Mr. Cahan’s Neighborhood
Republished together by Dover in 1970, Cahan’s 1896 novella “Yekl: A Tale of the New York Ghetto” and his 1898 collection, “The Imported Bridegroom and Other Stories of the New York Ghetto,” are not “Dubliners.”
Cahan overwrites. In fact, he is guilty of crossing the street — crossing the street and jumping on a trolley — to avoid le mot juste. His sense of plotting is somewhat predictable (America makes love and marriage between immigrants difficult), and the transliterated dialogue can sometimes be trying: “Once I live in America, I want to know what I live in America. Dot’sh a’ kin’ a man I am!”
But for all the faults of this collection, there’s something winning here. Fact is, I loved watching Cahan’s characters become Yankees (the title character, Yekl, transforms into Jake once he lands on American soil). This, “laddas and gentlemen,” is the world of our great-grandparents, and we’d do well to eavesdrop on their lives, if only to figure out how we got to here from there.
In the scene below (from the eighth section of “The Imported Bridegroom”), Shaya, a Talmud prodigy, confesses a secret to his betrothed, Flora.
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.
Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.
At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and the protests on college campuses.
Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.
Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.