ITZIK MANGER

ITZIK MANGER (May 28, 1901-February 20, 1969)

            He was born in Czernowitz, Bukovina.  His father Hillel Manger came from Stoptshet, near Kolomaye in eastern Galicia, and he worked as a tailor who could scarcely make ends meet.  As Manger would later write, his father was “a humorist, an artist, a master of verse,” who would entertain audiences at homegrown joyous events with amicable parodies for those present, who even wrote a Purim play and acted it out with his friends, the journeymen-tailors.  His mother, Khane Voliner, came from Kolomaye and was a singer of Yiddish folksongs and recounted folktales.  His paternal grandfather was a wagon driver, and his material grandfather, Itsik Broder, was a mattress maker.  In Czernowitz, Manger studied in religious elementary school, graduated from a German public school, and went on to enter the Kaiser Königlicher Dritter Staats-Gymnasium.  His childhood years were spent in poverty.  His entire family (parents and three children) lived for a time in one room, for a time in a cellar, and on one occasion they sneaked out of their apartment in the middle of the night, because they lacked the necessary money to pay the rent.  While still in his childhood years, Manger soaked up the melodies from the old Goldfaden theatrical plays, the joyous songs of the Broder Singers, and Gypsy melodies which drifted up from the Romanian wine cellars.  A little later came impressions of the refined poetry of Goethe, Schiller, and Heine, that he learned in high school.  He was a “regular” in Avrom Akselrod’s Yiddish theater in Czernowitz, collecting the chairs, “lugging the theater properties for the actors,” so that he would be allowed to “stay behind the curtains during performances.”  In high school he was initially crowned with the title of “poet” for transforming Goethe’s ballad “Der getreue Eckart” (Eckart the trusty) into a form for performance on the stage.  He was not, however, long for high school.  The student “Isidor Helfer known as Manger,” then in the second level, was expelled from the high school for poor behavior, because he would impose on the professor extreme pain with his pranks.  He went on to become an apprentice to his father, but tailoring did not penetrate.  He then began to write poetry in German.  In 1914 when the Russian entered Kolomaye, Manger left for Jassy (Iași), Romania, where he supported himself as a tailor with an old Gentile man, a Czech, but due to a prank that he played on the tailor, he had to take flight.  Manger also worked with a barber and as a store employee.  In 1916 his parents and two younger siblings (Note and Sheyndl) moved to Iași.  Manger then became a frequent visitor to the home of Dr. Ludwig Gelerter, the well-known socialist and leader of Jewish workers in Romania, and through him became acquainted with social and political issues of that era.  Under the influence of Barbu Lăzăreanu, he began writing in Yiddish and in 1921 debuted in print with a ballad entitled “Meydl-portret” (Portrait of a young girl) in the journal Kultur (Culture), edited by Leyzer Shteynbarg.  He went on to publish ballads and essays as well in the collection Shoybn (Panes of glass), edited by his close friend, Yankev Shternberg, and in the organ of the Jewish Cultural Federation in Bucharest, Unzer vort (Our word)—later known as Unzer veg (Our path)—as well as in Literarishe bleter (Literary leaves) in Warsaw and Oyfkum (Arise) in New York, and elsewhere.  In 1928 he visited Warsaw for the first time, where he appeared with great success and gave speeches on Yiddish and European literature, as well as on Jewish folk humor.  In 1929 he began to bring out in Czernowitz his miniature journal for literature, theater, and art, entitled Getseylte verter (Counted words)—four issues appeared.  That year he published in Bucharest his first book of poetry and ballads, Shtern afn dakh (Stars on the roof), which was enthusiastically received by the entire Yiddish literary world.  In 1929 Manger came to Poland and became there one of the pillars of Yiddish poetry throughout the world.  With a brief interruption, he brought out again Getseylte verter (Cracow in 1930, Riga in 1933).  After his initial triumphal years in Poland and following a trip to Jewish communities in the Baltic states, he paid a visit home: Romania.  In a conversation with Dr. Shloyme Bikl for the Bucharest periodical Di vokh (The week), Manger announced, inter alia, that his main work “will be a challenge to create the second Yiddish folk epic after Perets’s Folkstimlekhe geshikhtn (Stories in a folk vein).”  From Romania, Manger returned to Poland where he composed his marvelous work and became ever more famous wherever Yiddish was spoken.  