MOTI RABINOVITSH

MOTI RABINOVITSH (September 23, 1891[1]-January 17, 1963)

            He was born in Jassy (Iași), Romania, the father of the Hebrew writer Y. Rabi.  He studied in religious elementary schools.  He pursued bookkeeping, teaching, and Zionist cultural work.  From 1919 he was living in Bucharest and from 1932 in the land of Israel.  He was one of the pioneers of Yiddish literature in old Romania.  He was co-editor of the first modern, Yiddish periodical in Romania, Likht (Light), a quarterly in Iași (December 1914-September 1915).  He contributed to Der hamer (The hammer) in Brăila (1915) and Unzer tsayt (Our time) in Kishinev, and he brought out a humorous leaflet entitled Di fohn (The banner) (two issued appeared).  He also wrote humorous features and satirical poems.  A selection of his writings in Yiddish and Hebrew was published in Minḥat-zikaron lemoti rabinovits, bimelot shalosh shanim lifetirato (Memorial to Moti Rabinovitsh, three years after his death) (Tel Aviv, 1966), 92 pp., published by Y. Rabi.  His pen names: R. Maks, R. Moti, Der Hitsiger, and Dr. Asperin.  He died in Jaffa.

Sources: Zalmen Reyzen, Leksikon, vol. 4; Shloyme Bikl, in Tog-morgn-zhurnal (New York) (May 21, 1966); Natan Mark, Sifrut yidish beromanya, lerabot itonut, mereshita ṿead 1972 (Yiddish literature in Romania, including the press, from its inception until 1972) (Tel Aviv, 1973), p. 55; Yeshurin archive, YIVO (New York).

Ruvn Goldberg

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[1] Zalmen Reyzen, Leksikon, vol. 4, erroneously gives 1890 as the birth year here.