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C H A P T E R 1 2 A. M . Klein : Th e Intellectua l A s a True Ohev Israel Rachel Feldhay Brenner A Jew I am , th e whol e worl d know s i t . . . I a m th e possessor , because of the education my bearded father gave me, of a rich legacy. —A.M.Klein1 Irving Howe found tha t statements beginning "I am a Jew and . . . " were very difficult fo r his fellow New York Intellectuals to utter. —Alexander Bloom2 An examinatio n o f A. M . Klein' s stature a s a Canadian an d Zionis t intellectual agains t th e coterie of the New York Jewish Intellectual s reveals th e iron y o f invers e symmetry . Despit e thei r two-decades long consciou s endeavour s t o discar d thei r Jewishness , th e Ne w York Intellectual s o f th e 1930 s an d th e 1940 s ow e thei r nam e an d distinctness, a s a group , t o thei r Jewish origins . Year s later , i n th e sixties, Irvin g Howe , a n eminen t membe r o f th e Ne w Yor k group , reached th e conclusio n tha t "th e mai n literar y contributio n o f th e New York milieu ha s been t o legitimate a subject an d ton e we mus t uneasily cal l America n Jewish writing." 3 The Canadia n Klei n sense d th e Intellectuals ' uneasines s regard ing thei r Jewis h origin s whe n h e mocke d the m a s "American s b y Jewish dissuasio n [who ] thin k tha t b y travellin g incognito , the y will b e mistake n fo r royal , o r a t leas t Ne w England , personages." 4 268 A. M . KLEI N 26 9 Declaring proudly : " I trave l o n m y ow n passport, " Klei n claim s against th e assimilationist s tha t h e has "a contribution t o make as a Jew , a contributio n t o th e cultur e o f th e [Jewish ] group. " H e meets other cultures "as an equal, not as an interloper."5 Ironically , however, th e absence of critical acknowledgmen t from th e influen tial New York milieu precluded recognition of Klein's work beyond the confine s o f hi s nativ e Montreal , an d onl y recentl y hav e th e diversity an d th e qualit y o f hi s literar y achievement s bee n give n due attention. 6 A. M . Klei n wa s bor n i n 190 9 i n Ratno , Ukraine . I n 191 0 hi s family emigrate d t o Canad a an d settle d i n Montreal . I n th e years 1926-30 Klei n attende d McGil l University , majorin g i n classics , political science , an d economics . Fro m 193 0 to 193 3 Klein studie d law at the Universite de Montreal an d in 193 4 he established a law firm. Klei n marrie d Bessi e Kozlo v i n 193 5 an d the y ha d thre e children. Klein's literar y wor k wa s informe d b y hi s dee p attachmen t t o Jewish heritag e an d a sensitiv e approac h t o th e multicultura l as pects of his environment. His first volume of poetry, Hath Not a Jew (Behrman's, New York, 1940 ) reveals emotional closeness to Jewish tradition i n a n arra y o f fol k stories , biblica l motifs , an d religiou s symbols. Hi s secon d boo k o f poetr y (Jewis h Publicatio n Society , Philadelphia, 1944) , deal s almos t exclusivel y wit h Jewis h subjec t matters. Stylistically, bot h collection s demonstrate a dominant in fluence o f th e Englis h romantics , imagists , an d th e Elizabetha n poets. I n 194 4 h e als o publishe d The Hitleriad (Ne w Directions , New York) , a lon g satiri c attac k o n Nazism . The Rocking Chair and Other Voems (Ryerson , Toronto , 1948 ) focuse s o n th e Frenc h Canadian traditio n an d th...

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