(Reviewer: Robert Schwarz, Vol. 64, No. 2, Rosh Hashanah 2009)
From time to time, the media have been warning the public of the peril of losing a number of animal species which had not even been on the endangered list for any length of time. It seems that modern homosapiens begins to worry about the extinction of organic life when it is, as it were, five minutes to midnight.
What is true for approaching the inevitable and irrevocable moment when the last polar bear, the last tiger, the last feral African wild dog, is gone forever is also true of such treasurers as languages, culture patterns, and even whole tribes. We wake up when it is too late.
I am referring in particular to the real threat that Yiddish, as a spoken or printed tongue, is in danger of being a victim of the proverb “Use it or lose it”, unless people who care find a way of preventing its demise.
What Outwitting History is all about is a splendidly written account of a team of dedicated Jewish young men and women whose objective in life is to rescue as many Yiddish books as possible from death by neglect. They find their purpose in life by the noble project of collecting volumes of Yiddish works by literally going from house to house and apartment to apartment in Jewish neighbourhoods. There they request permission to load their rented truck with tomes by famous authors, regardless of the condition of their booty. Often, these books had been rotting in attics or basements for years, uncared for and mouldy, ready for the dumpster.
Occasionally, these young people would come upon real prizes: books by Sholem Aleichem, Sholem Asch, I.L. Peretz, and other celebrated Jewish writers. Such ‘finds’ made the arduous work doubly worthwhile.
According to Viktor Frankel and other philosophers, having a worthwhile goal in life is one of the most important ingredients of living a moral existence. Such existentialists as Karl Jaspers, Jean-Paul Sartre and Paul Tillich emphasize that the ‘commitment’ or ‘project’ is paramount in choosing the summum bonum. In fact, the atheist wing of existentialism considers the choice of a project the only salvation open to man in an indifferent world. Thoughts of this kind come to mind as one reads the pages of this wonderful book.
Nor does the reader have to be Jewish to appreciate this inspiring tale. Just as it is not necessary to be Jewish to like “gefilte fish” or to be Italian to care for pasta, so it is of no importance to be of the Jewish persuasion to find value and great humour in Outwitting History. Yes, humour: for many of the visits this team of cultural heroes paid to Jewish homes are not only moving but also highly amusing because of the receptions they frequently experienced. The dialogue between the collectors and the donors of the books, more often than not held in Yiddish, is almost always funny. In such cases, it must be admitted, some knowledge of the Yiddish language, with its hilarious jargon, is of course advantageous.
The claims made in favour of the book on the pages preceding the Foreword are justifiably impressive. The reader will find them neither extravagant nor prodigal – on the contrary. The adventure the team undertook is both praiseworthy and heart-warming. Readers with a sentimental feeling for the Yiddish language will not only applaud the cause behind the venture but also the priceless style of the author. This reviewer favours public recognition of the young people who gave their energy and time to the effort of salvaging a cultural treasure. No wonder the Israeli leadership, which at first sought to discourage Yiddish as allegedly competing with Hebrew, has begun to have second thoughts.
Aaron Lansky, Outwitting History, Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill, 2005, 245pp
Robert Schwarz, a regular contributor to Jewish Affairs, is Professor Emeritus of Philosophy and European History at Florida Atlantic University.
