MORTKHE
YOFE (MORDEKHAI, MORDECAI JAFFE) (January 15, 1899[1]-March 17, 1961)
He was born in Dusyat (Dusetos), Kovno
district, Lithuania, where his father served as rabbi. He studied in religious primary schools and
in the Lide (Lida) yeshiva, and he later graduated from a senior high
school. From 1917 he lived for a number
of years in Odessa, where he was a member of a committee to assist Jewish war
refugees, while giving lectures on Yiddish and Hebrew literature and
contributing to local Yiddish press publications. After returning to Lithuania, he became a
contributor to a series of Yiddish periodicals in Lithuania and Latvia. Together with Nosn Grinblat (Goren), he
directed the literary group of young writers and the publishing house “Mir aleyn.” He was one of the founders and the secretary
of the Kovno association, named for Bal-Makhshoves, of Jewish men of letters
and artists. In 1927 he made his way to
Canada, and in 1937 he moved to the United States and settled in New York where
he worked as an internal contributor for Morgn-zhurnal
(Morning journal). He was also a teacher
in Yiddish and Hebrew public schools. In
1953 he moved to the state of Israel. In
1958 he returned to New York, before again moving to Israel in 1960; early 1961
had him back in New York, and soon thereafter he became ill and died in a
Brooklyn hospital. In his youth he began
writing poetry, stories, and humorous items, as well as doing translations from
Hebrew and Russian into Yiddish. A
brother of his in America helped him to publish a small volume of stories,
entitled Bilder (Pictures) (Vilna,
1911), and a humorous Purim collection, entitled Shalakhmones (Exchange of gifts on Purim) (Vilna, 1912). He made his debut as a poet in the anthology Untervegs (Pathways), published by Kh.
N. Bialik and Y. Kh. Rabnitski (Odessa, 1917).
He went on to publish poetry, stories, and literary-critical essays in
Odessa’s newspapers, journals, and anthologies: Grins (Greens), Tsvaygn
(Branches), Unzer vort (Our word), Di tsayt (The times), Di vokh (The week), Der heymlozer id (The homeless Jew), Tsum nayem yor (To the new year), Tsum ondenk fun y. l. perets (To the memory of Y. L. Perets), Dos naye lebn (The new life), and Odeser togblat (Odessa daily newspaper);
to the Kovno daily and other Yiddish publications, Di idishe shtime (The Jewish voice), Nayes (News), Kovner tog
(Kovno day), Vispe (Islet), Di velt (The world), Lite (Lithuania), Undzer veg (Our way), Der
lets (The clown), Der litvisher
kundes (The Lithuanian prankster), Had
lita (Echo of Lithuania), and Ketivot
(Writings); Tsayt (Time) in Shavel (Šiauliai); in the Riga dailies Dos folk (The people) and Frimorgn
(Morning); Folkstsaytung (People’s
newspaper) in Kiev; Literarishe bleter
(Literary leaves) in Warsaw; in Canada, Dos
idishe vort (The Jewish word) in Winnipeg and Montreal in Montreal; Der
afrikaner (The African) in Johannesburg, South Africa; Ilustrirte literarishe bleter (Illustrated literary leaves) in
Buenos Aires; Forverts (Forward), Tog (Day), Morgn-zhurnal, Tsukunft
(Future), Fraye arbeter-shtime (Free
voice of labor), Der idisher kemfer
(The Jewish fighter), Dos yudishe folk
(The Jewish people), Der amerikaner
(The American), Gerekhtikeyt
(Justice), Kultur un dertsiung
(Culture and education), Oyfkum
(Arise), Kinder-zhurnal (Children’s
journal), Di pyonern-froy (The
pioneer women), Naye yontef bleter
(New holiday sheets), Ilustrirte yontef
bleter (Illustrated holiday sheets), Byalistoker
shtime (Voice of Bialystok), Folk un
velt (Nation and world), Zayn
(Existence), the anthology Lite, and Hadoar (The mail)—all in New York; Di idishe velt (The Jewish world) in
Philadelphia; Los andzheleser yidisher
buletin (Los Angeles Jewish bulletin) in Los Angeles; Letste nayes (Latest news), Lebns-fragn
(Life issues), Folk un tsien (People
and Zion), Yisroel-shtime (Voice of
Israel), Yisroel tog-oys tog-ayn
(Israel day-in day-out), Heymish
(Familiar), Davar (Word), Al hamishmar (On guard), Haboker (This morning), and Zemanim (Times), and more. He edited: Kovner tog (1923), Lebn
(Life) (December-January 1923), and Undzer
dreydl (Our dreidel) (November 1926)—in Kovno; Der shmayser (The coachman) (1925) and Der shtifer (The brat) (April 1925) in Riga; Di yidishe velt (The Jewish world) in Vancouver (1928-1935). Over the course of eight years he was in
charge of the columns: “Vos m’leyent in di tsaytungen fun yisroel” (What one
reads in the newspapers from Israel) for Morgn-zhurnal—the
same column for Di idishe tsaytung
(The Jewish newspaper) in Argentina—“Dertseylungen fun der velt-literatur”
(Stories from world literature), “Nit-yidishe shrayber vegn yidn” (Gentile writers
on Jews), “Amol iz geven in lite” (As it once was in Lithuania), and “Erets-yisroeldike
dertseyler” (Israeli storytellers). For Tog in New York, he ran the column “Yidn
un yidishkeyt” (Jews and Jewishness); for Dos
idishe vort in Winnepeg, “In eygenem krayz” (In one’s own circle); and in Letste nayes in Tel Aviv, “Der kolboynik”
(The rascal). In a competition held by Tog, his story “Khesroynes” (Defects),
published April 3, 1926, was recognized as one of the ten best. For his two-volume Antologye fun der hebreisher poezye (Anthology of Hebrew poetry),
he received a prize from the Jewish book council of America (May 1952). He published in book form: Forhangen (Drapes), poetry (Odessa: Der
naye lebn, 1920), 96 pp.; On a zayt,
noveln (No direction, stories) (Kovno: Mir aleyn, 1927), 64 pp.; Antologye fun der hebreisher poezye
(Vilna: B. Kletskin, 1935), 264 pp.; Ringen
in der keyt, eseyen (Links in the chain, essays) (New York: Mordekhai Yofe
Book Committee, 1939), 260 pp.; Antologye
fun der hebreisher poezye, mit kritishe ophandlungen (Anthology of Hebrew
poetry, with critical treatments), vol. 1 (New York: CYCO, 1948), 400 pp., vol.
