SHAYA (ISAIAH, YESHAYAHU) BERSHADSKI

SHAYA (ISAIAH, YESHAYAHU) BERSHADSKI (October 26, 1871-March 10, 1908)

This was the adopted name of Shaya Domeshevitski, born in the village of Žamčužny, near Deretshin (Dereczyn) in Grodno region.  His father, Shimen, was a timber merchant, a follower of the Jewish Enlightenment movement, and a free thinker, and he gave his son a Jewish and a general education.  He worked as a Hebrew teacher in Katerinoslav.  He served as secretary and on the editorial board of Hazman (The times) in Vilna.  In Yiddish he published Dos idishe folk (The Jewish people) in 1907, and the stories Vi got hot gebotn, geshen (As God demanded, so it happened); and in the anthology Shvues-blat (Shavuot leaf), edited by H. D. Nomberg (Vilna, 1908); the collection Friling, itkes oysshteyer (Spring, Itke’s outfit).  Among his books in Hebrew: Been matara (Without a goal) (1899), Neged hazerem, roman (Against the stream, a novel); Tipusim utselalim (Forms and shadows), two volumes of stories.  He died of tuberculosis.  He represented the naturalist-realist style in Hebrew and Yiddish letters.

Sources: Zalmen Reyzen, Leksikon, vol. 1; Avrom Reyzen, Epizodn fun mayn lebn (Episodes from my life), vol. 2 (Vilna, 1929-1935); H. D. Nomberg, Mentshn un verk (People and work) (Warsaw, 1930).