New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1916-05-21
" ShoLem AleiChem!
BY SAMUEL A. b. FRoMMER.

II man with keen blue eyes ana Dent ShouIu-
ers walked through the Harlem section Of
Central Park with Sholem Ash, the liddsh
playwright As ne passed the loungers on
the benches he nodded 10 them and, according
to the ancient Jewish CUSTOM they jumped to
their feet Because of the malady that was
slowly eating away his frai body physicians
had instructed Sholem Aeichem not to talk
in the OPEN But he couldn't resist the tempta-
ton.
Ash" he said to his companion. "TheSe
are the people ! have made happy with my
stories They do not know that am broken,
heart-crushed man. 1t is better for them not
TO know
Sholem Aeichem never made anybody cry,
but he seldom laughed himself. The East
Side did not learn of his great sorrow, of his
struggle for existence, Of the illness that was
carrying him off until it was too late. And
because they laughed with Sholem Aleichem
while he lived, they are still mourning him
after his DEATH The heart of the East Side Is
still decorated with long, Tapping banners Of
black; the photograph of the "Yiddish Mark
Twain" black-bordered, occupies place OF
prominence in each store window In cafes
and restaurants across the way from Seward
Park they still gather around tables and dis
cuss his works
In Levitt's restaurant at 141 Division
Street group of writers were gathered the
day after the spectacular funeral. They sat
at the table that had been Sholem Alcichem's
favorite place.
DO you remember" began the editor OF
Ill Toll hp
voiced his philosophy?'
The men laughed-a laugh shortened only
by grim, recent memories. Tobieh, the dairy
man, gave way to Menachem Mendel and his
wife, Schaina Scheindel What an unfortu-
nate man Menachem had been! And now
Schaina could curse. Did anybody recall
how Stempeniu, the fiddler, was defeated In
his amatory pilgrimages? Wasn't Selig, IN
The Colonization of Palestine" the most hui
morous character that could be conceived! And
there was Reb Yozipel, the rabbi. Could any
body but a master mind have conceived
character so true to Jewish life, 50 faithful to
racial delineation?
"Sholem Alechem should not be compared
with Mark Twain" said Abraham Cahan, edi-
tor Of "The Forward" mark Twain was a
leSter ana a literary Hldll. WHICH iC o'OPPNN
short in one he became the other, as is illus
trated by Tom Sawyer Sholem Alelchem
was a humorist all the time He never over
emphasized trait. He took the funniest in
Jews and reproduced i. with the eye Of
camera"
The East Side has learned, during the last
few days, what occurred during meeting be-
tween Sholem Aleichem and Mark Twain. $50
YOU are the Yiddish Mark Twain" remarked
the author of "Huckleberry Finn" Then, with
a smile. Samuel Clemens continued, Il suppose
I might be called the American Sholem Alei-
chem"
Sholem Aleichem blazed a trail of kindness
and found his greatest reward in hearing his
readers laugh. In his will he begged the Jew
sh people not to weep after him. but to laugh.
lie asked his sons TO meet annually on the day
of his death, and read aloud one of his stories
-"my funniest children" his final testament
commanded.
A short time before his death newspaper
man visited Sholem Aleichem for an inter
view
Interview me-" asked the little man. He
was smoking cigarette after cigarette and
drinking innumerabe glasses of tea What
shall tell you? | am a Yddish writer. They
say that am humorst; that ! make others
laugh, and weep Tell me- Can Yiddish
writer make living in this country
1t was the anxiety over supporting his little
family that FASTENED his death. Sholem Alei-
chem had married the daughter of a rich man
and had lost her dowry in the Russian stock
market. Then, as the years passed. he took
his ill-luck good-naturedly, as he took all his
other troubles. "If | Were Rothschid" writ
ten only few months before his death, illus
trates how he let the sunshine into the dark
corners of his life.
"If I were RothSchd oh, if | were only
Rothschild, guess what | would do. TO begin
with, I'd see to it that my wife is always pro-
vided with an extra threepence so that she
won't bother me every Thursday about the
Saturday provisions. Then would redeem my
Sabbath Kapota, or rather, my wifes fur
coat, so that she may stop picking at my brain
about the cold. I'D marry off all my daughters.
What a relief
"If / were Rothschild I'd put stop to the
war. | would abolish it completely.
"You get the idea? 1t is a business stroke
and a great moral act. And perhaps I'd go
still further on, if | were Rothschild. May