ELIEZER-TSVI (LEYZER) TSVAYFEL (ZWEIFEL)

ELIEZER-TSVI (LEYZER) TSVAYFEL (ZWEIFEL) (April 15, 1815-February 18, 1888)

            He was born in Mohilev, Byelorussia.  His father, a school teacher and scholar, was a Hassid and follower of R. Mendele Lyubavitsher.  In his youth, Leyzer Tsvayfel gained renown for his erudition, and in 1853 he was appointed teacher of Talmud in the rabbinical seminary in Zhitomir.  As an outstanding lecturer, a vibrant, original personality, he attracted to himself everyone with whom he came into contact, and he became the darling of the young in Zhitomir.  He always had an audience at his lectures in the rabbinical seminary.  He debuted in print in 1858 with a collection of Hebrew poems and essays entitled Minim veugav (Lute and pipe).  Contrary to the majority of writers of that epoch, who wrote in a pure biblical style, Tsvayfel frequently used the language of the Talmud and medieval literature.  His style gradually became naturalized in Hebrew literature.  Sharply distinguished from other followers of the Jewish Enlightenment of the time, Tsvayfel was also tied to Orthodox Judaism and Hassidism.  In the epoch of heightened struggle for religious reforms and for enlightenment, over the course of many years he worked on a major text entitled Shalom al yisroel (Peace to Israel), in which he strove to make peace between the two warring camps and give an objective assessment of Hassidic doctrine.  Although he found it necessary to underscore that Hassidim on his side had in many ways deviated from the original teachings of the Besht (Baal Shem Tov) and his disciples, Tsvayfel’s book aroused great dissatisfaction in circles of the Enlightened, who saw in Hassidism the high fortress of backwardness, fanaticism, and darkness.  At first, Kh. Z. Slonimski, the Jewish censor in Zhitomir, tried not to permit the publication of the first part of Tsvayfel’s work, but thanks to the consent of Avraham Krochmal, Adolf Jellinek, and others, Shalom al yisroel enjoyed great success.  Tsvayfel was also one of the few great figures among the followers of the Jewish Enlightenment who retained warm ties to Yiddish and wrote in the language several booklets which provided a transition from traditional pious Yiddish literature to the literature of the Enlightenment and of wedding entertainment.  His first such booklet in Yiddish was Seyfer musar-haskel (Book of moral instruction), “published by Izrael Epl Vayts” (anagram for Leyzer Tsvayfel with the addition of an alef).  In his short Hebrew preface, he based his decision to write in Yiddish on Rambam [Maimonides] and in particular on Mendl Lefin-Satanover.  In the Hebrew preface to his second booklet in Yiddish, Toykhekhes khayim (Rebukes of life)—“reproof, from life, from judgment, and from many beloved texts, to teach people how to behave properly, what to do to improve, and how to comprehend the world,” initially published anonymously (Vilna, 1865), 96 pp.—he pointed out the need to speak with the people in tender and fine words in their language, even if the language was a mishmash.  These two booklets contained short treatments, aphorisms, and poems, with which the author instructed the simple readers in proper practices and took pains to find a compromise between the ancient, devout Judaism and the ideas of modern times.  As a moralist and didactic writer, he also stepped forth in his longer Yiddish work, Di kleyne velt oder aher un ahin (The small world or here and there), with rhyming verses initially published in Sholem-Aleichem’s Yudishe folks biblyotek (Jewish people’s library), issues 1 and 2, and later appearing in a complete and augmented edition—perhaps its original form—under the title Kleyne veltl oder bitter un finster (Small world or bitter and dark), with the motto on the title page: “Our grief and faults piled one upon the other” (offprint edition by the sole Orthodox newspaper in England, Hatsofe [The spectator]), 80 pp., in 1894.  This was a kind of satirical encyclopedia—in 299 six-line stanzas—of all the failings and negative aspects of Jewish life, character, and Jewish ways, seen through the prism of an old-style follower of the Jewish Enlightenment.  The author was saddened by their [the Jews’] discouraging behavior and simultaneously standing before the public good and the like, he expressed his deep sorrow that the beautiful aspirations of the Enlightenment era would not be realized.  In all of Tsvayfel’s work, there is this satire written in an intimate, amicable tone and in a very simple, pure Yiddish.  In a number of his moralistic and rebuking verses, the author rises to a lyricism which amplifies the expression of good-natured, chastising, rhyming, and honest journalism.  The same moralistic-didactic character may be found in Tsvayfel’s story Der gliklekher mafter, a sheyne mayse vos hot getrofn tsurik mit eynike yohren, vi a shnayder yingel iz durkh a maftir hekhst gliklekh gevorn (The lucky maftir [selection from the Prophets] reader, a lovely tale that goes back several years, as a tailoring lad made happier by the maftir) (Warsaw, 1886), 46 pp.  The author himself has the following to say about this work on the title page: “Everyone may use this story more or less, the tale itself being beautiful, though more beautiful are the conclusions.”  Among his short works in Yiddish, there was published “Muser far ale” (Etiquette for everyone) and “A mayse fun fartsayten” (A tale from olden times) in M. Spektor’s Hoyz-fraynd (House friend) 1 and 2.  His archive was destroyed at the time of WWI in Tel Aviv.  All that remains are nineteen letters from various scholars to him and the manuscripts of his works Sanegor (Defense counsel) and Sefer hamidrash (The book of midrash)—the manuscripts were preserved in the library of “Ḥevra mefitse haskala” (Society for the promotion of enlightenment) in St. Petersburg.

Sources: Zalmen Reyzen, Leksikon, vol. 3; Y. Tsinberg, Yidishe literature (Yiddish literature), part 1 (Kiev, 1928); Tsinberg, Di geshikhte fun literatur bay yidn (The history of Jewish literature), vol. 9 (New York, 1966), see index; A. R. Malachi, in Tsukunft (New York) (January 1928); Shmuel Niger, in Tsukunft (May 1931; March 1932); Niger, Dertseylers un romanistn (Storytellers and novelists), 2 parts (New York: Tsiko, 1946), pp. 31-36; Niger, Bleter geshikhte fun der yidisher literatur (Pages of history from Yiddish literature) (New York, 1959); Y. Riminik, in Tsaytshrift (Minsk) 5 (1931); Y. Klausner, Historiya shel hasifrut haivrit haḥadasha (History of modern Hebrew literature) (Jerusalem, 1949/1950); Yitsḥak Refael, Rishonim veaḥaronim (The earlier and the later ones) (Tel Aviv, 1956/1957); Sh. Dubnov, Geshikhte fun khsidizm (History of Hassidism), vol. 3 (Buenos Aires, 1958); N. Sokolov, Ishim (Personages) (Jerusalem, 1957/1958); A. Gur, in Hadoar (New York) (Adar 1 [= February 17], 1961); A. Tsaytlin, in Tog-morgn-zhurnal (New York) (April 26, 1961); Getzel Kressel, Leksikon hasifrut haivrit (Handbook of Hebrew literature) (Merḥavya, 1967), pp. 704-5.

Benyomen Elis