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How the Yiddish 'poet of the people' wrote more than 500 songs yet struggled to be heard

JL;DR SUMMARY Solomon Smulevitz, a prolific Yiddish songwriter and performer from the early 20th century, greatly influenced Jewish music despite struggling with financial success. A way out west there was a fella, fella I want to tell you about, fella by the name of Jeff Lebowski. At least, that was the handle his lovin' parents gave him, but he never had much use for it himself. This Lebowski, he called himself the Dude. Now, Dude, that's a name no one would self-apply where I come from. But then, there was a lot about the Dude that didn't make a whole lot of sense to me. And a lot about where he lived, likewise. But then again, maybe that's why I found the place s'durned innarestin'.

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Tags

Jewish CultureCultural HistoryImmigrant ExperienceYiddish TheaterYiddish MusicGender Inequality20th CenturySolomon ShmulevitzProlific CompositionFolk Anonymity

Places mentioned

Pinsk, Brest, Belarus
"Born in Pinsk, at the age of five his khazn father taught him cantorial singing and entered him in a yeshiva where he learned to read and write."
Vilnius, Vilnius County, Lithuania
"In 1881 in Vilna, Smulewitz learned to fiddle, and in Minsk, badkhones, at which he soon became so adept that he was writing rhymes for other more established badkhonim."
Minsk, Belarus
"In 1881 in Vilna, Smulewitz learned to fiddle, and in Minsk, badkhones, at which he soon became so adept that he was writing rhymes for other more established badkhonim."
New York City, New York, United States
"This essay has been adapted from a chapter in Henry H. Sapozniks new book The Tourists Guide to Lost Yiddish New York City (Excelsior Press)."
Brooklyn, New York, United States
"The monument erected to him in Brooklyns Washington Cemetery is, indeed, impressive."
Milwaukee, New York, United States
"Yet with its setting at a ball, a bouncy waltz time signature, and the subject of tragic misdirected love, it was nothing less than his homage to Milwaukees Jewish Charles K. Harris, the composer of the megahit After the Ball."

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Cairo Item ID 58434
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Retrieved 2025-08-02 05:31:04 UTC
Curated 2025-08-02 08:31:28 UTC