Poor Matza

Avrom Reisen (1876-1953) was an acclaimed and prolific Yiddish poet and short story writer for the American Yiddish dailies.This is a superb translation by Harvey Fink of some of Reisen’s best short stories. At the time of Reisen’s death, the Jewish Spectator wrote: “There are many Yiddish writers who owe their success to Reisen’s encouragement. For years he published and edited, under great sacrifices, Yiddish journals with the primary aim of providing a platform for young, struggling writers… He had no arrogance, no pretensions and no personal vanity.”