Pesach "Peishachke" Burstein (April 15, 1896 – April 6, 1986) was a Polish-born American comedian, singer, coupletist, and director of

Yiddish 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 ...

vaudeville Vaudeville (; ) is a theatrical genre of variety entertainment which began in France in the middle of the 19th century. A ''vaudeville'' was originally a comedy without psychological or moral intentions, based on a comical situation: a drama ...

/theater. He was honored with the

Itzik Manger Prize The Itzik Manger Prize for outstanding contributions to Yiddish literature (, ) was established in 1968, shortly before Itzik Manger's death in 1969. Manger "was and remains one of the best-known twentieth-century Yiddish poets." The Prize has bee ...

in 1986. His wife Lillian Lux, and son

Mike Burstyn Michael Burstein (; born July 1, 1945) is an Israeli-American actor known onstage as Mike Burstyn. He was born in New York City to the late Yiddish-language actors, Pesach Burstein and Lillian Lux. His first cousin was Borsch Belt comedian, ...

are also actors.

Early years

Born in

Pułtusk Pułtusk () is a town in Poland, by the river Narew. Located north of Warsaw in the Masovian Voivodeship, it has a population of 19,224 as of 2023. Known for its historic architecture and Europe's longest paved marketplace ( in length), it is a po ...

,Zylberczweig, Zalmen (1931).
Burstein, Pesach
. In: Zylbercweig, with the assistance of Jacob Mestel, ''Leksikon fun yidishn teater'' exicon of the Yiddish theatre Vol. 1. New York: Elisheva. Col. 156. English translation at the ''Museum of Family History'' website:
Pesach Burstein
. Retrieved 20 November 2016. then in

Congress Poland Congress Poland or Congress Kingdom of Poland, formally known as the Kingdom of Poland, was a polity created in 1815 by the Congress of Vienna as a semi-autonomous Polish state, a successor to Napoleon's Duchy of Warsaw. It was established w ...

, in the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...

(today, in Poland), Burstein was called Pesach-ke due to his birth on

Passover Passover, also called Pesach (; ), is a major Jewish holidays, Jewish holiday and one of the Three Pilgrimage Festivals. It celebrates the Exodus of the Israelites from slavery in Biblical Egypt, Egypt. According to the Book of Exodus, God in ...

. In 1901 he moved with his family to

Berdiansk Berdiansk or Berdyansk (, ; , ) is a port city in Zaporizhzhia Oblast, south-eastern Ukraine. It is on the northern coast of the Sea of Azov, which is connected to the Black Sea. It serves as the administrative center of Berdiansk Raion. The c ...

(Ukraine), where his father ran a clothing store. He ran away from home as a teenager to join a traveling Yiddish theatrical troupe. He was arrested as a spy by Russians during

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. He never again saw his parents, who were beaten and killed in a robbery in Minsk, as they were traveling back to Poland in 1921.Burstein, Pesach'ke; Lux, Lillian (2003). ''What a Life! The Autobiography of Pesach'ke Burstein, Yiddish Matinee Idol''. Syracuse, NY:

Syracuse University Syracuse University (informally 'Cuse or SU) is a Private university, private research university in Syracuse, New York, United States. It was established in 1870 with roots in the Methodist Episcopal Church but has been nonsectarian since 1920 ...

Press. .

United States

Brought to the United States in 1923 by Boris Thomashefsky and signed to a 20-year recording contract by

Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American reco ...

, he is well-remembered for singing " Odessa Mama" and the Yiddish version of " Sonny Boy". There is a common myth that this recording was made same day, in the same studio and with the same orchestra that Jolson had just used, but the Burstein waxing was made some time after the million-selling Jolson recording. In addition, Jolson was an exclusive Brunswick artist, whilst Burstein recorded for Columbia, on its Green Label ethnic series. Jolson was accompanied by the Brunswick studio orchestra, under the direction of

Gus Haenschen Walter Gustave Haenschen (November 3, 1889 – March 27, 1980) was a pianist, arranger and composer of music and an orchestra conductor, primarily on U.S. network radio programs. Early years Haenschen was born in St. Louis to parents whose re ...

. The (considerably smaller) studio orchestra accompanying Burstein was probably a sub-group of the National Theater pit orchestra, under the baton of Joseph Rumshinsky. An impressive stage whistler and actor-director of the popular ''

A Khasene in Shtetl ''A Khasene in Shtetl'' (Yiddish for ''A Wedding in the Village'' / ''A Village Wedding'', also called ''A Shtetl Wedding'' / ''A Wedding in the Shtetl''; Yiddish: אַ חתונה אין שטעטל) is a Yiddish musical theater play written by Wi ...

