Zeydl Shmuel-Yehuda Helman ( Yiddish: זײדל שמואל-יהודיה העלמאַן, c. 1855 – c. 1938), who often published under the pen name Hazman (הזמ״ן), was a Romanian Jewish actor, songwriter, journalist, and educator. [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] In addition to working as an actor in the Yiddish theatre in Romania and in the United States, he wrote and published a large number of Yiddish theatre songs which were widely performed in the late nineteenth century, making him one of the earliest popular songwriters in the genre. [5] [4]
Helman was born in Iași, Romania in 1855. [3] [4] [5] His birth name was Shmuel-Yehuda, but he took on the name Zeydl after a childhood illness. [6] His father had been a Hazzan but died when Helman was young. [3] His mother remarried and his stepfather wanted him to become a shoichet (ritual slaughterer), but due to his interest in music he became a Hazzan and music teacher in Jewish schools instead. [6] [5] [3] Around 1890, he became an actor in the Yiddish theatre and began to compose many songs which became popular in Romania. [2] [3] [4] Among his better-known pieces were Yismekhu, Tsions tsvue, Gedenk zhe, yankl, and Ervakh, srolik; he also wrote Yiddish and Hebrew language poems. [5] [4] [3] He also taught himself German and Romanian and sometimes translated works from those languages into Yiddish. [7] [3] [1]
In 1893 Abba Sheyngold brought Helman to the United States to become a Yiddish theatre actor there under the name Helmanesko. [8] He played a few seasons in New York City and Philadelphia, including at the Romanian Opera House with Jacob Adler and at Boris Thomashefsky's theater. [2] [4] However, he could not get used to life there and soon returned to Romania. [4] [3]
Upon returning to Iași he became very involved in literary and theater life once again. [1] He wrote a number of theatrical works: Bal shem (a play in five acts, staged in Iași with Kalman Juvelier in 1891–1892), Bal nes (four acts, staged in Iași with Juvelier in 1893), Pantilemon, and Ruth, a five-act opera which was never staged, Gog umogeg (a revue staged in Iași in 1920), Der yarid in himl (a one-act play), and Dos litvakl. [5] [4] [9] He also wrote for and edited a number of newspapers and magazines: Hayoyets, Folksblat, Yudishe Tsukunft, and Hamevaser, Helman's own literary magazine which he published from 1903 onwards. [1] [6] [5] For some time in the 1890s he also quit the theater and became a Hazzan in a synagogue again, although he soon returned to Yiddish songwriting. [2]
Although he was not really a socialist, he also worked as editor for the socialist magazines Lumina and later Der veker (not to be confused with the later newspaper of the same name Der Veker (Minsk)). [1] He published semi-autobiographical booklets in the 1920s, titled Kitve hazman and Yontev bleter. [6] [1]
He became blind late in life and apparently died in Iași in 1938. [10]
Zeydl Shmuel-Yehuda Helman ( Yiddish: זײדל שמואל-יהודיה העלמאַן, c. 1855 – c. 1938), who often published under the pen name Hazman (הזמ״ן), was a Romanian Jewish actor, songwriter, journalist, and educator. [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] In addition to working as an actor in the Yiddish theatre in Romania and in the United States, he wrote and published a large number of Yiddish theatre songs which were widely performed in the late nineteenth century, making him one of the earliest popular songwriters in the genre. [5] [4]
Helman was born in Iași, Romania in 1855. [3] [4] [5] His birth name was Shmuel-Yehuda, but he took on the name Zeydl after a childhood illness. [6] His father had been a Hazzan but died when Helman was young. [3] His mother remarried and his stepfather wanted him to become a shoichet (ritual slaughterer), but due to his interest in music he became a Hazzan and music teacher in Jewish schools instead. [6] [5] [3] Around 1890, he became an actor in the Yiddish theatre and began to compose many songs which became popular in Romania. [2] [3] [4] Among his better-known pieces were Yismekhu, Tsions tsvue, Gedenk zhe, yankl, and Ervakh, srolik; he also wrote Yiddish and Hebrew language poems. [5] [4] [3] He also taught himself German and Romanian and sometimes translated works from those languages into Yiddish. [7] [3] [1]
In 1893 Abba Sheyngold brought Helman to the United States to become a Yiddish theatre actor there under the name Helmanesko. [8] He played a few seasons in New York City and Philadelphia, including at the Romanian Opera House with Jacob Adler and at Boris Thomashefsky's theater. [2] [4] However, he could not get used to life there and soon returned to Romania. [4] [3]
Upon returning to Iași he became very involved in literary and theater life once again. [1] He wrote a number of theatrical works: Bal shem (a play in five acts, staged in Iași with Kalman Juvelier in 1891–1892), Bal nes (four acts, staged in Iași with Juvelier in 1893), Pantilemon, and Ruth, a five-act opera which was never staged, Gog umogeg (a revue staged in Iași in 1920), Der yarid in himl (a one-act play), and Dos litvakl. [5] [4] [9] He also wrote for and edited a number of newspapers and magazines: Hayoyets, Folksblat, Yudishe Tsukunft, and Hamevaser, Helman's own literary magazine which he published from 1903 onwards. [1] [6] [5] For some time in the 1890s he also quit the theater and became a Hazzan in a synagogue again, although he soon returned to Yiddish songwriting. [2]
Although he was not really a socialist, he also worked as editor for the socialist magazines Lumina and later Der veker (not to be confused with the later newspaper of the same name Der Veker (Minsk)). [1] He published semi-autobiographical booklets in the 1920s, titled Kitve hazman and Yontev bleter. [6] [1]
He became blind late in life and apparently died in Iași in 1938. [10]