Berl Broder (1817–1868), born Berl Margulis, was a Ukrainian

Jew Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, religion, and community are highly inte ...

born in Podkamen,https://archive.org/details/nybc207372 Dray doyres̀: lider fun Berl Broder (Margulies), feliṭonen fun Yom Hatsyoni (Yitsḥaḳ Margulies), poemen un lider fun Ber Margulies (1957) the most famous of the

Broder singer The ''Broderzinger'' () or Broder singers, from Brody in Ukraine, were Jewish itinerant performers in Austrian Galicia, Romania, and Russia, professional or semiprofessional songwriters and performers, who from at least the early 19th century sang ...

s (19th century Jewish singers comparable to the

troubadour A troubadour (, ; ) was a composer and performer of Old Occitan lyric poetry during the High Middle Ages (1100–1350). Since the word ''troubadour'' is etymologically masculine, a female equivalent is usually called a ''trobairitz''. The tr ...

s or

Minnesänger (; "love song") was a tradition of German lyric- and song-writing that flourished in the Middle High German period (12th to 14th centuries). The name derives from '' minne'', the Middle High German word for love, as that was ''Minnesangs m ...

) and reputed the first to be both a singer and an actor.Bercovici 1998. His nickname is the origin of the term ''Broder singer''.Roskies 1999, p. 94. Thirty of his songs survive; of these, 24 are in the form of dialogues, usually between craftsmen such as tailors or shoemakers; his songs are seen as a precursor to

Yiddish theater Yiddish theatre consists of plays written and performed primarily by Jews in Yiddish, the language of the Ashkenazi Jewish community. The range of Yiddish theatre is broad: operetta, musical comedy, and satiric or nostalgic revues; melodrama; na ...

. His childhood was taken up with religious studies at home, until his father's death when he was 16. A handsome, bright young man with a good voice, he taught himself the violin. He worked briefly as a brushmaker; his co-workers became his first audience, calling him "Berl der vertlzoger" - a man who always had a rhyme or a proverb. It was after he married, at the age of 25, that his predilection towards writing and singing emerged. From some time in his late teens or early twenties, he headed on the road as an itinerant performer, along with two other singers, one of whom was also a tailor who made costumes for the troupe. It is believed that many of his songs were improvised on the spot; only thirty survive in written form. In 1857, when economic crisis hit

Brody Brody (, ; ; ; ) is a city in Zolochiv Raion, Lviv Oblast, Zolochiv Raion, Lviv Oblast, western Ukraine. It is located in the valley of the upper Styr, Styr River, approximately northeast of the oblast capital, Lviv. Brody hosts the administrati ...

, he created the Broder-singer troupe and left for Russia. His first book of poetry was published in 1860 in

Pressburg Bratislava (German: ''Pressburg'', Hungarian: ''Pozsony'') is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the Slovakia, Slovak Republic and the fourth largest of all List of cities and towns on the river Danube, cities on the river Danube. ...

, the second in

Lemberg Lviv ( or ; ; ; see #Names and symbols, below for other names) is the largest city in western Ukraine, as well as the List of cities in Ukraine, fifth-largest city in Ukraine, with a population of It serves as the administrative centre of ...

, and the third (1882) in

Warsaw Warsaw, officially the Capital City of Warsaw, is the capital and List of cities and towns in Poland, largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the Vistula, River Vistula in east-central Poland. Its population is officially estimated at ...

. He composed a tremendous number of songs and

couplets In poetry, a couplet ( ) or distich ( ) is a pair of successive lines that rhyme and have the same metre. A couplet may be formal (closed) or run-on (open). In a formal (closed) couplet, each of the two lines is end-stopped, implying that there ...

which were never published, and would challenge his partners and competitors to rhyming duels, himself generally emerging the victor.Zalmen Zylbercweig, ''Leksikon fun Yidishn teater'', Book one, 221-227 After leaving Brody, he never settled in any one place; he was also known as a heavy drinker. He lived his last years in poverty.

Zalmen Zylbercweig Zalmen Zylbercweig (Yiddish: זלמן זילבערצווייג ; Ozorkow, 1894-Los Angeles 1972) was a historian of Yiddish theater. He is best known as the author of the six-volume '' Leksikon fun yidishn teater'' (Lexicon or Encyclopedia of the ...

cites conflicting accounts of his last years: his son claimed he died in 1868 in Carlsbad, while a contemporary claimed he died in 1888 in Pliyeshtsh ( Ploieşti, Romania), a small town near Bucharest.

Notes

References

* Bercovici, Israil, ''O sută de ani de teatru evreiesc în România'' ("One hundred years of Yiddish/Jewish theater in Romania"), 2nd Romanian-language edition, revised and augmented by Constantin Măciucă. Editura Integral (an imprint of Editurile Universala), Bucharest (1998), pages 31–36. . ''See the article on the author for further publication information.'' * Roskies, David G., ''The Jewish Search for a Usable Past'', Indiana University Press (1999), . p. 94–95. {{DEFAULTSORT:Broder, Berl Jewish Ukrainian entertainers Yiddish theatre Badchens 1817 births 1868 deaths Broder singers Musicians from the Austrian Empire Yiddish-language singers of Ukraine Jewish Ukrainian musicians Jewish Ukrainian actors