Kadia Molodowsky ( yi, קאַדיע מאָלאָדאָװסקי; also: Kadya Molodowsky; May 10, 1894, in Bereza Kartuska, now

Byaroza Biaroza ( be, Бяро́за, official Belarusian romanization standard: ''Biaroza'', formerly Бяро́за-Карту́зская; rus, Берёза, Beryoza; pl, Bereza Kartuska; Yiddish: קאַרטוז־בערעזע, tr. ''Kartùz-Bereze'' ...

, Belarus – March 23, 1975, in

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

) was an American poet and writer in the

Yiddish language Yiddish (, or , ''yidish'' or ''idish'', , ; , ''Yidish-Taytsh'', ) is a West Germanic language historically spoken by Ashkenazi Jews. It originated during the 9th century in Central Europe, providing the nascent Ashkenazi community with a ver ...

, and a teacher of Yiddish and Hebrew. She published six collections of poetry during her lifetime, and was a widely recognized figure in Yiddish poetry during the twentieth century.Kadya Molodowsky (1894-1975)
" ''Jewish Heritage Online Magazine''. Excerpt from: Kathryn Hellerstein, "Introduction," in ''Paper Bridges: Selected Poems of Kadya Molodowsky'' (Detroit: Wayne State University Press, 1999). Retrieved 2016-04-16.Hellerstein, Kathryn (20 March 2009).
Kadya Molodowsky
" ''Jewish Women: A Comprehensive Historical Encyclopedia''. The Jewish Women's Archive. Retrieved from www.jwa.org 2016-04-16. Molodowsky first came to prominence as a poet and intellectual in the Yiddish literary world while living in

Warsaw Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officia ...

, in the newly independent Poland, during the

interwar period In the history of the 20th century, the interwar period lasted from 11 November 1918 to 1 September 1939 (20 years, 9 months, 21 days), the end of the World War I, First World War to the beginning of the World War II, Second World War. The in ...

.Klepfisz, Irena (1994). "Di Mames, dos Loshn / the Mothers, the Language: Feminism, Yidishkayt, and the Politics of Memory." ''Bridges''. Vol. 4, no. 1, p. 12–47; here: p. 34.Braun, Alisa (2000). "(Re)Constructing the Tradition of Yiddish Women's Poetry." Review of ''Paper Bridges: Selected Poems of Kadya Molodowsky'', by Moldowsky and Kathryn Hellerstein. ''Prooftexts''. Vol. 20, no. 3, p. 372-379; here: p. 372. Some of her more playful poems and stories were set to music and sung in Yiddish schools throughout the world. She was also known for novels, dramas, and short stories. In 1935 she emigrated to the United States, where she continued publishing works in Yiddish. She also went on to found and edit two international Yiddish literary journals, היים ''Heym'' (Home) and סבֿיבֿה ''Svive'' (Milieu).Hellerstein, Kathryn (2 September 2010).
Molodowsky, Kadia
" ''YIVO Encyclopedia of Jews in Eastern Europe''. Retrieved 2016-04-16.Hellerstein, Kathryn (2003).
Kadya Molodowsky
" In: S. Lillian Kremer (Ed.), ''Holocaust Literature''. Vol. 2. New York: Routledge. p. 869-873; here: p. 870.

Biography

Born in the

shtetl A shtetl or shtetel (; yi, שטעטל, translit=shtetl (singular); שטעטלעך, romanized: ''shtetlekh'' (plural)) is a Yiddish term for the small towns with predominantly Ashkenazi Jewish populations which existed in Eastern Europe before ...

of Byaroza-Kartuskaya (now

), in the

Grodno Governorate The Grodno Governorate, (russian: Гро́дненская губе́рнiя, translit=Grodnenskaya guberniya, pl, Gubernia grodzieńska, be, Гродзенская губерня, translit=Hrodzenskaya gubernya, lt, Gardino gubernija, u ...

of the

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. ...

(present-day

Belarus Belarus,, , ; alternatively and formerly known as Byelorussia (from Russian ). officially the Republic of Belarus,; rus, Республика Беларусь, Respublika Belarus. is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by R ...

), Molodowsky was educated at home in both religious and secular subjects. While her father, a teacher in a traditional Jewish elementary school (

cheder A ''cheder'' ( he, חדר, lit. "room"; Yiddish pronunciation ''kheyder'') is a traditional primary school teaching the basics of Judaism and the Hebrew language. History ''Cheders'' were widely found in Europe before the end of the 18th ...

), instructed her in the

Torah The Torah (; hbo, ''Tōrā'', "Instruction", "Teaching" or "Law") is the compilation of the first five books of the Hebrew Bible, namely the books of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. In that sense, Torah means the s ...

, her paternal grandmother taught her Yiddish; with private tutors she studied secular subjects in Russian, including geography, philosophy, and world history. Molodowsky's mother ran a dry goods store and, later, a factory for making rye

kvass Kvass is a fermented cereal-based Alcohol by volume, low alcoholic beverage with a slightly cloudy appearance, light-brown colour and sweet-sour taste. It may be flavoured with berries, fruits, herbs or honey. Kvass stems from the northeastern ...

. Molodowsky finished high school at 17 years of age. After then obtaining her teaching certificate in Byaroza, she studied Hebrew pedagogy under Yehiel Halperin in

, in 1913–1914, and, in the latter part of that period, instructed children there who had been displaced during the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. In 1916, she followed Halperin to

Odessa Odesa (also spelled Odessa) is the third most populous city and municipality in Ukraine and a major seaport and transport hub located in the south-west of the country, on the northwestern shore of the Black Sea. The city is also the administrativ ...

