Finding the Jewish Shakespeare: The Life and Legacy of Jacob Gordin

Title Page, Copyright

Finding the Jewish Shakespeare The Life and Legacy of Jacob Gordin B E T H K A P L A N Syracuse University Press Syracuse University Press Syracuse, New York 13244-5290 Copyright © 2007 by Beth Kaplan All Rights Reserved First Paperback Edition 2012 12 13 14 15 16 17 6 5 4 3 2 1 All photographs are from the author’s personal collection. ∞The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of American National Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI Z39.48-1992. For a listing of books published and distributed by Syracuse University Press, visit our Web site at SyracuseUniversityPress.syr.edu. ISBN (paper): 978–0–8156–0996–4 ISBN (cloth): 978-0–8156–0884–4 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data The Library of Congress has catalogued the hardcover edition as follows: Kaplan, Beth, 1950– Finding the Jewish Shakespeare : the life and legacy of Jacob Gordin / Beth Kaplan.—1st ed. p. cm.—(Judaic traditions in literature, music, and art) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN-13: 978–0–8156–0884–4 (cloth : alk. paper) ISBN-10: 0–8156–0884–5 (cloth : alk. paper) 1. Gordin, Jacob, 1853–1909. 2. Dramatists, Yiddish—Biography. 3. Dramatists, Ukrainian— Biography. 4. Dramatists, American—Biography. 5. Jewish journalists—Biography. I. Title. PJ5129.G6Z75 2007 839'.123—dc22 2006038549 Manufactured in the United States of America Any biography or play based on the life of this remarkable character, who ventured to reform the Jewish religion and ended by reforming the Yiddish theater, turning it into a temple for the drama, would be quite as exciting as some of the productions which he created or adapted. Of more than medium height, with eyes expressive of the weltschmerz, set off against a patriarchal beard, all enhanced by a majestic gait—he was easily the most respected figure on the New York East Side during the early part of the century. —A. Roback, The Story of Yiddish Literature No man of genius has ever been more brutally consigned to oblivion, no writer so idolized during his lifetime so totally neglected after his death as Gordin. —Lulla Rosenfeld, The Yiddish Theater and Jacob P. Adler Theater is the greatest educational instrument in the world. —Jacob Gordin, 1904 Beth Kaplan was born in New York City and grew up in Halifax, Nova Scotia, with a few childhood years in London and Paris. She became a professional actress while still in university, and took postgraduate training at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art. After a decade in the theater, she went back to earn an MFA in creative writing at the University of British Columbia. Since 1994 she has taught creative nonfiction writing at Ryerson University, and also, more recently, at the University of Toronto. Scores of her personal essays have appeared in newspapers and magazines and on radio. “I spent twenty years raising two children and writing this book,” she said recently, “and then they all left home together.” ...