By Eileen Wingard
LA JOLLA, California — Janice Alper, poet, author and educator, brought the Yiddish poet, Itshe Slutsky (1912-1944), to the attention of the Jewish Poets—Jewish Voices Committee, and he will be one of the two featured poets at the 7 p.m., Tuesday, Feb. 13, “Jewish Poets of the Past” program in the Astor Judaica Library of the Lawrence Family JCC.
The other poet will be the Israeli songwriter, Naomi Shemer (1930-2004). This program is complimentary & open to the public, but it is necessary to register.
Slutsky, a native of what is now Belarus, was a brilliant poet, an ordained rabbi and a polyglot, interested in Art and Music. In 1938, he tried to immigrate to the United States, where his father was already living in Brooklyn, but quotas and antisemitism led to his incarceration and being sent back from Ellis Island. During World War II, he led the first uprising against the Nazis in his native village of Lakhva.
Only one book of his poetry exists, In Mitn (In the Midst). Seven of his poems, translated into English by Daniel Kraft, will be read by Jewish Poets—Jewish Voices Committee members, Annette Friend, Michael Horvitz, Lisa Schwartz, Phyllis Schwartz and Jane Zeer. Susie Meltzer will also read one of the English translations. The Yiddish originals will be read by Jack Cohen, David Gmach, Mo Gold, Diane Milberg Rein, and Sylvia Rosenthal.
Janice Alper, who curated the poems, will present a biographical sketch of Slutsky.
Guri Stark, retired scientist and administrator, artist, poet, author, and lecturer, curated the Shemer part of the program. He will give a summary of Shemer’s life. Her songs will be sung by the Ohr Shalom Choir under the direction of Elisheva Edelson, by Edelson herself and by Myla Wingard. Several of Shemer’s lyrics will be recited in Hebrew by Geula Hebron and Guri Stark. English translations will be read by Allyson Darroch, Elisheva Edelson, Albert Levy, Eli Meltzer, Adira Rosen, Guri Stark and Myla Wingard.
Among favorite Shemer songs, the choir will sing, Makhar (Tomorrow), the first song she wrote, Al Kol Ele (All of This), and Khorshat Ha’Ekaliptus (The Eucalyptus Grove). Myla Wingard will sing Lu Yehi (All We Pray For), inspired by the Beatles’ song, “Let It Be,” and Guri Stark will recite the lyrics for the song, Ho Rav Khovel (“Captain, My Captain”), based on the Walt Whitman poem written at the death of Abraham Lincoln.
Shemer wrote her song to commemorate the assassination of Yitzchak Rabin.
The program will end with the audience invited to join the Ohr Shalom Choir in singing the chorus of Shemer’s most beloved song, Yerushalem Shel Zahav (Jerusalem of Gold). The program moderator will be Joy Heitzmann. The evening will conclude with a reception, arranged by JP—JV committee member, Jane Zeer.
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Eileen Wingard is a freelance writer specializing in coverage of the arts.