Short Works in Translation

Two poems from Rivka Basman Ben-Haim’s 2020 collection speak to her experiences of the Holocaust. Translated by Zelda Kahan Newman.

In this story by Yente Serdatsky, a shepherdess falls for an enchanted knight whose heart has been turned to stone. Translated by 2021-2022 translation fellow Dalia Wolfson.

“The whole thing got started because Siomke Kagan, the reporter for the Vilner tog newspaper, went to war with Sophianikes Street.” A short story by Abraham Karpinowitz. Translated by Helen Mintz.

An excerpt from a 1912 etiquette manual describes the proper comportment of a woman during pregnancy. Translated by Sonia Gollance.

Two poems by Binem Heller, translated by Emily Mazza.

A late poem from modernist Moyshe-Leyb Halpern. Translated by Matthew Johnson.

A strike tests Avreml's loyalty in these two chapters from labor-leader Ben Gold's first novel. Translated by Annie Kaufman.

The first work of Meyer Kharats to appear in English, a poem translated from the Yiddish by Sebastian Schulman.

"I had never set eyes on Markish prior to my arrival in Moscow in 1944." Abraham Sutzkever recalls Russian Jewish poet and playwright Peretz Markish in this excerpt from Justin Cammy's new volume of Sutzkever's non-fiction writings.

All his thinking finally led him to a clear decision: he had to leave Golodovke.

By Avrom Sutzkever, translated by Maia Evrona

It was always a great brawl when Răşcanu was involved.

Travel journalism by the founder of the Forward.

Rebbe Nachman's most famous shaggy dog story.

A news article transformed into a poem through translation.

A poem by Izi Kharik, translated by Madeleine Cohen.

A poem of courage in the face of violence; and a reprise, eighty years later.

Who was Old Dovidl—or David, King of Israel?

Aunt Taibele never missed a funeral.

A speech by Abba Kovner on the role of the Jewish writer.

A propaganda campaign can't hide the truth forever. An excerpt from The Fugitives by Rachmil Bryks.

A fabulist story of loneliness by Arn Mayzl, translated by Sophia Shoulson.

A short story by Yehudis—a conversation between two women friends about love and desire.

A 1931 essay on American Jewish culture by Chaim Zhitlowsky.

A critique of nationalism in a unique modernist allegory.

A free verse translation of a rhymed and metrical Yiddish poem by Yehoash.

An early exemplar of the listicle: famous beards ranked by Abraham Goldberg.

Two workers poems by Moyshe Nadir.

Two poems by Leyzer Wolf that use the language of folktale to denounce fascism.

An excerpt of Maria Lerner's play about the plight of the agune, or abandoned wife.

A poem about loss and the passing of time by Itzik Manger, translated by Lawrence Rosenwald.

This excerpt from Spiegelblatt's 2003 collection Shadows Knock on the Windows explores memory and loss.

A touching story about a daughter's love for her mother by Avrom Reyzen, translated by Curt Leviant.

Two miniatures by Boris Sandler imaging the later years of the subjects of the Song of Songs, translated by Jordan Kutzik.

An excerpt from Grade's work The Silent Minyan about life in the "shul hoyf" in prewar Vilna.

Two poems by Ephraim Auerbach, translated by Ollie Elkus.

Two poems from Glatstein's 1953 collection, "Father's Shadow," translated by Andrew Sunshine.

A story by Boris Sandler written from the perspective of a young girl spending the day with her father, translated by Jordan Kutzik.

Arn Riklis offers his perspective on New Years, 1936; translated by Ri J. Turner.

A Sukkos story by Sholem Aleichem, translated by Curt Leviant.

Two poems by Mordechai Gebirtig, translated by Murray Citron.

The story of a young couple’s secret love and the unintended consequences this secret has for the lovers, their families, and even their entire town.

What could possibly go wrong with a love triangle in the mountains of Austria?

The first English translation of Sholem-Yankev Abramovitsh's "A Letter on the Subject of Education."

A 1958 answer to the question: "How will our lives look like in the middle of the 21st century?"

A Rokhl Korn story exploring themes central to the author's life and work: wandering, home, and the capacity of aesthetic creation.

Three translated chapters of S. Cohen's memoir detailing the hardships and horrors he experienced fighting in the Great War.

What produced the poetic impulse in her as a child, and what gives rise to a poet in any era? The Yiddish poet Rokhl Korn offers a deeply personal answer.

An excerpt of survival under the occupation of Belgium during World War II.

An original translation of a Mendele holiday story. Stay for the O.Henry-esque twist

Two sketches by Yiddish novelist and prose writer Froyim Kaganovski, one of interwar Poland’s most prominent writers.

Translations of three of Micha Josef Berdyczewski's works by James Adam Redfield.

Sholem Aleichem biographer Jeremy Dauber included "Haman and Mordecai" in his list "If You Read Just Ten Stories by Sholem Aleichem. . ." This is its first-ever English translation.

A short story by famed, path-breaking Yiddish poet Avrom Sutzkever, published in 1975.

A short story by the Yiddish writer Getsl (George) Selikovitch about the search for beauty.

Chapter one of Yoshua Perle's classic novel Everyday Jews, part of our New Yiddish Library Series.

Translations of two Yom Kippur-themed stories by Rosa Palatnik.

The unfinished final chapter of Motl, the Cantor's Son, the last thing Sholem Aleichem ever wrote, newly translated by Larry Rosenwald.

The prologue and first chapter of Sholem Aleichem's classic Jewish romance, newly translated by Daniel Kennedy.

The sounds of 1930s Coney Island come alive in this brilliant radio poem, newly transcribed and digitized from an acetate disc. Translated by Henry Sapoznik.

A story of tension and intensity, from the writer Yenta Mash, translated by Ellen Cassedy. (Photo courtesy of the Yiddish Forward.)

Joseph Opatoshu's take on the tormented personal life of a young Hebrew teacher in New York. Translated by Shulamith Berger.

By Soreh Ayzn, translated by Hinde Ena Burstin. A playful poem.

By Malka Locker, translated by Ri Turner. A poem to lost love.

An essay by the Yiddish critic Moyshe Shtarkman written in honor of Passover, translated by the linguist Ross Perlin.

By Rosa Nevadovska, translated by Merle Bachman. A poet's perspective.

An unflinching look at poverty and the disdain, cruelty, and brutality meted out even among Jews to other Jews, and the story of an unlikely couple finding each other.

An excerpt from Pioneers (Pionern).

Should a Girl Go to a Ball Alone? –Modern Women. –A Companion and a Chaperone. –Rules for Accepting an Invitation to Dance. –Ball Deportment for Girls.

By Bertha Kling, translated Leah Zazulyer. A question to the wind.

Dvoyre Fogel's take on "lyric poetry of the urban condition," a living landscape in words.

An Abraham Karpinowitz story translated by Helen Mintz, as part of her new collection, Vilna My Vilna. Karpinowitz recreates prewar Vilna with subtle artistry and painstaking accuracy: streets, businesses, libraries, people, slang.