Wednesday 9 October 2019

SHLOYME (SHLOMO) SHENHOD


SHLOYME (SHLOMO) SHENHOD (October 10, 1912-November 28, 1984)
            A Hebrew and Yiddish poet and translator, he was born in Yezyernye (Ozerna), Galicia.  His Yiddish name was either Sheynhoyt or Shenhoyt.  He studied in religious elementary school, synagogue study hall, and a Tarbut school.  He completed business school in Tarnopol, later studying in the Tachkemoni seminary in Warsaw.  He settled in the land of Israel in 1936.  He composed poetry in Yiddish from 1938 and in Hebrew from 1948.  He debuted in print with a poem in Nayvelt (New world) in Tel Aviv in 1938.  He went on to contribute poetry and translations to: Undzers (Ours), Bleter far literatur un kritik (Pages for literature and criticism), Tsayt (Times), Di brik (The bridge), Heftn (Notebooks), Letste nayes (Latest news), Di goldene keyt (The golden chain), Tsukunft (Future), and Der shpigl (The mirror) in Buenos Aires, among others.  His work appears as well in: Mortkhe Yofe, Erets-yisroel in der yidisher literatur (Israel in Yiddish literature), vol. 1 (Tel Aviv: Perets Publ., 1961); Arie Shamri, Vortslen (Roots) (Tel Aviv, 1966); Shmuel Rozhanski, Di froy in der yidisher poezye (Women in Yiddish poetry) (Buenos Aires, 1966); Yoysef Papyernikov, Yerusholaim in yidishn lid, antologye (Jerusalem in Yiddish poetry, anthology) (Tel Aviv: Perets Publ., 1973); and Berish Vaynshteyn, Opklayb (Selection) (New York, 1976).  He edited Heftn (Haifa) (1966, 2 issues).  In 1979 he received the Manger Prize.  He died in Tel Aviv.
            His writings include: Tsvishn bloy un yam, lider (Between blue and the sea, poetry) (Tel Aviv: Fraynt, 1939), 64 pp.; Geveyn af kineret, balade (At the Kinneret, a ballad) (Tel Aviv, 1940), 12 pp.; Mit kholem iber thom, lider (With a dream over the abyss, poetry) (Tel Aviv: Hamenorah, 1961), 223 pp.; Lider fun heylikn eplfeld (Poems of a divine apple field) (Tel Aviv: Yisroel-bukh, 1980), 208 pp.  His translations include: Yehoash, In geveb (In the web) as Bamaarag (Jerusalem, 1957), 181 pp., with A. Presman; Yankev Glatshteyn, Ven yash iz gekumen (When Yash arrived) as Uvehagia yash (Tel Aviv: Devir, 1957), 244 pp.; Glatshteyn, Fun mayn gantser mi (For all my troubles) as Mikol amali (Jerusalem, 1964), 186 pp.; Chaim Grade, Der mames shabosim (My mother’s Sabbath days) as Sbabtoteha shel ima (Tel Aviv: Masada, 1958), 351 pp.; E. Almi, Tsvishn sinay un olymp (Between Sinai and Olympus) as Ben sinai leolimpus (Tel Aviv: Perets Publ., 1960), 265 pp.; and Nokhum Khanin, Berele (Berele) as Berele (Tel Aviv: Perets Publ., 1960), 121 pp.; among others.  He also translated a great deal from Hebrew into Yiddish.
            “Shenhod was one of the last,” wrote Shloyme Bikl, “in the line of spiritual exemplars who were the achievement of Jewish-Galicia prior to the last two generations.”
            In Yankev Gkatshteyn’s view, “Shenhod is brilliant at verse and musicality.  He can play with Yiddish words…whose speech and play have been lost through their disappearing musical quality.”
            “Shenhod’s translations…are so well done,” noted Meylekh Ravitsh, “that it is impossible to state if the original was Yiddish or Hebrew.”



Sources: Getzel Kressel, Leksikon hasifrut haivrit (Handbook of Hebrew literature), vol. 2 (Meravya, 1967); Meylekh Ravitsh, Mayn leksikon (My lexicon), vol. 3 (Montreal, 1958); Shloyme Bikl, in Tog-morgn-zhurnal (New York) (December 28, 1958); Chaim Grade, in Tog-morgn-zhurnal (December 31, 1958); Yitskhok Varshavski (Bashevis), in Forverts (New York) (March 4, 1962); Yankev Glatshteyn, Mit mayne fartogbikher (With my journals) (Tel Aviv: Peretz Publ., 1963), pp. 126-33; Yankev-Tsvi Shargel, Fun onheyb on, tsvishn shrayber un verk (From the beginning, among writers and works) (Tel Aviv: Yisroel-bukh, 1977), pp. 98-103; Yisroel Cohen, in Bay zikh (Tel Aviv) 16 (1980).
Berl Cohen


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