BINYUMIN-GUTEL ZAK (BENJAMIN G. SACK)

BINYUMIN-GUTEL ZAK (BENJAMIN G. SACK) (February 1, 1889-May 2, 1967)

            He was born in Abeli (Obeliai), Kovno district, Lithuania, to a father who worked as a craftsman.  He studied in religious primary school, and later with a private tutor a little Russian and German; he subsequently continued his self-education.  In 1905 he moved to Canada, where his father had earlier made his way, settling in Montreal; there he studied further and also began his literary activities.  His first effort (using the pseudonym B. N. Meshkov) was a letter from Canada to Di varhayt (The truth) in New York in 1906, and from 1907, when Keneder odler (Canadian eagle) began publication in Montreal, he was a regular contributor to the newspaper, in which he initially published stories and later moved to journalism and for years was an editorial writer.  He wrote on political, economic, literary, and community cultural issues, but in the main he focused on the history of Jews in Canada.  He also contributed to: Fraynd (Friend) and Rassvet (Dawn) in St. Petersburg; Yidishes tageblat (Jewish daily newspaper) in New York; Folkstsaytung (People’s newspaper), edited by L. Khazanovitsh in Montreal; Keneder id (Canadian Jew), now Dos idishe vort (The Jewish word), in Winnipeg; Epokhe (Epoch), Der kval (The source), Nayland (New land), Idisher kemfer (Jewish fighter), Tsukunft (Future), Yidishe kultur (Jewish culture), and Yivo-bleter (Pages from YIVO), among others—in New York.  He translated into Yiddish: D’amici’s A roman fun a lererin (A novel of a female teacher) and Alfred de Musset’s Pyer un kamil (Pierre and Camille [original: Pierre et Camille]), as well as poetry by Victor Hugo and Alfred de Vigny.  He published a series of works on the history of Jews in Canada in: The Jew in Canada (Toronto, 1926), edited by Arthur Daniel Hart.  He wrote the entry “Canada” for the Encyclopedia Judaica (vol. 2, 1932).  Among his books: Geshikhte fun yidn in kanade, which appeared first in English as History of the Jews in Canada (Montreal: Canadian Jewish Congress, 1945), 285 pp., and in Yiddish in 1948 (358 pp.)—this book was serialized in Keneder odler from 1925.  He edited the jubilee publication of Keneder odler (1927), 126 pp., and co-edited Biblyotek-bukh, tsum tsavtsik yorikn yoyvl fun der montreoler idisher folks-biblyotek (Library book, on the twentieth anniversary of the Montreal Jewish Public Library) (Montreal, 1934), 98 pp.  He also co-edited the Universal Jewish Encyclopedia.  He wrote under such pen names as: Ben Zakkai, B. Osnatzon, Ben-Zakonim, Ben-Yemini, B. Gudman, G. Lipes, and others.  In 1916 he was one of the cofounders of the Jewish writers’ club in Montreal.  He was considered an authority on the history of the Jewish community in Canada.  He died in Montreal.

Sources: Zalmen Reyzen, Leksikon, vol. 1; Y. Rabinovitsh, in Keneder odler (Montreal) (May 11, 1925; November 6, 1959); A. Almi, Literarishe nesies (Literary voyages) (Warsaw, 1931), p. 112; Y. M. Daymondshteyn, in Keneder odler, jubilee volume (1938-1939); Dr. A. A. Robak and N. Y. Gitlib, in Keneder odler (May 9, 1939); A. M. Kleyn, in Canadian Jewish Chronicle (Montreal) (May 19, 1939); M. Ravitsh, in Yorbukh (Annual) (New York, 1949/1950); Y. Y. Sigal, in Keneder odler (January 24, 1949); Moyshe Shtarkman, in Der tog (New York) (July 31, 1949); Dr. A. Mukdoni, in Morgn-zhurnal (New York) (April 16, 1950); Sh. Belkin, in Keneder odler (May 2, 1955); Y. Galai and B. G. Zak, in Goldener yoyvl-bukh keneder odler (Golden jubilee volume for Keneder odler) (November 22, 1957); B. G. Zak, in Keneder odler (January 12, 1958); N. Y. Gotlib, in Keneder odler (March 15, 1959); Y. Beler, in Undzer veg (New York) (February 1960).