Finding the Jewish Shakespeare
The Life and Legacy of Jacob Gordin

Cloth $24.95    |    978-0-8156-0884-4    |    2007

An illuminating genealogical quest, and an inside look at the life and times of a fabled cultural figure in Yiddish theater.

Chosen for the prestigious New York City publication, Mann About Town’s Books to Read this Month

Reviews
"Kaplan ... makes (an) invaluable contribution. Her fine book admirably combines scholarly research, critical analysis, loving tribute and personal memoir."
—The Jerusalem Report

Review in Canadian Jewish News
Page 1 (PDF)     Page 2 (PDF)

"Jacob Gordin (1853-1909) was the author of Mirele Efros,The Jewish King Lear, A Russian Jew in America, and many other plays, monologues, and sketches. Mirele Efros completed Gordin’s rise to the cultural high priesthood of New York’s Lower East Side. He came to the U.S. from Russia in 1891, and for nearly two decades he would be a central presence in Yiddish theater, several of his plays becoming standard in the Yiddish repertoire. Kaplan, who is Gordin’s great-granddaughter and spent 25 years researching the man, chronicles Gordin’s life in Russia; his arrival and early days in New York City; his successful career as a playwright (Kaplan calls it the Golden Age of Yiddish theater, from 1891 to 1910); Gordin’s feud with Abraham Cahan, editor of the Daily Forward; and Gordin’s legacy to the world and to his family. Kaplan’s engaging and informative biography, the eleventh volume in the Judaic Traditions in Literature, Music, and Art series, brings the man and his creative work to life."
—Booklist

"Written by actress, writer, and teacher Beth Kaplan, Finding the Jewish Shakespeare: The Life and Legacy of Jacob Gordin is the biography of her great-grandfather, playwright extraordinaire Jacob Gordin. Chapters recount Gordin’s emigration from Russia to America, the Golden Age and the colorful characters of Yiddish theater from 1891 to 1910, the birth of Gordin’s outstanding masterworks such as ‘Mirele Efros’ and ‘The Jewish King Lear’, and much more. An especial treat for theater history buffs, Finding the Jewish Shakespeare is rich with nuanced detail. A bibliography, index, and partial list of Gordin’s plays with original titles round out this enduring tribute to a gifted playwright."
—Midwest Book Review

"...A remarkably thorough and insightful biography...With this wonderful and meticulously researched book, Kaplan has done much to revitalize Gordin’s memory. Part of the book’s charm is her own vital link with its subject as a mysterious ancestor whose reputation had fallen into curious disdain, even among family members...Finding the Jewish Shakespeare easily demonstrates that [Gordin] has found the biographer he deserves, and shall certainly find no better.""
—Canadian Jewish News

"What a great history! A terrific read."
—Robin Phillips, former Artistic Director of the Stratford Shakespeare Festival, Ontario

"It reads most smoothly and tells a fascinating story"
—Ruth Wisse, Yiddish scholar and author, Harvard University

"Beth Kaplan spent a good part of her lifetime trying to assemble and understand the life of her illustrious and controversial great grandfather. It’s good to be able to report that she succeeded in doing so, and that it was well worth the wait. Her evocation of this unique era of theatre, culture and debate is sensational.""
—Gerry Caplan, author, Rwanda: the Preventable Genocide

"Beth is a wonderful story teller. What a treat it’s going to be for academics to come across something so readable."
— Dr. L. Blin, professor of linguistics and translation, University of Montpellier

"In Yiddish we say ‘yeder eyner trogt zayn eygen pekl...’ - everyone carries personal baggage. Yankev Gordin was Kaplan’s baggage and instead of running away from it, she took it out of the closet and revealed the man who not only shaped her family’s dynamics but the dynamics of a robust, fractious Yiddish culture. It was and is a fascinating story. I thank her for adding it to the colour of life—for a Jewish community that wants to forget its Yiddish past, and for anyone who wants to understand the evolution of American stage culture and the assimilation of the immigrant streams into the development of the American stage tradition. "
—Gerry Kane, Yiddish scholar

"Beautifully written and so interesting. Aside from all I learned about Jacob Gordin, it brought the historical context of Tsarist Russia, the Jewish immigrant experience in New York and the Jewish artistic and intellectual life of Europe and the United States to vivid life. I was blown away by the amount of research and how meticulously it must have been done. Above all, though, it was the quality of the writing, which I found superb, that kept me reading."
—Tamara Moscoe, writer

"Your talk on Jacob Gordin was extremely interesting. Your discussion of Abraham Cahan has prompted me to do some further research into this man who wielded such a tremendous influence on the Jewish world of yesteryear"
—Roslyn Wollock, Adult Program Coordinator, Soloway Jewish Community Centre, Ottawa

"Thank you for writing such a marvelous book."
—Richard Goldbloom, Chancellor, Dalhousie University, Nova Scotia

"It was a most enjoyable and thoroughly captivating read. I love show biz bios and I also love history and filling in the many gaps in my knowledge ... beautifully written and beautifully edited."
—Bruce Kellett, Music Director, Arts Club Theatre, Vancouver

"Gordin is an extraordinary person, but your research in unearthing him and tracing his legacy from Russia to the present day is even more extraordinary. Your taking up this legacy and giving it to us gives Gordin a whole new life."
—Laurel Speer, poet, Tucson, Arizona

"Thanks for taking me down memory lane. You have a Jewish neshumah (soul). You really captured the essence of those times and people. I have been homebound and I found the book to be healing. So thank you very much for your effort and insight"
—Ethel Sparaga, Toronto

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Description
In this revelatory biography, Beth Kaplan sets out to explore the true character and creative achievements of her great-grandfather Jacob Gordin, playwright extraordinaire and icon of the Yiddish stage.

Born of an Anglican mother and a Jewish father who disdained religion, Kaplan knew little of her Judaic roots and less about her famed great-grandfather until beginning her research, more than twenty years ago. Shedding new light on Gordin and his world, Kaplan describes the commune he founded and led in Russia, his meteoric rise among Jewish New York’s literati, the birth of such masterworks as Mirele Efros and The Jewish King Lear, and his seething feud with Abraham Cahan, powerful editor of the Daily Forward. Writing in a graceful and engaging style, she recaptures the Golden Age and colorful actors of Yiddish Theater from 1891–1910. Most significantly she discovers the emotional truth about the man himself, a tireless reformer who left a vital legacy to the theater and Jewish life worldwide.

View other books on Judaic Traditions in Literature, Music, and Art

Author
Beth Kaplan is a writer and actress in Canada. She teaches essay writing at Ryerson University in Toronto. Her own essays have appeared in the Globe and Mail and other newspapers and magazines. Visit Beth Kaplan’s website at www.BethKaplan.ca

6 1/8 x 9 1/4, 304 pages, 9 black-and-white photographs, bibliography, index