Solomon Blumgarten () (16 September 1872 – 10 January 1927), known by his pen name Yehoash (), was a

Yiddish 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 ...

poet, scholar, and translator. Yehoash was "generally recognized by those familiar with

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

literature, as its greatest living poet and one of its most skillful raconteurs", according to ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' book review in 1923.

Biography

Born in

Virbalis Virbalis (, pl, Wierzbołów, yi, ווירבאלן ''Virbalen'') is a town in the Vilkaviškis district municipality, Lithuania. It is located west of Vilkaviškis. History It is frequently mentioned in historical as well in modern literatur ...

in 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. ...

(now

Lithuania Lithuania (; lt, Lietuva ), officially the Republic of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos Respublika, links=no ), is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea. Lithuania ...

), he emigrated to the United States in 1890 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 ...

. For a decade he was a businessman, but wrote full-time starting in 1900 when he entered a sanitarium for tuberculosis. A visit to

Palestine __NOTOC__ Palestine may refer to: * State of Palestine, a state in Western Asia * Palestine (region), a geographic region in Western Asia * Palestinian territories, territories occupied by Israel since 1967, namely the West Bank (including East ...

in 1914 led him to write a three-volume work describing the trip and the country. His description was later translated into English as ''The Feet of the Messenger''. His literary output included verse, translations, poetry, short stories, essays and fables in Yiddish and some articles in English. His poetry was translated into Russian, Dutch, Polish, Finnish, German, Spanish, English and Hebrew.Kravitz, Nathaniel. ''3,000 Years of Hebrew Literature''. Chicago: Swallow Press Inc., 1972. He was responsible for translating many works of world literature into Yiddish, including Longfellow's ''Hiawatha'' and a very popular translation of the

Hebrew Bible The Hebrew Bible or Tanakh (;"Tanach"
''Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary''. Hebrew: ''Tān ...

(Tanakh).Solomon Bloomgarten: Jewish Poet and Editor Dies in the Bronx — Funeral Today
(subscription required) he name is spelled "Bloomgarten" in the headline but "Bloomgarden", with a "d", in the article no-byline obituary in ''

'', January 12, 1927. His version of the Bible was hailed as a contribution of national significance and perhaps the greatest masterpiece in the Yiddish language. His two-volume edition became a standard work for Yiddish-speaking homes throughout the world.Goldman, Yosef. ''Hebrew Printing in America''. YGBooks, 2006. His other translations included parts of the Koran, classical Arabic writings and the ''

Pirkei Avot Pirkei Avot ( he, פִּרְקֵי אָבוֹת; also transliterated as ''Pirqei Avoth'' or ''Pirkei Avos'' or ''Pirke Aboth''), which translates to English as Chapters of the Fathers, is a compilation of the ethics, ethical teachings and Maxim ...

''. With Charles David Spivak, he wrote a dictionary of the '' loshn koydesh'' (

Mishnaic Hebrew Mishnaic Hebrew is the Hebrew of Talmudic texts. Mishnaic Hebrew can be sub-divided into Mishnaic Hebrew proper (also called Tannaitic Hebrew, Early Rabbinic Hebrew, or Mishnaic Hebrew I), which was a spoken language, and Amoraic Hebrew (also cal ...

and

Jewish Babylonian Aramaic Jewish Babylonian Aramaic was the form of Aramaic language#Middle Aramaic, Middle Aramaic employed by writers in Lower Mesopotamia between the fourth and eleventh centuries. It is most commonly identified with the language of the Babylonian Talm ...

) elements of Yiddish, illustrated with idiomatic expressions and proverbs. He died suddenly at his home at 943 Whitlock Avenue in

The Bronx The Bronx () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the state of New York. It is south of Westchester County; north and east of the New York City borough of Manhattan, across the Harlem River; and north of the New Y ...

, where he lived with his wife, Flora, and his daughter, Evelyn Chave, at the time a student at

Hunter College Hunter College is a public university in New York City. It is one of the constituent colleges of the City University of New York and offers studies in more than one hundred undergraduate and postgraduate fields across five schools. It also admi ...

. At the time of his death, he was an editor at ''

The Day The Day may refer to: Film and television * ''The Day'' (1914 film), an Australian silent film * ''The Day'' (1960 film), a short film * ''The Day'' (2011 film), a Canadian film * ''The Day'' (2022 film), a Bangladeshi–Iran joint production ...

'' newspaper.

References

External links

Why Read Yehoash?

What Language does the Sea Speak?
- A short film inspired by Yehoash's visit to Palestine in 1914. {{DEFAULTSORT:Yehoash 1872 births 1927 deaths American people of Lithuanian-Jewish descent Lithuanian Jews Yiddish-language poets Jewish American poets Translators to Yiddish Translators of the Bible into Yiddish People from Virbalis Jewish translators of the Bible 20th-century translators