'' (''A Wedding in the Village'') act with his entire family.'' The Komediant'' (1999). New York: New Yorker Video. He married twice, secondly to Lillian Lux, 22 years his junior. In 1939, the couple was touring

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

. Since there was unrest at the time, a member of the diplomatic corps suggested the Bursteins take the summer off from performances; they left for the United States just days before the German invasion. The troupe was sponsored by

Boris Thomashefsky Boris Thomashefsky (, sometimes written Thomashevsky, Thomaschevsky, etc.; ) (1868–July 9, 1939), born Boruch-Aharon Thomashefsky, was a Ukrainian-born (later American) Jewish singer and actor who became one of the biggest stars in Yiddish th ...

to play on the

Lower East Side The Lower East Side, sometimes abbreviated as LES, is a historic neighborhood in the southeastern part of Manhattan in New York City. It is located roughly between the Bowery and the East River from Canal to Houston streets. Historically, it w ...

Yiddish theatres in the

Yiddish Theater District The Yiddish Theatre District, also called the Jewish Rialto and the Yiddish Realto, was the center of New York City's Yiddish theatre scene in the early 20th century. It was located primarily on Second Avenue, though it extended to Avenue B, ...

Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

's Second Avenue. Pesach and Lillian Burstein had twins, Michael and Susan (b. 1945). Michael Burstein became an actor, known professionally as

. When the twins turned 7, they began performing in '' The Komediant'', ''

'' (''A Wedding in the Village'') and other Yiddish-language productions all over the world, although Susan did not remain in the acting business. The family also performed at resorts in the Catskills, in Sullivan County, New York, a resort circuit colloquially known as the "

Borscht Belt The Borscht Belt, or Yiddish Alps, is a region which was noted for its summer resorts that catered to Jewish vacationers, especially residents of New York City. The resorts, now mostly defunct, were located in the southern foothills of the Catski ...

".Pesach Burstein's bio at Jewniverse
He toured extensively through Eastern Europe before World War II. Pesach Burstein opened his own theater ("The Hopkinson") in

Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

. His troupe (advertised as the Four Bursteins, the twins appearing under the stage names ''Motele'' and ''Zisele'') won critical acclaim in Israel and on Broadway for performing

Itzik Manger Itzik Manger (30 May 1901, Czernowitz, then Austrian-Hungarian Empire – 21 February 1969, Gedera, Israel; ) was a prominent Yiddish language, Yiddish poet and playwright, a self-proclaimed folk bard, visionary, and 'master tailor' of the writ ...

's ''Megille Lider'', the longest running Yiddish production to date in Israel, released on Broadway as ''Megilla of Itzik Manger''. After the

Holocaust The Holocaust (), known in Hebrew language, Hebrew as the (), was the genocide of History of the Jews in Europe, European Jews during World War II. From 1941 to 1945, Nazi Germany and Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy ...

, due to a drastic reduction in the size of the Yiddish audience, he was instrumental in finding out diasporic communities as far afield as South America, and Eastern Europe, as well as Israel. He initially settled in Israel but later left due to the state tax levied on

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 ...

for promotion of the

Hebrew language Hebrew (; ''ʿÎbrit'') is a Northwest Semitic language within the Afroasiatic language family. A regional dialect of the Canaanite languages, it was natively spoken by the Israelites and remained in regular use as a first language unti ...

, and problems with authorities.

Later years

Pesach Burstein performed a small role in the Israel Becker-directed movie '' Shnei Kuni Leml'', starring his son. On the 100th anniversary of his birth, director Arnon Goldfinger directed a documentary film about the lives and careers of the Burstein family – '' The Komediant'' (the title a reference both to Burstein's career in general and to the name of one of his shows).

Autobiography

His autobiography, ''What a Life!'', was co-authored with his wife in Yiddish (''Geshpilt a Lebn'', 1980) and later translated into English.

Death

''Pesach'' means

in Yiddish, and Pesach-ke Burstein was so named because he was born on the day of

in 1896; he died a few hours before

in 1986, a week and two days short of his 90th birthday. He was interred in the Yiddish Theater section (Block 67) of the Mount Hebron Cemetery.

References

External links

* *
The Komediant website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Burstein, Pesach 1896 births 1986 deaths People from Pułtusk American male musical theatre actors American people of Polish-Jewish descent Polish emigrants to the United States Polish cabaret performers American emigrants to Israel Israeli Ashkenazi Jews Israeli male film actors Israeli male musical theatre actors Jewish cabaret performers Jewish American male actors Jewish American comedians Polish vaudeville performers American vaudeville performers Yiddish-language singers of the United States Yiddish theatre performers 20th-century American male actors 20th-century American singers 20th-century American comedians 20th-century American male singers Burials at Mount Hebron Cemetery (New York City) 20th-century American Jews American Ashkenazi Jews Itzik Manger Prize recipients