YISROEL LEVIN (ISRAEL LEVINE)

YISROEL LEVIN (ISRAEL LEVINE) (b. December 15, 1878)

           He was born in a village in Minsk district, Byelorussia.  In 1895 he arrived in the United States, lived in various cities, worked as a teacher in Talmud Torahs, and was secretary for Mizrachi in the town in which he lived, Malden, Massachusetts.  He debuted in print in 1904 in Fraye arbeter-shtime (Free voice of labor) in New York with a poem entitled “Funken shpritsn” (Sparks fly), and from that point he went on to contribute poetry and translations from Tanakh and from ethical books to: Yidishes tageblat (Jewish daily newspaper), Forverts (Forward), Dos yudishe folk (The Jewish people), Di varheyt (The truth), and Idisher kemfer (Jewish fighter)—in New York; Idishe shtime (Jewish voice) in Boston; and more.  He published in book form: Lider fun a volontir (Poems of a volunteer) (Malden, 1919), 16 pp.; Sefer naim zemirot, tehilim (Naim Zemirot on Psalms), translated into a poetic form, with short prefaces by Dr. Meir Vaksman and Aharon Kaminska (Jerusalem, 1934), 19 pp.

Sources: D. B. Tirkel, Pinkes fun yivo (Records of YIVO) (New York, 1927-1928), p. 261; Biblyografishe yorbikher fun yivo (Bibliographic yearbooks from YIVO) (Warsaw, 1928), p. 200; Dr. Y. Markus, in Der idisher kuryer (Chocago) (October 22, 1934); Mevaker, in Di idishe shtime (Philadelphia) (November 12, 1934); Pinkas slutsk uvenoteha (Records of Slutsk and its builders) (Tel Aviv-New York, 1962), p. 395.

Khayim Leyb Fuks