2 (New York: CYCO, 1951), 488 pp.; Tsen
yisroel-dikhter (Ten Israeli poets) (Tel Aviv: Perets-biblyotek, 1958), 90
pp.; Erets-yisroel in der yidisher
literatur (Israel in Yiddish literature), anthology (Tel Aviv: Perets
Publ., 1961), 448 pp. Yofe’s Yiddish poetry
was translated in Hebrew by: Natan Alterman, Lea Goldberg, Shimon Halkin,
Shimshon Meltser, Shlomo Shenhod, A. Shlonski, and others. Among his pseudonyms: Motele, Mordkhe Ayziks,
M. Khashes, M. Dusatoser, Monstrel, Mi-ver, M. Izakson, Mordkhe Hayehudi, and
Ish Yehudi. “Yofe possesses,” wrote Yankev
Glatshteyn, “a fine combination of serious terminology as a critic and a truly
Yiddish graphic and tender quality of language…. One finds laden in his poetry the charm of
Yiddish and Hebrew. The Yiddish is the
very most modern Yiddish of modern Yiddish poetry.” He died in New York.
Sources:
Zalmen Reyzen, Leksikon, vol. 1; Dr.
A. Mukdoni, in Morgn-zhurnal (New
York) (September 30, 1936; August 2, 1939; November 11, 1945; January 30, 1949;
November 18, 1951); Kalmen Marmor, in Der
hamer (New York) (July 1939); Kh. Liberman, in Der idisher kemfer (New York) (July 21, 1939); E. Almi, in Fraye arbeter-shtime (New York) (June
30, 1939; March 4, 1940; December 23, 1949; February 1, 1959); H. Rogof, in Forverts (New York) (February 13, 1949);
Y. Botoshanski, in Di prese (Buenos
Aires) (February 28, 1940; December 26, 1952); Shmuel Niger, in Der tog (New York) (March 17, 1940);
Yankev Glatshteyn, in Der idisher kemfer
(March 18, 1949; December 14, 1951); Glatshteyn, in Tsukunft (New York) (January 1959); Sh, Halkin, in Bitsaron (New York) (May 1949); Y.
Entin, in Tsukunft (December 1949); Fraye arbeter-shtime, special issue for
Yofe’s fiftieth birthday (December 23, 1949); Avrom Reyzen, in Di feder (New York) (1949); M. Khizuni,
in Hadoar (New York) (October 30,
1953); Meylekh Ravitsh, in Keneder odler
(Montreal) (January 29, 1950); Ravitsh, Mayn
leksikon (My lexicon), vol. 3 (Montreal, 1958); Ravitsh, in Idisher kemfer (April 10, 1959); A.
Leyeles, in Tog-morgn-zhurnal (New
York) (January 26, 1952; August 28, 1960; March 22, 1961); Dr. Y. Shatski, in Jewish Bookland (New York) (February
1952); Dr. L. Fogelman, in Forverts
(April 6, 1952); Dr. Sh. Margoshes, in Tog
(January 1, 1952); A. Epshteyn, in Tsukunft
(October 1952); Sh. Meltser, ed., Al
naharot (By the rivers) (Jerusalem, 1956), p. 432; Y. Fikhman, in Davar (Tel Aviv) (July 7, 1957);
Fikhman, in Heymish (Tel Aviv) (December
15, 1957); Sh. D. Zinger, in Kultur un
dertsiung (New York) (March 1959); Zinger, in Undzer veg (New York) m(March 1961); Dr. Shloyme Bikl, in Tog-morgn-zhurnal (December 28, 1958;
March 8, 1959); G. Preil, in Hadoar
(April 1, 1960); Y. Cohen, Baym rand fun
onhoyb (At the edge of the beginning) (New York, 1960); A. Lis, Heym un doyer (Home and duration) (Tel
Aviv, 1960), pp. 159-63; Y. Glants, in Der
veg (Mexico City) (March 4, 1961); obituary notices in Forverts and Tog-morgn-zhurnal
(March 19, 1961); Y. Kh. Biletski, in Yisroel-shtime
(Tel Aviv) (March 23, 1961); M. Ginzburg, in Keneder odler (March 29, 1961); A. Meytus, in Al hamishmar (Tel Aviv) (Nisan 7 [= March 24], 1961); A. Oyerbakh,
in Tog-morgn-zhurnal (July 16, 1961;
August 20, 1961).
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