At numerous literary evenings in Poland, he was presented with the greatest recognition.  His poems and ballads were sung by virtually every stratum of the people.  In 1933 he published Lamtern in vint, lid un balade (Lantern in the wind, poetry and ballads), and in the period 1935-1936 his Khumesh-lider (Bible poems) appeared in two editions, as well as Megile lider (Poems from the Scroll [of Esther]) and Velvl zbarzher shraybt briv tsu malkele der sheyne (Velvl Zbarzher writes letters to the beautiful Malkele).  These works, with his own original folk touch, wonderful lyrical and innovative grotesque quality, were strongly played up by the Yiddish literary critics, and his fame in every Jewish community advanced incessantly.  Manger wrote for various Yiddish newspapers and magazines and was also the co-editor of the literary weekly Foroys (Onward), published by the Bundist Folkstsaytung (People’s newspaper) in Warsaw.  In every issue of this weekly, he published poems by Yiddish poets which he included in his Antologye fun yidisher lirik (Anthology of Yiddish lyric).  Over the course of ten years living and writing in Poland (1928-1938), he wrote mostly in poetry, as well as his best prose work: Di vunderlekhe lebns-bashraybung fun shmuel-abe abervo, dos bukh fun gan-eyden (The amazing life story of Shmuel-Aba Abervo, the book from the Garden of Eden), Di mayses fun hershl zumervint (The stories of Hershl Summerwind), and the sketch concerning Yidishe shrayber-geshtaltn fun der fargangenheyt (Images of Yiddish writers of the past).  He caused quite a storm (1936-1937) in Yiddish theater in Poland, too, with his two theatrical pieces “à la Goldfaden”: Di kishef-makherin (The sorceress) and Dray hotsmakhs (Three Hotsmakhs), both of which were staged in the Nowości Theatre.  At first, it was to be a theater for young people, but right after the premier of Di kishef-makherin, it became a theater for all.  The success of Dray hotsmakhs was no less than that of Di kishef-makherin.

            When the Nazis occupied France, Manger was in Paris.  He took pains to leave illegally for the land of Israel, but he was unable to get hold of the necessary papers.  After numerous paths and byways, he managed to reach England, whence he arrived sick and was compelled to remain in a London hospital for a time (concerning the desperate stampede of homeless people whom he witnessed and with whom he profoundly sympathized when he himself was escaping from Paris, Manger wrote his Zayt-balade [Ballad of the times]).  In London he was in touch with representatives of English poetry who had a very high appreciation for Manger’s talent.  He published there his poem and ballad book Volkns ibern dakh (Clouds over the roof) in 1942, Der shnayder-gezeln note manger zingt (The tailor’s apprentice Note Manger sings) (1948-1949), and the comedy Hotsmakh-shpil, a goldfaden-motiv in dray aktn (Hotsmakh play, a Goldfaden motif in three acts) in 1947.  In 1948 Manger was delegated by the international PEN Club to Poland to the dedication of the Ghetto memorial.  He was received with enthusiasm by the remnant of Polish Jews in Lodz, where he gave a speech “Vi azoy dos folk lakht” (How the people laugh)—the same speech that he gave when he arrived the first time to Poland from Romania.  Inherent in it was something on the order of a challenge: that right after the greatest Jewish calamity, it is again appropriate to mention the eternal laughter of the eternal Jewish people.  In 1951 Manger came from London to New York and remained there.  In New York he became a contributor to the socialist monthly Der veker (The alarm), in which for a short time he revived his “Getseylte verter.”  He also placed work in: Di goldene keyt (The golden chain) in Tel Aviv; and Vogshol (Scales), edited by A. Tabatshnik and Meyer Shtiker, in New York.  When he turned fifty years of age, the “Itzik Manger Committee” published a selection of Manger’s poetic works, entitled Lid un balade (Poem and ballad), which received the Louis Lamed Prize for 1952.  In 1955 he worked briefly for Tog-morgn-zhurnal (Day-morning journal) in New York, in which he published stories.  In 1958 for the first time he made a voyage to the state of Israel as a guest of “Vaadat Heasor” (Tenth [anniversary of the state of Israel] committee).  Preparing for the trip, Manger wrote (in a distinctively Manger manner): “I’ve wandered abroad homeless for many years, and [now] I go and wander home.”  Awaiting the arrival of his airplane in the state of Israel were: representatives of the Yiddish writers’ and journalists’ association and of “Kol Yisrael Lagola” (Voice of Israel to the Diaspora); prominent personalities of the state; his sister Sheyndl, whom he had not seen in twenty-one years; the Speaker of the Knesset at the time, Yosef Shprintsak; the head of the Histadrut, Pinḥas Lavon; and Hebrew and Yiddish writers, politicians, and community leaders—all welcoming him with open arms.  