, where he had moved his course to escape the war front. In Odessa, Molodowsky taught kindergarten and elementary school. In 1917, upon attempting to return to her hometown, she was trapped in

Kiev Kyiv, also spelled Kiev, is the capital and most populous city of Ukraine. It is in north-central Ukraine along the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2021, its population was 2,962,180, making Kyiv the List of European cities by populat ...

, where she remained for several years; she lived through the

pogroms A pogrom () is a violent riot incited with the aim of massacring or expelling an ethnic or religious group, particularly Jews. The term entered the English language from Russian to describe 19th- and 20th-century attacks on Jews in the Russian ...

that occurred there in 1919. While living in Kiev, Molodowsky was influenced by the Yiddish literary circle around

David Bergelson David (or Dovid) Bergelson (, russian: Давид Бергельсон, 12 August 1884 – 12 August 1952) was a Yiddish language writer born in the Russian Empire. He lived for a time in Berlin, Germany before moving to the Soviet Union following ...

,Frieden, Ken.
Yiddish literature
" Section: "'Modern Yiddish Literature: Yiddish Women Writers." ''Encyclopædia Britannica''. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Retrieved 2016-04-16. and, in 1920, published her first poems, in the Yiddish journal ''Eygns'' (Our Own). In 1921, she married the scholar and journalist Simcha Lev, and together they settled in Warsaw, now in independent

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...

. In Warsaw, Molodowsky published her first book of poetry, ' (''Nights of

Heshvan Marcheshvan ( he, מַרְחֶשְׁוָן, Standard , Tiberian ; from Akkadian , literally, 'eighth month'), sometimes shortened to Cheshvan (, Standard Tiberian ), is the second month of the civil year (which starts on 1 Tishrei), and the eight ...

''), in 1927, followed by several others, including ''Dzshike gas'' (Dzshike Street), in 1933. Throughout her years in Warsaw she taught Yiddish in secular elementary schools run by the Central Yiddish School Organization (Tsentrale Yidishe Shul-Organizatsye; TSYSHO); she also taught Hebrew in the evenings at a Jewish community school. Molodowsky emigrated to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

in 1935 and settled in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

, where her husband joined her not long after. Among her works in the post-World War II period, she is especially noted for her collection ' (''Only King David Remained''; 1946), poems written in response to 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; a ...

, including one of her best known poems, "Eyl Khanun" (''Merciful God''), composed in 1945. From 1949 to 1952 Molodowsky and her husband lived in

Tel Aviv Tel Aviv-Yafo ( he, תֵּל־אָבִיב-יָפוֹ, translit=Tēl-ʾĀvīv-Yāfō ; ar, تَلّ أَبِيب – يَافَا, translit=Tall ʾAbīb-Yāfā, links=no), often referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the G ...

, in the new state of

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

, where she edited the Yiddish journal ''Di Heym'' (Home), published by the Working Women's Council (Moetzet Hapoalot). In late 1952, Molodowsky resigned her editorship of ''Heym'', and she and her husband returned to New York. Back in 1943, Molodowsky had co-founded the Yiddish journal, ' (''Milieu''), in New York, publishing seven issues through 1944; around 1960 she revived the journal (under the same title) and continued to edit it until near the time of her death. Her autobiography, ''Fun Mayn Elter-zeydns Yerushe'' (From my great-grandfather’s inheritance), appeared in serialized form in ''Svive'' from March 1965 to April 1974. In 1971, Molodowsky received 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 been desc ...

for Yiddish literature. Molodowsky's husband, Simcha Lev, died in New York City in 1974. In frail health, she moved to

to be near relatives, and died in a nursing home there, on March 23, 1975.Hellerstein (1999), "Introduction," ''Paper Bridges'', p. 50.

Poetry collections

*''.

Vilna Vilnius ( , ; see also other names) is the capital and largest city of Lithuania, with a population of 592,389 (according to the state register) or 625,107 (according to the municipality of Vilnius). The population of Vilnius's functional u ...

: B. Kletskin, 1927 *'.

: ', 1933 *'. Warsaw: Literarishe Bleter, 1935 *'.

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

: Farlag L. M. Shteyn, 1937 *'.

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

: Farlag Papirene Brik, 1946 *'.

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South ...

: Farlag Poaley Tsion Histadrut, 1965

Works in English translation (or bilingual editions)

* ''Paper Bridges: Selected Poems of Kadya Molodowsky'' (1999). Text in Yiddish and English translation, on facing pages. Translated and edited, and with an introduction by Kathryn Hellerstein. Detroit: Wayne State University Press.
Preview online
* ''A House with Seven Windows: Short Stories'' (2006). Translation by Leah Schoolnik, of ''A Shtub mit Zibn Fentster'', first published in 1957. Syracuse, NY: Syracuse University Press.

References

External links

Guide to the Papers of Kadia Molodowsky
YIVO Institute for Jewish Research, RG 703 {{DEFAULTSORT:Molodowsky, Kadia 1894 births 1975 deaths People from Byaroza People from Pruzhansky Uyezd Belarusian Jews Polish emigrants to the United States American people of Belarusian-Jewish descent American women poets Jewish poets Jewish women writers Yiddish-language poets Yiddish-language literature 20th-century American women writers Itzik Manger Prize recipients