A Published Letter to the Founders of the Yiddish Theatrical Museum of New York

Title

Description

This letter is included in the only volume of documents Shatzky managed to publish under the rubric of the Yiddish Theatrical Museum. "Goldfaden Book" included a meticulously edited collection of documents associated with the theater's first days under the stewardship of Goldfaden. A review of his work from the Romanian press published in 1877, bits of Goldfaden's autobiography that were published in various Yiddish periodicals, rare by 1926, around the turn-of-the-century. Shatzky's keen knowledge of historical sources allowed him to pull together these documents, translate them to Yiddish when necessary. With them, he canonized Goldfaden as the central figure in the theater's development. The letter, written by Moyshe Teplitski, an actor who acted under Goldfaden's direction, reflects Shatsky's aspirations to shore up the prestige of Yiddish culture.

Translation

GOLDFADEN-BOOK

MY WELCOME TO THE FOUNDING COMMITTEE

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Honorable Friends:
It has been over a year since you have laid the first cornerstone for a Yiddish Theater Museum. It has already been a year since you have begun building a new building in which to eternalize the great edifice that was built by Avrom Goldfaden-Yiddish Theater. It is your goal to make known to the world the development of the Yiddish Theater and scientifically explain all that had developed around it during its first fifty years.
I congratulate you for your undertaking and wish you luck!
Your first efforts should be crowned with success and remain the most beautiful monument for your future efforts…
New York, January 10, 1926
M. Teplitski
The Secretary of the Yiddish Theater Museum

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Citation

“A Published Letter to the Founders of the Yiddish Theatrical Museum of New York,” YIVO Online Exhibitions, accessed December 23, 2024, https://strashunlibrary.yivo.org/items/show/6631.

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