World Apart

Joseph Margoshes was born in Lemberg (Lvov/Lviv) and received a traditional Jewish education in Bible and Talmud as well as German language and European culture. He immigrated to America in 1989, returned to Europe in 1900 and came back to America in 1903 - this time to stay. At this time, he began working in the New York Yiddish Press and contributed to many newspapers and periodicals including the Morgen Journal.

• Introduction by Ira Robinson and Simcha Fishbane. 1. Family Memoirs. 2. My Mother’s Family. 3. My Father. 4. Reb Mordecai Peltz. 5. the Belzer Rabbi. 6. Ignatz Deutsch. 7. The Krakow Rabbi. 8. The Newspaper. 9. Hospitality. 10. The Talner Rebbe. 11. My Father’s Death. 12. YaHa”Sh. 13. Jacob Werber, the Master of Haivri. 14. My Childhood. 15. Melamdim. 16. Gemara Melamdim. 17. My Two Girlfriends. 18. Haskalah. 19. Reb vovtshi’s Kloyz. 20. In Tornow. 21. The Tarnow Kloyz. 22. Kloyz-boys. 23. Reb Naftoli Reb Pesakh’s. 24. Shidukhim. 25. I Become a Khosn (Groom). 26. My Wedding. 27. After the Wedding.28. Village Work. 29. I Get “Shot”. 30. I Get “Bound”. 31. Riding a Horse. 32. I Become a Merchant. 33. Yozefov. 34. Velvele Damask. 35. Radomishla. 36. A Fallen “Takef”. 37. At the Rebbe’s in Dembitz. 38. A Strike in the Zgursk Manor. 39. Jews and Peasants. 40. Pritsim, Gendarmes and Priests. 41. Pritsim, Gendarmes and Priests (continued). 42. The “Wedding”. 43. Shimshen Asheim. 44. Theft. 45. Shtsutsin (Szczuczyn). 46. The Sold-Off Estate. 47. Wet and Dry Years. 48. The Wet Year. 49. The Dry Year. 50. Uncle Moshe Lind. 51. Out of Yozefov. 52. The Shtsutsin Meadows. 53. Oshitz. 54. Uncle Khazkl. 55. Yitzhok Mordkhe Bernstein. 56. My Business Ventures in the Shtsutsin Meadows. 57. My Father-in-law and His Enemies. 58. Criminal Proceedings. 59. Pikolovka. 60. The Takeover of Pikolovka. 61. Punishment or Coincidence? Margoshes Family Genealogy. Glossary. Index.

"This delightful memoir, written in Yiddish in the 1930s (and published in Yiddish in 1936), evokes life in Galicia and the author’s own personal saga. Eliezer Margoshes (1866-1955) was born in Lemberg (Lvov) and came to America at the turn of the century. In the States, he wrote for Yiddish newspapers. The book is rich in descriptions of traditional education, famous (and not so famous) rabbis, the process or modernization and change, as well as many topics relevant to social and cultural history. The picture Margoshes offers is honest, detailed, and with a little romanticization or sentimentality. The book is very well translated and preserves the flavor of the Yiddish original without sacrificing readability. The vivid descriptions of religious life make this a useful primary source, especially on Hasidic life, for students who are limited to English, and it can easily be used to illustrate more abstract theories and models. The index adds to the usefulness of the book."