The Rise of David Levinsky

Name: The Rise of David Levinsky
ISBN: 9780375757983

Abraham Cahan

The Rise of David Levinsky, written by the legendary founder and editor of the Jewish Daily Forward, is an early Jewish-American classic. According to the scholar Sam B. Girgus, "The novel is more than an important literary work and cultural document. It forms part of the traditional ritual of renewal of the American Way."

First published in 1917, Abraham Cahan's realistic novel tells the story of a young talmudic scholar who emigrates from a small town in Russia to the melting pot of turn-of-the-century New York City. As the Jewish "greenhorn" rises from the depths of poverty to become a millionaire garment merchant, he discovers the unbearably high price of assimilation.

"It is one of the best fictional studies of Jewish character available in English, and at the same time an intimate and sophisticated account of American business culture." —Isaac Rosenfeld

About the Author

Abraham Cahan (1860-1951) was a Jewish immigrant writer, editor, and labor activist who became one of the most influential figures in American Jewish life.

Early life. Cahan was born in Podberezye, near Vilna, in the Russian Empire (now Lithuania). He received a traditional religious education but gravitated toward secular learning, trained as a teacher, and became involved in socialist circles. Facing police scrutiny for his radical activities after the 1881 assassination of Tsar Alexander II and the wave of pogroms that followed, he emigrated to the United States in 1882.

Life in New York. Settling on the Lower East Side, Cahan worked in a cigar factory and a variety of other jobs while teaching himself English. He became a labor organizer and a leading voice of Jewish socialism, helping found the United Hebrew Trades and later playing a role in the Socialist Party of America. He was also an early adopter of Yiddish as a vehicle for political education and cultural life.

The Forward. In 1897 he helped found the Forverts (the Jewish Daily Forward) and, after a few stints away from it, became its editor in 1903, a position he held for decades. Under his leadership the paper grew into the largest Yiddish daily in the world, combining labor advocacy, literature, and practical guidance for immigrants. Its “Bintel Brief” advice column, which he launched in 1906, became a beloved feature.

Literary work. Cahan wrote in both Yiddish and English. His early English-language works include the novella Yekl: A Tale of the New York Ghetto (1896), which William Dean Howells praised, and the story collection The Imported Bridegroom and Other Stories of the New York Ghetto (1898). His major novel, The Rise of David Levinsky (1917), follows a Russian Jewish immigrant who rises from poverty to become a wealthy clothing manufacturer, yet feels spiritually hollow and nostalgic for the world he left behind. It is widely regarded as a classic of American immigrant literature and a probing study of assimilation and the costs of success.

Later years. Cahan remained editor of the Forward until 1946 and published a multivolume Yiddish memoir, Bleter fun mein Leben (Leaves from My Life). He died in New York in 1951.