Chidusz 9/20221: Tony Kushner’s “Reverse Transcription” and the final episode of Dinezon’s “The Dark Young Man”
In this issue of Chidusz we give you the first Polish translation of Tony Kushner’s short play Reverse Transcription, the next episode of Kate Bornstein’s memoir A Queer and Pleasant Danger and the final chapter of The Dark Young Man – the first Yiddish bestseller written by Yankev Dinezon.
Tony Kushner’s Reverse Transcription
In this issue, we publish the last in a series of short plays written by the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of the brilliant Angels in America – Tony Kushner.
Reverse Transcription takes place in a cemetery on Martha’s Vineyard island. Six playwrights illegally bury the seventh – Ding who died of AIDS. The whole act – not uncommon for Kushner – is death-framed. This is a play rich with wit, erudition, and literary neurosis. Each of the six playwrights represents some sort of success or failure, masterpiece or mediocracy, bravado or fear. Because in the life – and death – of a playwright nothing is one-dimensional.
Esther Kreitman’s Diamonds
Esther Kreitman’s (the sister of Yoshua and Bashevis Singer) Diamonds, which came out in September, is the last in a series of her writing published by The Fame Art. Although the great saga set in Antwerp may resemble the writer’s biography, Diamonds escapes easy categorization, which is perhaps the book’s greatest value. In an interview, Michał Bojanowski asks Monika Polit and Zofia Zięba, who together with Jakub Zygmunt translated Diamonds into Polish, about the Singers’ family home and Kreitman’s work. The translators also discuss the latest publication by The Fame Art – The Singer Family: The Other Exile, in which Maurice Carr, son of Esther Kreitman, talks about his family history.
A Queer and Pleasant Danger
The True Story of a Nice Jewish Boy Who Joins the Church of Scientology and Leaves Twelve Years Later to Become the Lovely Lady She Is Today
In part III of her memoir, Kate Bornstein talks about her love for science fiction, looks back on her acting career, and reminisces about how she – instead of buying a pair of hiking boots – joined the Church of Scientology.
Translated by Jola Różyło
DER SHVARTSER YUNGER-MANTHIK
In this issue, we give you the final episode of the first Yiddish bestseller, Yankev Dinezon’s The Dark Young Man. Get your Kleenex ready…
The novel, translated by Magdalena Wójcik, has been published in serial form since the issue 8/2019. The first episode is available for free on our website.
Being a Good Neighbor
Dr Akiva Wolff explains the ‘Laws of Neighbours’ and how to maintain a sustainable and respectful relationship with the people and the planet:
As we will see, in Jewish tradition, being a good neighbour means to consider the welfare of others in all that we do. This is mainly expressed in taking preventive measures to avoid causing damage to others, and to the environment that we all share. In this article, we’ll follow chronologically how this concept was expressed and interpreted in the Jewish tradition.
The Everyday Miracles
In the context of Chanukah, Joanna Maria Machel reflects on the meaning of the miracle. Its understanding in Jewish tradition has been constantly changing throughout the centuries. One of the main tasks of the holiday – claims Machel – is to popularize knowledge about miracles.
In Brief
We open every issue of Chidusz with a press review – over a dozen short articles on interesting or surprising events from the Jewish world. This month we talk about Budapest’s only kosher fast food joint, astronauts conducting Mars tests in the Negev desert, and a new collection of Palestinian films on Netflix.
Click here to read about this issue in Polish.