.