Avrom Ber Gotlober
Encyclopedia
Avrom Ber Gotlober was a Jewish writer, poet, playwright, historian, journalist and educator. He mostly wrote in Hebrew
, but also wrote poetry and dramas in Yiddish. His first collection was published in 1835.
Gotlober's last name is often transliterated as Gottlober. He was widely known by his initials, ABG, which in Hebrew and Yiddish are the first three letters, alef-bet-giml.
ABG was a maskil, a leader in the haskalah
, the nineteenth-century Jewish Enlightenment in Russia and Eastern Europe. While his literary output is no longer widely known, he was important for several reasons:
Hebrew language
Hebrew is a Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Culturally, is it considered by Jews and other religious groups as the language of the Jewish people, though other Jewish languages had originated among diaspora Jews, and the Hebrew language is also used by non-Jewish groups, such...
, but also wrote poetry and dramas in Yiddish. His first collection was published in 1835.
Gotlober's last name is often transliterated as Gottlober. He was widely known by his initials, ABG, which in Hebrew and Yiddish are the first three letters, alef-bet-giml.
ABG was a maskil, a leader in the haskalah
Haskalah
Haskalah , the Jewish Enlightenment, was a movement among European Jews in the 18th–19th centuries that advocated adopting enlightenment values, pressing for better integration into European society, and increasing education in secular studies, Hebrew language, and Jewish history...
, the nineteenth-century Jewish Enlightenment in Russia and Eastern Europe. While his literary output is no longer widely known, he was important for several reasons:
- As a teacher in the state-sponsored schools for Jews, where he taught and influenced two founders of Yiddish literature: Mendele Mocher SforimMendele Mocher SforimMendele Mocher Sforim , December 21, 1835 = January 2, 1836 , Kapyl — November 25, 1917 = December 8, 1917...
, whom Sholom AleichemSholom AleichemSholem Aleichem was the pen name of Solomon Naumovich Rabinovich, a leading Yiddish author and playwright...
called "the zeyde (grandfather) of us all", and Abraham GoldfadenAbraham GoldfadenAbraham Goldfaden ; was an Russian-born Jewish poet, playwright, stage director and actor in the languages Yiddish and Hebrew, author of some 40 plays.Goldfaden is considered the father of the Jewish modern theatre.In 1876 he founded in...
, the founder of the professional Yiddish theater. - As a historian who wrote histories of the Karaites (Bikoret le-toldot ha-Karaim) and of the Hasidism and KabbalahKabbalahKabbalah/Kabala is a discipline and school of thought concerned with the esoteric aspect of Rabbinic Judaism. It was systematized in 11th-13th century Hachmei Provence and Spain, and again after the Expulsion from Spain, in 16th century Ottoman Palestine...
(Toldot ha-Kabalah veha-Hasidut) that are still cited by scholars. - As a social observer and memoirist, who had the fortune to live long enough to describe the social and political conditions of the 1820s and 1830s for audiences of the 1880s. Scholars widely cite his memoirs (Zikhronot u-masaot, or Memoirs and Travels), his contribution to Sholom Aleichem's Yudishe Folks-Bibliothek, and his articles in his own periodical Ha-Boker Or (The Morning Light) and in other periodicals.
Works
- dos shtrayml mitn kapelyush
- dos groyse kints, oder dos bisele mints
- dos lid funem kugl
- Pirhe ha-aviv
- ha-Nitsanim
- Anaf-ets-avot
- Igeret Bikkeret
- Bikoret le-toldot ha-Karaim
- Mizmor le-todah
- Tiferet li-vene binah
- Igeret tsaar baale hayim
- Der seim
- Toldot ha-Kabalah veha-Hasidut
- Kol rinah vi-yeshuah be-ohole tsadikim
- Der Dektukh
- Hizaharu bi-vene ha-aniyim
- Orot me-ofel
- Zikronot mi-Yeme Ne'urai
- Khetem Shadai
- Kol shire Mahalalel
- Der gilgl
- Zikhronot u-masaot