Yitzchak Rayz (1885, Narayiv – 1943,

Woodstock The Woodstock Music and Art Fair, commonly referred to as Woodstock, was a music festival held from August 15 to 18, 1969, on Max Yasgur's dairy farm in Bethel, New York, southwest of the town of Woodstock, New York, Woodstock. Billed as "a ...

), better known by his pen name Moyshe Nadir (Yiddish: משה נאדיר; also transliterated "Moishe") was an American

Yiddish language Yiddish, historically Judeo-German, is a West Germanic language historically spoken by Ashkenazi Jews. It originated in 9th-century Central Europe, and provided the nascent Ashkenazi community with a vernacular based on High German fused with ...

writer and satirist. Rayz was born in the town of Narayiv, in

eastern Galicia Eastern Galicia (; ; ) is a geographical region in Western Ukraine (present day oblasts of Lviv Oblast, Lviv, Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast, Ivano-Frankivsk and Ternopil Oblast, Ternopil), having also essential historic importance in Poland. Galicia ( ...

, then

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. He died in 1943, in

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Biography

In 1898, at the age of 13, Rayz immigrated to New York and adopted the Americanized name Isaac Reiss. Within a few years his work was published widely in the New York Yiddish press, under a variety of pseudonyms, including Rinnalde Rinaldine, Dilensee Mirkarosh, Der Royzenkavalir, Doctor Hotzikl, and, finally, Moishe Nadir. The name "Nadir" is a Yiddish expression meaning "here you are" or "that's for you," but can also mean "take this and choke on it." As a teenager, he wrote for Der Groyser Kundes (The Big Prankster) and later co-edited Der Yiddisher Gazlon (The Yiddish Bandit) with Jacob Adler. He wrote for an assortment of Communist Yiddish publications including the Frayhayt (Freedom) newspaper and its successor Morgn Frayhayt (Morning Freedom) and the magazines Der Signal (The Signal) and Der Hammer (The Hammer). When his sharp-tongued theater reviews caused him to be banned from theatrical productions, he resorted to attending plays in disguise. His own plays were performed by

Maurice Schwartz Maurice Schwartz, born Avram Moishe Schwartz (June 18, 1890 – May 10, 1960),Yiddish Art Theater The Yiddish Art Theatre was a Yiddish theatre company of the 20th century in New York City. The organization was founded in 1918 by actor and impresario Maurice Schwartz, to present serious Yiddish drama and works from world literature in Yiddis ...

, Zuni Maude and Yosl Cutler's Modicut puppet theater, Artef (Arbeter Teater Faraband, Workers Theater Alliance) and the Federal Theater Project. Among his better known poems are the erotic Vilde Royzen (Wild Roses, 1915) and his 1932 Rivington Strit (Rivington Street). After a long association with the '' Freiheit'' and the ''

Morgen Freiheit ''Morgen Freiheit'' (original title: ; English: ''Morning Freedom'') was a New York City-based daily Yiddish language newspaper affiliated with the Communist Party, USA, founded by Moissaye Olgin in 1922. After the end of World War II the paper ...

'', Rayz began to distance himself from the Communist cause with the onset of the show trials in the Soviet Union and publicly broke with the Morgn Frayhayt in the wake of the Molotiv-Ribbentrop Pact. He set out his reasons in “Di, vos blayben mit der Morgn Frayhayt” (“Those who stay with the Morgn Frayhayt”) in response to Morgn Frayhayt editor Moissaye Olgin's “Di vos gayen avek” (“Those who leave”). Rayz discusses his relationship to the Communist Party in his posthumous Moyde Ani (Confessions).

Published works

Yiddish originals

* https://archive.org/search.php?query=moishe%20nadir

English translations

* From Man to Man ("fun mentsh tsu mentsh") (2006) (This includes an extensive biographical essay by the translator, Harvey Fink.) * For a 1920 collection of his literary improvisations in English translation se
Peh-el-peh (Face to Face)"> Peh-el-peh (Face to Face)
translated by Joseph Kling, Pagan Publishing Co., New York. * Anthologised in Proletpen : America's rebel Yiddish poets / edited by Amelia Glaser and David Weintraub; translated by Amelia Glaser; with illustrations by Dana Craft; special editorial assistance from Yankl Salant. University of Wisconsin Press 2005 * Messiah in America ("Moshiekh in Amerika"), Farlag Press (2018) http://www.farlag.com/messiah-in-america * Puppet Play: In the other World ("Marioneten Shpil: In Yener Velt") https://archive.org/details/InTheOtherWorld

References

External links