AVROM RAYNVAYN (ABRAHAM RHINEWINE)

AVROM RAYNVAYN (ABRAHAM RHINEWINE) (October 23, 1887-May 18, 1932)

            A journalist and historian, he was born in Mezritsh (Międzyrzecz), Shedlets (Siedlce), Poland.  He attended religious elementary school and the Slobodka yeshiva.  He was active in the Zionist socialist party.  In 1907 he was living in London, and in 1908 he was in Toronto where he graduated from the economics department of the local university.  He was much involved in the local community and a cofounder of the Canadian Jewish Congress.  He began writing in Russian and from 1906 switched to Yiddish.  He contributed to Zionist socialist organs: Folks shtime (Voice of the people) in Kiev and Vilna, Der nayer veg (The new path), Unzer veg (Our way), and Der veg (The way), among others.  He later placed work in Canadian and American publications: Tog (Day), Di varhayt (The truth), Tsukunft (Future), Dos naye leben (The new life), Keneder odler (Canadian eagle) and Dos folk (The people) in Montreal, Detroyter vikhenblat (Detroit weekly newspaper), Baginen (Dawn), and Bay unz (Among ourselves), among others.  In 1913 he was assistant editor of the daily Der idisher zhurnal (The Jewish journal) in Toronto, and from 1915 until his death he was editor-in-chief.  He wrote about Jewish education, cultural issues, reviews of literature and theater, and stories.  In the anthology Kanade (Canada) of 1917, he published a long story entitled “In a kanader shtot” (In a Canadian city).  In book form: Erets yisroel in idishen leben un literatur (The land of Israel in Jewish life and literature) (Toronto: Kanade, 1921), 147 pp.; Kanade, ihr geshikhte un entviklung (Canada, its history and growth) (Toronto: Kanade, 1923), 143 pp.; Der id in kanade, vol. 1: Fun der frantsoyzisher periode biz der moderner tsayt (The Jew in Canada, from the French period to modern times) (Toronto: Kanade, 1925), vol. 2: Materyalen tsu der geshikhṭe fun di kanader iden (Materials on the history of Canadian Jews) (1927), 340 pp. total; Tsienizm un di iden-frage, alte emesn nay iberdertsehlt (Zionism and the Jewish question, old truths, new retelling) (Toronto, 1928), 16 pp.  He also published a play entitled Der asimilator (The assimilator) which was staged in Canadian Yiddish theater.  For his Idisher zhurnal, he translated a series of novels, among them: Jakob Fingermann, Menshen inem opgrund (People at the abyss [original: Menschen im Abgrund]), a work by E. Tabenkin, and many shorter works.  He also published pieces on Jews in Canada in English-language journals.  He died in Toronto.

Sources: Zalmen Reyzen, Leksikon, vol. 4; Zamlbukh-mezritsh (Międzyrzecz anthology) (Buenos Aires, 1952), p. 428; Keneder odler (Montreal) (November 2, 1959); Yankev Glatshteyn, in Tog-morgn-zhurnal (New York) (April 27, 1962); Yeshurin archive, YIVO (New York).

Khayim Leyb Fuks