The History of Yiddish Literature in the Nineteenth CenturyWiener, Leo
History
The History of Yiddish Literature in the Nineteenth Century
Wiener, Leo
Yiddish literature -- History and criticism
In 1894 Perez published a collective volume, 'Literature and Life,'
which contains, like his periodical, mostly productions of his own. As
they were composed at some later time than those spoken of above, and as
they contain some matter in which he appears in a new rôle, we shall
discuss the volume at some length. In the introduction are given his
general aims, which are not different from those expressed in his former
publication. The final words of it are: "We want the Jew to feel like a
man, to take part in all that is human, to live and strive humanly, and
if he is offended, to feel offended like a man!" The first sketch is
entitled 'In the Basement.' It is the story of the incipient marital
love of a young couple who are so poor that they live in a dark
basement, in a room that serves as a dwelling for several families whose
separate 'rooms' are divided off from each other only by thin, low
partitions. The second is 'Bontsie Silent,' which is given in our
Chrestomathy. It belongs to the same category of sketches as his 'The
Messenger.' It presents, probably better than any other, the author's
conception of the character of the virtues of the long-suffering masses.
Who can read it without being moved to the depth of his heart? There is
no exaggeration in it, no melodrama, nothing but the bitter reality. It
expresses, in a more direct way than anything else he has written, his
faith that the Kingdom of Heaven belongs to the lowly.
The sketch named 'The Fur-Cap' is one of the very few that he has
written as an attack on the Khassidic Rabbi. There is here, however, a
vast difference in the manner of Perez and of Linetzki. While the latter
goes at it in a direct way, with club in hand, and bluntly lets it fall
on the head of the fanatic, Perez has above all in mind the literary
form in which he clothes his attack, and we get from him an artistic
story which must please even if the thrusts be not relished. The Rabbi
never appears in public without his enormous fur-cap, which is really
the insignia of his office. In this story we find the furrier engaged in
a monologue, in which he tells of his delight in making the Rabbi's cap.
He feels that it is he who gives all importance to that dignitary, for
it is the cap that makes the Rabbi. He relates of the transformation of
a common mortal into an awe-inspiring interpreter of God's will on
earth. No important occurrence in life, no birth, marriage, or death,
can take place without the approval of him who wears that fur-cap. It is
the cap, not the man, and his wisdom, that sanctions and legalizes his
various acts. Were it not for the cap, it would not be possible to tell
right from wrong. This fine bit of sarcasm is not a mere attack at the
sect of the Khassidim; it is also meant as an accusation of our whole
social system, with its conventional lies. Perez does not show by his
writings to what particular party he belongs, but he is certainly not
with the conservatives.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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