Shortly after arriving, he was invited to the residence of President Yitzhak Ben-Zvi.  A large reception was arranged for him in the theater salon of “Ohel Shem” in Tel Aviv.  A second major evening was set up for him by the Tel Aviv workers’ council in their cultural center “Bet Taburi.”  He had solemn receptions at the editorial offices of Davar (Word), in Liessin House, at kibbutzim, and at the Tel Aviv journalists’ association in Bet Tchernichovsky.  The Hebrew University arranged for Manger to deliver a speech in Yiddish.  In Tsfat (Sefad) he received the golden emblem from the city.  The literary publications associated with the newspaper were dedicated to his life and work.  In 1961 Manger turned sixty, and his birthday was celebrated in New York and in the state of Israel.  The more important Jewish institutions in New York established an Itzik Manger Jubilee Committee, and a banquet was prepared for him on June 11, 1961 at the Statler Hilton Hotel.  Dr. Shloyme Bikl gave the welcoming speech, and Manger was warmly received by representatives of prominent Jewish institutions and by the Israeli consul in New York.  At the banquet Manger gave a speech full of impressions about his pathway in Yiddish literature and also read aloud a splendid poem that he wrote for his sixty years.  The jubilee committee also published a volume of Manger’s prose: Noente geshtaltn un andere shriftn (Close images and other writings).  On his second visit to Israel in 1962, he was again enthusiastically received by all levels of the population.  Perets Publishers in Tel Aviv published a magnificent volume of his writings in Yiddish and Hebrew, entitled Lid-balade-dertseylung, shir-balada-sipur (Poem-ballad-story).  Three cities—Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, and Tsfat—honored him with medals, as honorary citizen.  In Yaar Hakedoshim (Martyrs’ forest), he planted with his own hands a tree to the memory of the six million murdered Jews.  After planting the tree, while saying good-bye to the workers, Manger exclaimed disturbingly: “My friends, if you should see a bird on my tree, you should know that it’s me—it’s my metamorphosis.”  Back in New York, Manger was invited to the American Poetry Society—Robert Frost was president of it—to read his poems at official annual banquet.  That year he was included in the Anthology of World Poetry, published (every second year) by UNESCO in Brussels.  In the fifth volume (1961) of the anthology were published Manger’s poems in French translation, with a short treatment about his work.  His writings were also in journals in English, German, Polish, Romanian, Latvian, and other languages.  Many Yiddish poets dedicated poems to him.

            Manger’s book-length works include: Shtern afn dakh (Bucharest: Sholem-Aleykhem, 1929), 180 pp. (cover and portrait by Artur Kolnik); Lamtern in vint, lid un balade (Warsaw: Turem, 1933), 142 pp.; Felker zingen (Peoples sing) (Warsaw: Bzshoza, 1936), 92 pp., translations from other languages; Khumesh-lider (Warsaw: Aleynenyu, 1935), 68 pp., second edition (Warsaw: Bzshoza, 1936); Megile-lider (Warsaw: Aleynenyu, 1936), 68 pp., also in Hebrew translation by Mordechai Amitai as Meshire hamegila (Tel Aviv, 1953); Demerung in shpigl, lid un balade (Dusk in the mirror, poetry and ballads) (Warsaw: Library of the Yiddish PEN Club, 1937), 108 pp.; Velvl zbarzher shraybt briv tsu malkele der sheyne (Warsaw-Vienna: A. B. Tserata, 1937), 32 pp.; Noente geshtaltn, skitsn vegn yidishe shrayber-geshtaltn (Close images, sketches of Yiddish writers) (Warsaw: Bzshoza, 1938), 210 pp., also in Hebrew translation by Avraham Shlonsky as Demuyot kerovot (Merḥavya: Hakibuts haartsi hashomer hatsair, 1941), 155 pp.; Far yugnt, lider un baladn (For youth, poems and ballads) (Warsaw: Kinderfraynd, 1937), 50 pp.; Di vunderlekhe lebns-bashraybung fun shmuel-abe abervo, dos bukh fun gan-eyden (Warsaw: Bzshoza, 1939), 280 pp., illustrated by Mendl Rayf, also in Dutch translation by L. Fuks and Fri Jolles as Het boek van het paradijs, het wonderlijke levensverhaal van Sjmoel Abbe Aberwo (The book of parodies, the amazing life story of Shmuel-Aba Abervo) (Amsterdam: Arbeiderspers, 1958), 220 pp., and in German translation by Salcia Landmann as Dos Buch von Parodies (The book of parodies) (Geneva: Kossodo, 1963), 252 pp.; Volkns ibern dakh, poetry and ballads (London: Aleynenyu, 1942), 124 pp.; Hotsmakh-shpil, a goldfaden-motiv in dray aktn (London: Aleynenyu, 1947), 80 pp.; Der shnayder-gezeln note manger zingt, songs with an essay by Dr. Shloyme