Israel Aksenfeld

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Israel Aksenfeld , also: Israel Axenfeld, Yisroel Aksenfeld; Yiddish יסראָל אַקס (ע) נפֿעלד [jisˈroːəl aksnfɛld] (born 1787 in Nemirow , Russian Empire ; died 1866 in Paris ) was one of the first Yiddish writers of the 19th century. His play Der shocker recruit (1833) describes life in a Jewish shtetl in Russia very realistically .

Life

Israel Aksenfeld grew up in an Orthodox Jewish family. He belonged to the Hasidic movement of Rabbi Nachman from Brazlaw . He later separated from the movement. He acquired knowledge of law and the natural sciences, encouraged by his wife. He became a businessman, then a lawyer and notary in Odessa .

Aksenfeld spoke several languages ​​(Hebrew, Russian, Polish, German). He wrote his literary works almost exclusively in "jargon" (Yiddish). He was on friendly terms with AB Gottlober , Schwabacher, Ossip Rabinowitsch, Leon Pinsker and others.

Aksenfeld wrote short stories. Dramas and novels, most of which remained unpublished. It is estimated that he wrote more than twenty volumes. His most important work is the tragic comedy The Schter Yidischer Recruit . In this he describes life in a Jewish shtetl in 1827 after the forced recruitment of many Jews by the tsarist army. In the story Doß schtern-tichl or Schabeß in Mezibez . Aksenfeld describes the intolerance and bigotry of the Hasidic movement.

His works describe the everyday life of Jews in the Russian Empire with close scrutiny. The style is exciting, his language is strong, popular, and often humorous. The literary quality is usually not very high.

Works (selection)

  • Doß schtern-tichl or Schabeß in Mezibez ("Das Stirntuch"), Leipzig 1861, story
  • Der schter Yidischer recruit (“The first Jewish recruit in Russia”), Leipzig 1861, drama, written in 1833
  • A man un wajb, Schweßter un brider ("Man and woman, sisters and brothers"), Odessa 1867, drama
  • The ojzer or Di genarte welt (“The Treasure or the Deceived World”), Odessa 1870, completed 1842; A juxtaposition of a miracle rabbi and a Christian quack who has become addicted to alcohol and who meet in the fact that they are only chasing after money and thereby take advantage of the fact that the world wants to be cheated
  • Kabzn-oscher-schpil ("poor-rich game"), Odessa 1870

The Soviet poet Aaron Kuschnirow (1891–1948) edited the play Der schter Yidischer recruits, after which it was often performed in the state Yiddish theaters in the 1930s.

In 1931 the first of four volumes of Aksenfeld's work appeared under the editing of Meir Wiener . A second edition of his works was published in 1938 by the Moscow publishing house Emeß ("Truth"). His son, Alexandre Axenfeld , also translates some of the works into French.

literature

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