Ruth Rubin
Born
Rivke Rosenblatt

(1906-09-01)September 1, 1906
Montreal, Quebec (or perhaps Khotyn, Bessarabia [Russian Empire, now Ukraine])
DiedJune 11, 2000(2000-06-11) (aged 93)
Mamaroneck, New York
NationalityCanadian, American
Occupation(s)folk singer, folkorist, scholar, poet
Academic background
Alma materUnion Institute and University
ThesisThe Jewish woman and her Yiddish folksong (1976)
Academic work
DisciplineYiddish studies

Ruth Rubin (September 1, 1906 – June 11, 2000) was a Canadian-American folklorist, singer, poet, and scholar of Yiddish culture and music.

Early life

Born Rivke Rosenblatt in 1906 in Montreal, she grew up speaking Yiddish, English and French.[1][2] Her parents had immigrated to Canada from Bessarabia, then part of the Russian Empire; she had at least one sibling, a sister Esther.[2] She attended the city's public schools, as well as the Peretz Shule, a secular Yiddish school, where she saw Sholom Aleichem speak in 1915 and was deeply affected.[3] In 1924, she moved to New York where she studied music and attended night school at Hunter College while working as a secretary and stenographer.[1]

Contributions

Around 1935 Rubin decided to become a Yiddish folklorist and sought out Chaim Zhitlowsky (1865–1943), a prominent Yiddish scholar and writer for guidance.[1] She began her research at the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research, the New York Public Library and the archives of the Jewish Theological Seminary.[1] In addition to teaching music and poetry in Yiddish schools in the city, she also began publishing in journals. During World War II, she translated Yiddish diaries that were smuggled out of European ghettos and concentration camps.[1][4]

From about 1947 on, Rubin began to conduct serious fieldwork within the Jewish community of immigrants in New York City, Montreal and Toronto, focusing on the displaced persons who had arrived from Europe following the Holocaust.[1][5]

Rubin's work is considered deeply significant as she began gathering folksong and Yiddish folktales at a time when there was very little interest in Yiddish culture. She gathered thousands of songs over the next twenty years from a generation of survivors who had nearly been annihilated by Nazism and later Stalinist repression. In tandem with this work, Rubin continued her studies in Yiddish language and history with scholar Max Weinreich.[1]

In addition to her work as a collector, Rubin also organized and performed in recitals of Yiddish folksongs and hosted salons in her Grammercy Park Avenue apartment.[6] As part of the folk revival movement, she performed at New York's Town Hall and Carnegie Recital Hall, participated in Expo 67, and appeared in folk concerts with Pete Seeger, Paul Robeson and Ronnie Gilbert.[1][7] She was also heavily involved in the Jewish Music Forum and the National Jewish Music Council and fostered international scholarly relations with folklorists in Israel and Europe.[1]

Legacy

Irene Heskes (1923–1999) praised Rubin's "prodigious dedication" to collecting and preserving Yiddish culture and song, ranking her as one of the leading Yiddish collector-scholars of the twentieth century.[1] Rubin's performance style was described as "simple and unaffected" and contemporaries report that she saw performance more as an act of cultural transmission rather than artistic expression.[1][2]

Rubin recorded many of the songs she collected and was a recording artist from the 1940s through to the 1980s. Often working Moses Asch, she also released several collections under Oriole and her own imprint.[8] She recorded collaborations with Pete Seeger, Fred Hellerman, Dick Weissman and Hedy West.[1]

Rubin deposited her field recordings in various archives and research libraries in the United States (Library of Congress, YIVO, Wayne State University), Canada (Canadian Museum of History), and Israel, where they now constitute important archival research collections.[7][9][10][4][8] Fellow scholars such as Steven Zeitlin of the New York Center for Urban Folk Culture praised Rubin's work as she collected songs from informants who had learned songs in their original context.[2]

Personal life

In 1932, Rosenblatt married Harry Rubin.[1] The two had a son named Michael in 1937, who passed away in 1959.[1] Her husband died in 1971.[1] She died in 2000.[2]

Awards

  • Lifetime Achievement Award, Yiddish Folk Arts Program 1989[1]