Bikl and a portrait of Note Manger (Itzik’s brother), cover by Artur Kolnik (London: Ararat, 1948), 136 pp.; Gezamlte shriftn (Collected works), vol. 1, Medresh itsik (The midrash according to Itzik [Manger]), with cover, frontispiece, drawings, and vignettes by Artur Kolnik (Paris-Geneva: Itzik Manger Jubilee Committee, 1951), 200 pp., on the occasion of Manger’s fiftieth birthday; Lid un balade (New York: Itzik Manger Committee, 1952), 486 pp.; Lid-balade-dertseylung, shir-balada-sipur, in Yiddish and Hebrew (Shimshon Meltzer, translator) (Tel Aviv: Perets Publ., 1961), 121 pp.; Noente geshtaltn un andere shriftn, with a bibliography prepared by Yefim Yeshurin (New York: Itzik Manger Jubilee Committee, 1961), 516 pp.; Megile-lider (Tel Aviv: Amiqam, 1966), 68 pp.; Shtern in shtoyb (Stars in the dust) (New York, 1967), 232 pp.; Medresh itsik (Jerusalem: Hebrew University, 1969), 227 pp., third edition with an afterword by Chone Shmeruk (Jerusalem: Hebrew University, 1984), 233 pp.; Oysgeklibene shriftn (Selected writings) (Buenos Aires: Lifshits Fund, 1970), 380 pp.; Di vunderlekhe lebns-bashraybung fun shmuel-abo abervo, dos bukh fun gan-eyden (Tel Aviv: Perets Publ., 1976), 218 pp.; Lid un balade (Tel Aviv: Perets Publ., 1976), 480 pp.; Shriftn in proze (Writings in prose) (Tel Aviv: Perets Publ., 1980), 493 pp.; Sipur gan-eden (Story of the Garden of Eden), translation by K. A. Bertini of Di vunderlekhe lebns-bashraybung (Tel Aviv: Am Oved, 1982), 184 pp.; Shriftn (Writings), vol. 1 (Tel Aviv: World Council for Yiddish, 1983).  He also participated in the compilation of the works of Mani Leyb.

            “Like no one before him and no one since,” wrote Dr. Shloyme Bikl, “Itzik Manger in his poetry expressed in a highly refined and artistically highly serviceable manner the entire scale of feelings and moods of Jewish folk poetry over all generations.  In Manger’s poetry, I would say, there is the joy and the sorrow of generations of Jewish folksongs, for such joyousness and sorrow together, which is the highest level of both joy and sorrow, cannot coexist in a poem of one poet.  In a story, which is both sad and beautiful, like the story of Shmuel-Aba Abervo or of Hershl Zumervint, it can first happen to only one person and even to only one generation.  These are fantasy stories whose events were hatched in a mood of generations, and they have been waiting for a great poet to fashion them and give them their own soul-melody.”  “In Manger’s illustrious poetry,” noted Avrom Sutzkever, “which has become the possession of the people, underground, hidden secrets and symbols are leading a life-for-themselves.  They vibrate in the crystal shadows of their damp, colorful music, and they protect his poems with a dream of eternity….  He ties together heaven and earth in an off-handed manner; in a simple word, like the dew, he brightens his vision, and elevates from secret music to become charming and even modest, youthful and shrewd words, which in the hands of other, unmysterious poets would sound vulgar.”  “Manger’s verse,” wrote Shmuel Niger, “is at first glance so simple, so light, so transparent, like lines of a folksong; however, they are so heavily charged!  How not univocal and how obscure is the depths that he opens for us.  What is apparent with the people becomes hidden with Manger, and the people’s realism becomes romantic; what is primitive for the people—refined master craftsmanship….  He translated the epic that is Tanakh into the language of his lyric—and what a stunning translation it is!  He reconstructed the environs of antiquity on surroundings which are much closer to our own times—and in this reconstruction he presented Yiddish poetry with one of its most charming and beautiful works….  He is one of most lyrical of our lyrical poets—and he excels with his architectonics.  There is in his pouring out from his heart a creative design.  One feels the culture in his cult of song.”  “Manger is one of a small number of Yiddish poets,” noted Y. Rapoport, “whom one can read often, without becoming weary.  The purity of his tone [and] the internal musicality of his verse frequently transform his poems into musical compositions….  If I am asked who writes the most pious verse in modern Yiddish poetry, I would without the least hesitation answer: Itzik Manger….  Manger’s melodiousness and his delicate, profound, harmonious lyricism constitute one of his great strengths; a conglomeration of limitless poetic traits transforms his lyricism into one of the most beautiful products of Yiddish poetic art.  One cannot say what one should enjoy and marvel at first: his gentleness, or his imagination, or his playfulness, or his flashiness, or his profound emotions.”  He died in Gedera, Israel.

 

Sources: Zalmen Reyzen, Leksikon, vol. 2; Leo Finkelshteyn, in Literarishe bleter (Warsaw) (1929); Y. Botoshanski, in Literarishe bleter (May 10, 1929); Botoshanski, in Di prese (Buenos Aires) (August 20, 1941; September 30, 1946; December 9, 1953; August 19, 1958); Kadia Molodowsky, in Di vokh (New York) (January 17, 1930); Shmuel Niger, in Di tsukunft (New York) (May 1932); Niger, in Der tog (New York) (September 5, 1937; June 18, 1939; March 17, 1943; May 13, 1951); Niger, in Tog-morgn-zhurnal (New York) (February 22, 1953; October 11, 1953; April 18, 1954); Niger, in Idishe tsaytung (Buenos Aires) (July 1, 1953); N. Mayzil, in Literarishe bleter (February 10, 1033; July 24, 1933); Mayzil, in Di tsukunft (July 1935); Mayzil, in Yidishe kultur (New York) (February 1943); Mayzil, Forgeyer un mittsayler (Forerunner and contemporary) (New York, 1946), pp 394-407; Y. Rapoport, in Fraye shriftn (Warsaw) (July 1934); Rapoport, in Di tsukunft (1937; September-October 1950); Rapoport, in Kiem (Paris) (September-October 1949); Rapoport, in Der shpigl (Buenos Aires) (March 1952); Rapoport, in Di yidishe prese (Melbourne) (March 7, 1961); Rapoport, Zoymen in vint (Seeds in the wind) (Melbourne, 1961), pp. 411-26; Zev-Volf Latski-Bertoldi, in Literarishe bleter (April 26, 1935); Leyb Malakh, in Tshernovitser bleter (Czernowitz) (May 17, 1935); N. Veynik, in Literarishe bleter (June 28, 1935); Dr. A. Mukdoni, in Morgn-zhurnal (New York) (September 11, 1935); Mukdoni, in Di tsukunft (May-June 1953); Y. Paner, in Tshernovitser bleter (February 28, 1936); Paner, in Keneder odler (Montreal) (April 18, 1951); Paner, in Lebns-fragn (Tel Aviv) (September 1955); Meylekh Ravitsh, in Fraye arbeter-shtime (New York) (October 23, 1936; August 21, 1948); Ravitsh, in Loshn un lebn (London) (August 1948); Ravitsh, in Di prese (June 17, 1951); Ravitsh, Mayn leksikon (My lexicon), vol. 1 (Montreal, 1945); Y. Glants, in Der veg (Mexico City) (December 11, 1937; March 19, 1938; January 19, 1963); Unzer shtime (Paris) 4 (1938); Y. Volf, Kritishe minyaturn (Critical miniatures) (Cracow, 1939); Dr. A. A. Roback, The Story of Yiddish Literature (New York, 1940), pp. 229-30; Sh. Rozhanski, Dos yidishe gedrukte vort in argentine (The published Yiddish word in Argentina), vol. 1 (Buenos Aires, 1941), p. 128; A. Glants-Leyeles, in Der tog (March 25, 1941; March 17, 1942; September 20, 1947); Glants-Leyeles, in Tog-morgn-zhurnal (November 7, 1953); Dr. Shloyme Bikl, in Der tog (May 3, 1941); Bikl, in Idisher kemfer (New York) (May 21, 1943; March 6, 1953; March 26, 1953); Bikl, Detaln un sakhaklen, kritishe un polemishe bamerkungen (Details and sum totals, critical and polemical observations) (New York, 1943), pp. 119-33; Bikl, in Kiem (June-July 1951); Bikl, in Di tsukunft (July-August 1955); Bikl, in Tog-morgn-zhurnal (October 14, 1956; June 11, 1961); Bikl, Shrayber fun mayn dor (Writers of my generation) (New York, 1958), pp. 133-45; Bikl, Rumenye (Romania) (Buenos Aires, 1961); Moyshe Nadir, in Idisher kemfer (March 13, 1942); Shimshon Meltzer, in Al naharot (To the rivers) (Jerusalem, 1955/1956), p. 435; Rokhl Korn, in Kiem (June 1948); Yankev Glatshteyn, in Idisher kemfer (September 17 1948; May 18, 1951; May 15, 1953); Glatshteyn, In tokh genumen (In essence) (New York, 1956); Y. Hofer, in Kiem (December 1948); Hofer, in Di goldene keyt (Tel Aviv) 8 (1951); Hofer, in Di tsukunft (October 1951); Hofer, Itsik manger (Itzik Manger) (Tel Aviv: Perets Publ., 1979), 139 pp.; N. Shteynbern, in Fraye arbeter-shtime (September 2, 1949; September 16, 1949); Leyzer Grinberg, in Getseltn (New York) (Winter 1949); Y. Y. Sigal, in Keneder odler (July 31, 1950; March 30, 1051); Sh. Tenenboym, in Der idisher zhurnal (Toronto) (May 28, 1951); Kh. Sh. Kazdan, in Foroys (Mexico City) (August 29, 1951; September 5, 1951); Kazdan, in Unzer tsayt (New York) (September 1951); Y. Bronshteyn, in Der veg (February 2, 1952; February 8, 1952); Bronshteyn, Yo, un nisht neyn (Yes, and not no) (Los Angeles, 1953); Bronshteyn, Unter eyn dakh (Under one roof) (Los Angeles, 1956); M. Osherovitsh, in Forverts (New York) (July 19, 1953); Yankev Pat, in Di tsukunft (July-August 1953; March 1955); Pat, in Di prese (Augiust 4, 1953); Pat, Shmuesn mit yidishe shrayber (Conversations with Yiddish writers) (New York, 1954), pp. 175-91; Pat, in Der shpigl (April 1955); Pat, Siḥot im sofrim yehudiyim (Chats with Jewish writers) (Tel Aviv, 1959); Y. Rodak, Kunst un kinstler (Art and artists) (New York, 1955), p. 136; M. Shtiker, in Folksblat (Montevideo) (June 22, 1954); B. Shefner, Novolipye 7, zikhroynes un eseyen (Nowolipie 7, memoirs and essays) (Buenos Aires, 1955), pp. 164-69; B. Kutsher, Geven amol varshe (As Warsaw once was) (Paris, 1955), see index; B. Y. Byalostotski, Kholem un vor, eseyen (Dream and reality, essays) (New York, 1956); H. Royznblat, in Idisher kemfer (Rosh Hashanah issue, 1956); Dov Sadan, in Di goldene keyt 31 (1958); Sadan, in Davar (Tel Aviv) (Adar א [= February 27], 1959); Sadan, Avne zikaron (Milestones) (Tel Aviv, 1961/1962), pp. 126-40; Rivka Katsenelson, in Maariv (Tel Aviv) (May 30, 1958); Avraham Sutzkever, in Di goldene keyt 31 (1958); A. Kinarti, in Lemerḥav (Tel Aviv) (May 20, 1958); Ḥ. Shabtay, in Davar (June 3, 1958); L. Faynberg, in Der tog (November 14, 1958; May 26, 1961); S. Kahan, in Di shtime (Mexico City) (September 10, 1960); Kahan, Literarishe un zhurnalistishe fartsaykhenungen (Literary and journalistic notes) (Mexico City, 1961), pp. 85-86; Avrom Shulman, in Der veker (New York) (May 1, 1961); Yefim Yeshurin, “Itsik manger-biblyografye” (Itzik Manger’s bibliography), in Manger, Noente geshtaltn un andere shriftn (Close images and other writings) (New York, 1961), pp. 521-52; L. Shpizman, Geshtaltn (Images) (Buenos Aires, 1962), pp. 193-95; Yisrael Ḥ. Biletzky, Itsik manger (Itzik Manger) (Tel Aviv: Yisroel bukh, 1976), 385 pp.; Rivke Rus, Bimeḥisato shel itsik manger (With Itzik Manger) (Tel Aviv: Alef, 1983), 221 pp.

Leyb Vaserman

[Additional information from: Berl Kagan, comp., Leksikon fun yidish-shraybers (Biographical dictionary of Yiddish writers) (New York, 1986), cols. 363-64.]