ARYEH AHARONI

ARYEH AHARONI (b. October 27, 1923)

            He was a Hebrew writer and primarily a translator, born in Odessa.  He published translations of English and Russian books into Hebrew.  From Yiddish he translated: Rokhl Fishman, Himl tsvishn grozn (Heaven amidst the grass) as Shamayim baesev (Tel Aviv, 1968), 93 pp.; Fishman, Vilde tsig (Wild goat) as Iza peziza (Jerusalem, 1976), 112 pp.—both works contained the original and the translation.  From 1969 he has translated principally works by Sholem-Aleykhem: Dray almones (Three widows) as Shalosh almonot (Tel Aviv, 1969), 50 pp.; Zibn dertseylungen (Seven tales) as Shiva sipurim (Tel Aviv, 1976), 104 pp.; Mayses fun toyznt eyn nakht (Stories from 1001 nights) as Sipure elef laila velaila (Tel Aviv, 1976), 79 pp.; Menakhem mendl in varshe (Menachem Mendel in Warsaw) as Menaḥem mendl bevarsha (Tel Aviv, 1977), 229 pp., which was published in 1913 in Haynt (Today) in Warsaw but not reprinted in Sholem-Aleykhem’s collected writings; Ayznban geshikhtes (Railway stories) as Sipure harakevet (Tel Aviv, 1979), 210 pp.; Monologn (Monologues) as Monologim (Tel Aviv, 1979), 179 pp.; Motl peyse dem khazns (Motl, son of Peyse the cantor) as Motel ben Peysi haḥazan (Tel Aviv, 1980), 264 pp.; Menakhem-mendl (Menachem Mendel) as Menaḥem-mendel (Tel Aviv, 1980), 166 pp.; Sender blank un zayn gezindl (Sender Blank and his clan) as Sender blank uvene beto (Tel Aviv, 1981); Stempenyu as Stempenyu (Tel Aviv, 1981); and Tevye der milkhiker (Tevye the milkman) (Tel Aviv, 1981)—published together with Sender blank and Stempenyu, 176 pp.; Di shtot fun di kleyne mentshelekh (The city of the little people) as Ir haanashim haketanim (Tel Aviv, 1982), 65 pp.; Shir hashirim (Song of songs) (Tel Aviv, 1982), 56 pp.  In 1982 he received a prize from the union of typesetters, authors, and publishers for his Sholem-Aleykhem translations.

Reuven Goldberg

(Translator note. Aharoni went on translating Sholem-Aleykhem [and others] through the 1980s and 1990s and into the first years of the new century.)