Selected bibliography

  • Rosenblatt, Rivke; Niger, Samuel (1929). Lider. Nyu Yorḳ: Y.L. Magid.[11]
  • Rosenblatt, Rivke (1948). Dos Yidishe folkslid: kurtse ilustrirte lektsie. New York: National Jewish Music Council.[12]
  • Rubin, Ruth (1947). "Literature on Jewish music". Jewish Book Annual. 6: 64–70.[13]
  • Rubin, Ruth. Yiddish riddles and problems. New York: Folklore Quarterly.
  • Rubin, Ruth (1948). The Yiddish folksong of the East European Jews. New York: National Jewish Music Council, sponsored by National Jewish Welfare Board.
  • Rubin, Ruth (1952). "Nineteenth-Century Yiddish Folksongs of Children in Eastern Europe". The Journal of American Folklore. 65 (257): 227–254. doi:10.2307/537076. ISSN 0021-8715. JSTOR 537076. [14]
  • Rubin, Ruth; Bikel, Theodore (1956). "Folk Songs of Israel". The Journal of American Folklore. 69 (274): 418. doi:10.2307/536373. ISSN 0021-8715. JSTOR 536373.[15]
  • Rubin, Ruth; Post, Ruth; Herzl Rome, T (1950). A treasury of Jewish folksong. New York: Schocken: Verlag nicht ermittelbar.[16]
  • Rubin, Ruth (1952). Nineteenth-century Yiddish folksongs of children in Eastern Europe. Richmond, Va.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  • Rubin, Ruth (1959). Nineteenth-century history in Yiddish folksong.[17]
  • Rubin, Ruth (1960). "Yiddish Folk Songs Current in French Canada". Journal of the International Folk Music Council. 12: 76–78. doi:10.2307/835442. ISSN 0950-7922. JSTOR 835442.[18]
  • Rubin, Ruth (1960). Some aspects of Comparative Jewish Folksong. Bloomington: s.n. [19]
  • Rubin, Ruth (1960). Sholem Aleichem and Yiddish folksongs. New York: Sing out Inc.[20]
  • Rubin, Ruth (1961). Yiddish folksongs of immigration and the melting pot. New York: New York Folklore Quarterly.[21]
  • Rubin, Ruth (1963). Voices of a people, Yiddish folk song., Ruth Rubin. New York; London: T. Yoseloff.[22]
  • Rubin, Ruth (1965). Jewish folk songs in Yiddish and English. New York.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)[23]
  • Rubin, Ruth (1965). "A comparative approach to a Yiddish song of protest". Studies in Ethnomusicology. 2: 54–74.[24]
  • Rubin, Ruth (1966). Slavic influences in Yiddish folk songs. Hatboro, Pa.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)[25]
  • Rubin, Ruth (1966). Yiddish sayings and some parallels from the sayings of other peoples. Ithaca, N.Y.: New York Folklore Society.[26]
  • Rubin, Ruth; Workman's circle (U.S.); Education Department (1967). Warsaw Ghetto program. New York: Education Dept. of the Workmen's Circle.[27]
  • Rubin, Ruth (1974). The Yiddish folksong: an illustrated lecture. New York: Jewish Music Council of the National Jewish Welfare Board.[28]
  • Rubin, Ruth (1975). Yiddish folksongs of social significance.[29]
  • Rubin, Ruth; Union Institute & University (1976). The Jewish woman and her Yiddish folksong (Thesis).[30]
  • Rubin, Ruth (1989). Jewish folk songs: in Yiddish and English. New York: Published by the author.[31]
  • Rubin, Ruth; Slobin, Mark (2000). Voices of a people: the story of Yiddish folksong. ISBN 978-0-252-06918-5.[32]

