Eliezer Greenberg (December 13, 1896 – June 2, 1977) was a Bessarabian-born Jewish-American Yiddish poet and literary critic.
Life
Greenberg was born on December 13, 1896 in
Lipcani
Lipcani (; uk, Липкани, russian: Липканы, yi, ליפקאַן ''Lipkon'') is a town in Briceni District, Moldova. It is also a border crossing between Moldova and Romania.
Overview
Lipcani is located on the banks of the Prut ...
,
Russian Empire
The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. ...
, the son of Ezekiel Greenberg and Ethel Haselov.
Greenberg attended a religious primary school and studied under
Haskalah
The ''Haskalah'', often termed Jewish Enlightenment ( he, השכלה; literally, "wisdom", "erudition" or "education"), was an intellectual movement among the Jews of Central and Eastern Europe, with a certain influence on those in Western Euro ...
follower Itsik Shkolnik. He also studied secular subjects. His teachers included townsmen and writers Eliezer Steinbarg, Jacob Sternberg, and Moyshe Altman. He immigrated to America in 1913, initially living in
Boston
Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...
then in Brockton. He worked in a leather workshop at that time. In 1921, he began studying in the
University of Michigan
, mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth"
, former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821)
, budget = $10.3 billion (2021)
, endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...
in Ann Arbor and worked as a teacher in Jewish schools. He settled in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...
in 1927. His writings first appeared in 1919 in Jacob Marinoff's '' Der Groyser Kundes'' and in ''Di Naye Velt''. He then published his songs, poems, and essays in multiple publications.
Greenberg's earliest works dealt with New York City, both the architectural wonders of the
Woolworth Building
The Woolworth Building is an early skyscraper, early American skyscraper designed by architect Cass Gilbert located at 233 Broadway (Manhattan), Broadway in the Tribeca neighborhood of Manhattan in New York City. It was the tallest building in ...
and the Brooklyn Bridge and the abject poverty of the tenements and workers. He especially focused on the latter during the Great Depression. In the years after the
Holocaust
The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europe; ...
, he wrote about the tragedy and destruction of the European Jewish community, including of his native city of Lipcani he maintained affectionate memories of, and of the decline of Yiddish culture in America. He wrote critical studies about Yiddish poets Moyshe-Leyb Halpern,
Jacob Glatstein
Jacob Glatstein (1896–1971) yiddish יעקב גלאטשטיין was a Poland, Polish-born United States, American poet and literary critic who wrote in the Yiddish language. His name is also spelled Yankev Glatshteyn or Jacob Glatshteyn.
Early ...
, and H. Leivick. From 1945 to 1949, he and Elias Schulman edited the literary magazine ''Getseltn'', which included works from a wide range of Yiddish poets.
Greenberg published his first volume of Yiddish poetry, ''Gasn un Evenyus'' (Streets and Avenues) in 1928. This was followed by ''Fun Umetum'' (From Everywhere) in 1934, ''Fisherdorf'' (Fishing Village) in 1938, ''Di Lange Nakht'' (The Long Night) in 1946, ''Baynakhtiker Dialog'' (Night Dialogue), ''Eybiker Dorsht'' (Eternal Thirst) in 1968, and ''Gedenkshaft'' (Memorabilia) in 1974. He and
Irving Howe
Irving Howe (; June 11, 1920 – May 5, 1993) was an American literary and social critic and a prominent figure of the Democratic Socialists of America.
Early years
Howe was born as Irving Horenstein in The Bronx, New York. He was the son of ...
edited several anthologies of translations from Yiddish to English, including ''A Treasury of Yiddish Stories'' in 1954, ''Five Yiddish Poets'' in 1962, ''A Treasury of Yiddish Poetry'' in 1969, ''Voices From the Yiddish'' in 1972, ''Yiddish Stories Old and New'' in 1974, ''Selected Stories of I.L. Peretz'' in 1974, and ''Ashes Out of Hope'' in 1977. The latter work included fiction by Soviet Yiddish writers.
Greenberg received the Harry Kovner Award for Yiddish Poetry from the
Jewish Book Council
The Jewish Book Council (Hebrew: ), founded in 1944, is an organization encouraging and contributing to Jewish literature.American Jewish Committee, a founder and vice-president of the Yiddish
PEN Club
PEN International (known as International PEN until 2010) is a worldwide association of writers, founded in London in 1921 to promote friendship and intellectual co-operation among writers everywhere. The association has autonomous Internation ...
, and a member of the
Workmen's Circle
The Workers Circle or Der Arbeter Ring ( yi, דער אַרבעטער־רינג), formerly The Workmen's Circle, is an American Jewish nonprofit organization that promotes social and economic justice, Jewish community and education, including Yiddi ...
and the I. L. Peretz Yiddish Writers Union. In 1926, he married Eva Brown.
Greenberg died in the Cabrini Health Care Center from a long illness on June 2, 1977. He was buried in Cedar Park Cemetery in
Paramus, New Jersey
Paramus ( Waggoner, Walter H ''The New York Times'', February 16, 1966. Accessed October 16, 2018. "Paramus – pronounced puh-RAHM-us, with the accent on the second syllable – may have taken its name from 'perremus' or 'perymus,' Indian for ...