Short stories by Chava Rosenfarb receives Jewish Literary Award

By Regan Lipes

(AJNews) – There are more exciting accolades for the late Yiddish-Canadian writer Chava Rosenfarb, of blessed memory, and her academically accomplished daughter Professor Emerita from the University of Lethbridge, Dr. Goldie Morgentaler. In the Land of the Postscript, a collection of Rosenfarb’s short stories has not only been published as a single compiled volume, but Morgentaler has also been honoured with a Canadian Jewish Literary Award for her translations from Yiddish to English of her mother’s works. According to Edward Trapunski, Chair of the Canadian Jewish Literary Awards’ Jury, this year, in Morgentaler’s category, there were more submissions than ever. Trapunski, who spoke with Alberta Jewish News by telephone, elaborated that “in Goldie’s section ‘Yiddish literature’ it can either be a work of Yiddish translation, or sometimes a book about Yiddish from a cultural vantage point. This year, Goldie’s work stood out as truly exceptional.”

Trapunski, who like Morgentaler, grew up in Jewish-Montreal, even remembers Chava Rosenfarb from his own childhood. Rosenfarb taught Trapunski’s mother Yiddish.  In fact, it is precisely this community of post-immigration Holocaust survivors that are the subjects of Rosenfarb’s short works.  “This book was quite different from other submissions we receive; it is a bit of a later time frame. Those people who survived the Holocaust and lived in Montreal are depicted here as they rebuilt. That’s unique,” Trapunski explained.  “What this translated collection accomplishes is incredibly important.  If you don’t have translation, you might not have Yiddish,” emphasized the lifelong lover of Yiddish literature. “Yiddish is an important part of our culture, and it’s vital that we maintain it for as long as we can.”

These were similar to the sentiments expressed by Morgentaler during an interview with the Alberta Jewish News.  She noted: “These are stories about under-represented Jewish lives. There are very few works that explore what happened to people after they survived and what their lives were like as they rebuilt.”  Morgentaler proceeded to elaborate that survival was an ongoing process for those in her mother’s social circle.  “I grew up surrounded by Holocaust survivors.  People often hurried into new marriages prematurely because they had lost their spouses and families during the Holocaust in the most horrible ways imaginable. They weren’t marrying for the right reasons but to fill an emotional void. This was a painful reality that is portrayed in my mother’s works.”

Not all translations are created equal.  The delicate craft of translating another person’s words from one language to another is a minefield of prosaic obstacles and technical disconnects. While some translators strive for precision and linguistic accuracy, others champion the spirit and thematic tone of the original work. It is an artistic tightrope walk – balancing direct denotation and nuanced connotation simultaneously. Who better then to lovingly bring Rosenfarb’s stories to life for English audiences than her own daughter – someone who remembers looking on as the works were first realized many decades ago. The characters that sprang from Rosenfarb’s pages fully formed, were personalities Morgentaler could often recognize, perhaps not literally, but in fragments inspired by some of the people she had observed around her. Morgentaler’s dedication to ensuring that her mother’s oeuvre of valuable stories are accessible to a larger audience, has rightfully earned both women recognition from the Canadian Jewish literary community.

Understanding a glimpse of post-war Jewish-Montreal is a significant and profoundly impactful piece of the larger Canadian cultural narrative, and Chava Rosenfarb is certainly an author who has earned the title of ‘Canadian writer.’  Rich though her original prose remain, composed in her beloved Yiddish, now an English readership will be able to engage with her work in meaningful ways by exploring how survivors survived their survival. Goldie Morgentaler’s award-winning translations of her mother’s short stories, with a new introduction, can be purchased online.  In the Land of the Postscript promises to become a title of note within the genres of Canadian-Jewish literature, Yiddish literature, and Holocaust literature. Morgentaler and other award recipients were celebrated at a gala event in Toronto recognizing their achievements and tremendous contributions to literature.  Trapunski and his colleagues at the Canadian Jewish Literary Awards were thrilled to be able to present Dr. Goldie Morgentaler, and Chava Rosenfarb by extension, with this prestigious distinction.

The complete list of 2024 Canadian Jewish Literacy award recipients is – Fiction: Harriet Alida Lye for Let It Destroy You (McClelland & Stewart); The Irving Abella Award in History: Michael Kater for After the Nazis: The Story of Culture in West Germany (Yale University Press); Biography/Memoir: Jill Culiner for Those Absent on the Great Hungarian Plain (Claret Press); Poetry: Rhea Tregebov for Talking To Strangers (Signal Editions); Yiddish: Goldie Morgentaler for In the Land of the Postscript: The Complete Short Stories of Chava Rosenfarb (White Goat Press); Children and Youth: Sidura Ludwig for Rising (Penguin Random House) and Jewish Thought and Culture: Elana Wolff for Faithfully Seeking Franz (Guernica Editions).

Regan Lipes is a Local Journalism Initiative Reporter.