The Thirteenth Hour: Poems by Rivka Basman Ben-Haim Translated from the Yiddish by Zelda Kahan Newman

We’re very excited to share with you, in premiere at National Translation Month, selections from the riveting collection The Thirteenth Hour (Mayapple Press, 2016) by the Holocaust survivor and award-winning poet Rivka Basman Ben-Haim in glorious translations from the Yiddish by Zelda Kahan Newman. The cover art and interior illustrations are by Shmuel (Mula) Ben-Haim, the poet's (deceased) husband. Rivka Basman Ben Haim's poems are witty and wise. Lyrical and personal, their length belies their depth. Rarely more than a page long, the poems often pack a punch. They are thought-provoking even as they sing. As a young teenager, the poet witnessed the Nazi destruction of her Jewish world. She tells the reader about this loss often, but never directly. Zelda Kahan Newman’s insightful translations succeed in bringing to life these real gems by one of the very last representatives of the golden age of Yiddish poetry. —Claudia Serea and Loren Kleinman

About the author

Author Rivka Basman Ben-Haim was 14 when the Nazis took over her town, and 18 when WWII ended. She began composing Yiddish poems in the Vilna ghetto, and at 90 years, she is still writing poetry. She has won every award known to the world of Yiddish writers. About the translator

Translator Zelda Kahan Newman, who formerly held the post of Judaic Studies at Lehman College/CUNY, is a linguist whose specialty is Yiddish, the language and its culture. For more than two decades, she has translated the Yiddish poetry of the Israeli poet Rivka Basman Ben-Haim. She presently lives in Beer Sheva, Israel.