SHIMEN SHPIGL

SHIMEN SHPIGL (Hanukkah [December 14-21], 1891-November 23, 1974)

            He was born in Lodz.  He graduated from a technical middle school.  In 1921 he settled in Warsaw.  He knew many languages.  From 1934 he was living in the land of Israel.  Early in life he became interested in Yiddish proverbs and jokes, and he published some of them in Der veg (The way) in Lodz (January 1, 1907) and in Lodzer folksblat (Lodz people’s newspaper) (1915).  He placed work in: Lodzer tageblat (Lodz daily newspaper) (1917), Nayer morgenblat (New morning newspaper) in Lodz, Warsaw’s daily Di morgenpost (The morning mail) (which only existed for a short time in 1921), Morgentsaytung (Morning newspaper) (1924), and from 1925 he was a regular contributor to Haynt (Today) in Warsaw.  He published the anthology Ashmoday (Lodz, 1919).  He published numerous folkloric-philological articles, such as: “Yudisher verter-farbindungen” (Yiddish linguistic connections), Lodzer tageblat (1918); “Mendele un di yidishe shprakh” (Mendele and the Yiddish language) and “Dem zeydns mesholim, aforizmen un vertlekh” (The Grandfather’s fables, aphorisms, and sayings), Lodzer tageblat (1918); “Priziv un rekrutatsye” (Conscription and recruitment), Der idisher zhurnalist (The Jewish journalist) in Lodz (1919); “A pruv fun a reshime sinonimen” (An attempt from a list of synonyms), Khoydesh (Month) in Lodz (1921); “Verterbukh loyt begrif-familyes” (Dictionary [arranged] according to families of concepts), in Bay unz yuden, zamelbukh far folklore un filologye (Among us Jews, a collection for folklore and philology), ed. M. Vanvild (Warsaw, 1923); and the like.  He also published translations from world literature.  In book form: Voltaire’s novel Tsadig, roman (Zadig, a novel [original: Zadig ou la Destinée (Zadig or the Book of Fate)]) (Warsaw: Der turem, 1921), 128 pp.  His pen names include: Shefifun, Ruvn Knaknisl, Sh. Sh-l, Abe At, and Der Hoykher.  He died in Tel Aviv.

Sources: Zalmen Reyzen, Leksikon, vol. 4; Khayim Leyb Fuks, Lodzh shel mayle, dos yidishe gaystiḳe un derhoybene lodzh, 100 yor yidishe un oykh hebreishe literatur un kultur in lodzh un in di arumiḳe shtet un shtetlekh (Lodz on high, the Jewish spiritual and elevated Lodz, 100 years of Yiddish and also Hebrew literature and culture in Lodz and in the surrounding cities and towns) (Tel Aviv: Perets Publ., 1972), see index; Khayim Finkelshteyn, Haynt, a tsaytung bay yidn, 1908-1939 (Haynt [Today], a newspaper for Jews, 1908-1939) (Tel Aviv, 1978), pp. 188-89.

Berl Cohen