GERSHON ROZENTSVAYG

GERSHON ROZENTSVAYG (Nisan [= March-April] 1861-February 13, 1914)

            He was born in either Bialystok or Korotshin (Korczyn?), Grodno district.  He penned Hebrew-language satires and parodies, and he edited Hebrew periodicals in the United States, whence he came in 1888.  Especially well known among his books of parodies was Masekhet amerika min talmud yankai im perush katsar umaspik (Treatise on America, from the Talmud Yankee with a short and sufficient commentary) (New York, 1892).  He wrote poetry and epigrams in Yiddish as well.  For many years he was a contributor and co-editor of Yidishes tageblat (Jewish daily newspaper), Yidishe gazetten (Jewish gazette), and Di idishe velt (The Jewish world).  He published a few items in: Getsl Zelikovitsh’s Yudisher herald (Jewish herald) (1890), Der folks vekhter (The people’s watchman) in Philadelphia (1893), Abend-post (Evening mail) (1899), Tsukunft (Future) (1902), Zhurnal (Journal) (1902), and Minikes yontef bleter (Minikes’s holiday sheets).  He died in New York.

Sources: Zalmen Reyzen, Leksikon, vol. 4; Getzel Kressel, Leksikon hasifrut haivrit (Handbook of Hebrew literature), vol. 2 (Merḥavya, 1967); Kalmen Marmor, Der onhoyb fun der yidisher literatur in amerike, 1870-1890 (The start of Yiddish literature in America, 1870-1890) (New York: Writers’ Section of IKUF, 1944), p. 36; Yeshurin archive, YIVO (New York).

Yekhezkl Lidshuts