Selected discography

  • Rubin, Ruth (1978). Yiddish folksongs sung by Ruth Rubin. Folkways.[33]
  • Rubin, Ruth; Hellerman, Fred (1958). Yiddish Love Songs Sung By Ruth Rubin. Washington Records.[34]
  • Rubin, Ruth (1959). Jewish and Israeli folk songs. Folkways Records.[35]
  • Rubin, Ruth; Rady, Gertrude. Jewish Folk Songs Of Eastern Europe. Farbenkt. Farbenkt. Disc.[36]
  • Rubin, Ruth; Rady, Gertrude. Jewish Folk Songs Of Eastern Europe. Mit A Nodl. Mit A Nodl. Disc.[37]
  • Rubin, Ruth. Jewish Folk Songs Of Palestine Zirmu Galim. Asch.[38]
  • פוסט, רות; Post, Ruth. Jewish folk songs. New York: Oriole Records.[39]
  • Rubin, Ruth (1900). Kegn gold fun zun ; Zhankoye. New York: Asch Records.[40]
  • Rubin, Ruth; Rady, Gertrude (1900). Jewish folk songs of Palestine. New York: Asch Records.[41]
  • Rubin, Ruth. Jewish Folk Songs Of Eastern Europe Zhankoye (Crimea). Asch.[42]
  • Rubin, Ruth; Ziegenlaub, W (1930). Meydlakh dray far a niḳel. New York: Columbia Graphophone Co.[43]
  • Rubin, Ruth; Ziegenlaub, W. Geṿald ikh ṿil a boḥur = Gwald ich will a bucher. Camden: Victor Talking Mmachine Co. [44]
  • Rubin, Ruth; Ziegenlaub, W (1930). Leydis foirst = Ladies first. Ṭshepe dikh op. New York?: Columbia Records.[45]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 Heskes, Irene. "A biography by Irene Heskes · The Ruth Rubin Legacy". YIVO Institute for Jewish Research. Retrieved 2022-02-27.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Fox, Margalit (2000-06-17). "Ruth Rubin, 93, Folklorist of Yiddish Songs". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2020-03-29.
  3. ↑ Netsky, Hankus (2011). "Ruth Rubin: A Life in Song | Yiddish Book Center". www.yiddishbookcenter.org. Retrieved 2020-03-29.
  4. 1 2 Mlotek, Zalmen (2000). "Ruth Rubin (1906–2000)". Musica Judaica. 15: 126–127. ISSN 0147-7536. JSTOR 23687781.
  5. ↑ Heskes, Irene. "Ruth Rubin | Jewish Women's Archive". jwa.org. Retrieved 2020-03-29.
  6. ↑ Sapoznik, H. (2001, Spring). Last chorus: Ruth Rubin, 1906–2000. Sing Out! the Folk Song Magazine, 45, 29
  7. 1 2 Passy, Charles (2018-12-21). "Institute Gives Yiddish Songs a Fresh Star Turn". The Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved 2020-03-29.
  8. 1 2 Potvin, Gilles (2013-12-16). "Ruth Rubin". The Canadian Encyclopedia. Retrieved 2020-03-29.
  9. ↑ Ruth Rubin archives 1947–1966. OCLC 970938400.
  10. ↑ Robinson, George (19 December 2018). "Yiddish Folksong Tradition In The Spotlight". jewishweek.timesofisrael.com. Retrieved 2020-03-29.
  11. ↑ Rosenblatt, Rivke; Niger, Samuel (1929). Lider (in Yiddish). Nyu Yorḳ: Y.L. Magid. OCLC 37284901.
  12. ↑ Rosenblatt, Rivke (1948). Dos Yidishe folkslid: kurtse ilustrirte lektsie (in Yiddish). New York: National Jewish Music Council. OCLC 77625613.
  13. ↑ Rubin, Ruth. "Literature on Jewish music 1947-1948". Jewish Book Annual. 6: 64–70. OCLC 827853730.
  14. ↑ Rubin, Ruth (1952). "Nineteenth-Century Yiddish Folksongs of Children in Eastern Europe". The Journal of American Folklore. 65 (257): 227–254. doi:10.2307/537076. ISSN 0021-8715. JSTOR 537076. OCLC 7376758594.
  15. ↑ Rubin, Ruth; Bikel, Theodore (1956). "Folk Songs of Israel". The Journal of American Folklore. 69 (274): 418. doi:10.2307/536373. ISSN 0021-8715. JSTOR 536373. OCLC 7377089556.
  16. ↑ Rubin, Ruth; Post, Ruth; Herzl Rome, T (1950). A treasury of Jewish folksong (in German). New York: Schocken: Verlag nicht ermittelbar. OCLC 723840810.
  17. ↑ Rubin, Ruth (1959). Nineteenth-century history in Yiddish folksong. OCLC 959339808.
  18. ↑ Rubin, Ruth (1960). "Yiddish Folk Songs Current in French Canada". Journal of the International Folk Music Council. 12: 76–78. doi:10.2307/835442. ISSN 0950-7922. JSTOR 835442. OCLC 7586870291.
  19. ↑ Rubin, Ruth (1960). Some aspects of Comparative Jewish Folksong. Bloomington: s.n. OCLC 907579108.
  20. ↑ Rubin, Ruth (1960). Sholem Aleichem and Yiddish folksongs. New York: Sing out Inc. OCLC 190789820.
  21. ↑ Rubin, Ruth (1961). Yiddish folksongs of immigration and the melting pot. New York: New York Folklore Quarterly. OCLC 970905999.
  22. ↑ Rubin, Ruth (1963). Voices of a people, Yiddish folk song., Ruth Rubin. New York; London: T. Yoseloff. OCLC 842380604.
  23. ↑ Rubin, Ruth (1965). Jewish folk songs in Yiddish and English. New York. OCLC 473301618.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  24. ↑ Rubin, Ruth (1965). "A comparative approach to a Yiddish song of protest". Studies in Ethnomusicology. 2: 54–74. OCLC 717316306.
  25. ