By Rabbi Rachel Esserman

Essays by I. B. Singer

Isaac Bashevis Singer wrote so many essays for the Yiddish press that many were published under pseudonyms. The third book of his essays to appear in English, “Isaac Bashevis Singer Writings on Yiddish and Yiddishkayt: A Spiritual Reappraisal, 1946–1955” edited and translated by David Stromberg (White Goat Press), is the third collection to be reviewed in The Reporter. “Old Truths and New Clichés,” the first to be published, focused on the essays from the 1960s and ‘70s. (To read that review, visit www.thereportergroup.org/book-reviews/off-the-shelf-oz-and-singer-discuss-writing-and-life?entry=415690.) The second, “Isaac Bashevis Singer Writings on Yiddish and Yiddishkayt: The War Years, 1939-1945,” offered writings from his early career, before his fiction became popular. (The review of that work can be found at www.thereportergroup.org/book-reviews/celebrating-jewish-literature-essays-about-the-disappearing-yiddish-culture?entry=460556.)
Stromberg introduces each essay with a short note placing it in context, which is helpful for those unfamiliar with either Singer or the Yiddish press. The main focus of these writings is Singer’s desire to create a Yiddish culture in the United States, or rather, recreate a version of the Yiddish culture that had existed in Europe. His essays about Jewish discontent are timely for today: he believes this is caused by the fact that American Jews have no religious/social purpose. He also thinks that many American Jews don’t know how to identify with Judaism, nor do they understand the Jewish place in the world. Singer notes the questions these Jews ask themselves: “Why do people hate us? What role do we play? Are we a nation? A religion? A race? Internationalists? Can Palestine solve our problem? Or can socialism? Or both together? Or even not both together? You can ask and discuss without end.” The answers seem beyond their understanding.
Unfortunately, Singer’s solutions may not resonate with contemporary Jews, at least those who don’t believe that the Yiddish culture of Europe is something to be emulated. Singer sees that culture as offering a way for the Jewish people to remain connected, even for those who don’t believe in God. That’s partly because he feels the Jewish people need to aspire to a destiny beyond money or power, without which he believes there will be no Jewish future. Plus, Singer wants Jews to keep what he calls “their distinctive traits,” the things that make them unique, rather than adopting American cultural ideas. One of those traits is that they have an excitable temperament, something Singer calls “a fire” that must be ignited.
While the essays are interesting, it’s clear that Singer had no chance of recreating the Jewish European world he craved. Although some of his analysis of Jewish American life is correct, he didn’t see that the United States wasn’t a fertile ground for his ideas. While he hoped to transform American Jewish culture by having it reclaim the Yiddish language, much as the Israelis did Hebrew, there was simply not enough interest in what many people may have thought of as returning to the past, rather than creating a new type of future. Many may also have been glad to leave that Yiddish cultural heritage behind. This might be particularly true for women, who would be left home with the children while their husbands were frequenting the cafés and other Yiddish gathering places Singer envisioned.
I’m not sure why I found these essays less convincing than those in the two other works, but they simply did not resonate with me. However, admirers of Singer will definitely want to read them, as will those interested in his ideas on the development of Jewish American culture (some of which are worth emulating). Singer’s ideas are worthy of discussion even if you don’t agree with them. 

Poetry by Marcia Falk

Readers of The Reporter may be familiar with Marcia Falk’s ideas and writings about Jewish topics since she once taught at Binghamton University and spoke to local synagogue groups. The most recent review of her work, which offered a discussion of her “Night of Beginnings: A Passover Haggadah,” appeared in a 2022 issue of the paper. (To read the review, visit www.thereportergroup.org/features/off-the-shelf-haggadot-practical-and-impractical.) Falk is also known for her prayer book “The Book of Blessings: New Jewish Prayers for Daily Life, the Sabbath, and the New Moon Holiday,” which offers contemporary variations on traditional prayers. Her latest work is a book of personal poems “The Sky Will Overtake You” (Scarlet Tanager Books). 
Only a few of the poems have explicit Jewish themes, although there is a Jewish sensibility to all of Falk’s writing. “Shivah: Grief’s House” uses simple images to capture the experience of sitting shivah, while noting how difficult that time is to the mourner because “you cannot help but remember.” The poem “Morning” shows the beauty that comes after learning to love your life and the accompanying desire to praise God – the God in whom Falk no longer believes – for that ability. “Rosh Hashanah” uses the idea of the holiday as the birthday of the world by noting the phrase’s metaphorical aspects since “the world knows nothing of this invention” and “just keeps moving about itself.” In the poem “That Which Flows,” the author notes how the world continues its flows, which cannot be changed; nor does the world seem to be waiting “for the Messiah to come.”
The majority of the poems focus on the need to enjoy the world that surrounds us, even as Falk also notes the difficulties of aging. There is a muse in “The Muse Finally Speaks” who recommends that rather than waiting for her, readers should focus on the way the world continues with or without us. One poem, “What Do You Hear,” challenges us to listen to the sounds around us – everything from a bird call to traffic. Falk focuses on her childhood in “At Six” after looking at a “photo that fades into your fingers.” There are life lessons offered from a garden in “Don’t Trust Gardeners” and on how things change with age (and not for the better) in “My Hair.” The beauty and inspiring moments the world gives us are also featured in “First I Saw Him” and “The Book and the Dog.” 
The poems in “The Sky Will Overtake You” are quiet, simple ones that suggest readers should stop and appreciate the quiet experiences that make life meaningful, but which we often ignore. They also remind us of the impossibility of imposing our limitations on the natural world. Those who have enjoyed Falk’s other works may find much of interest in her more personal look at life, nature and aging.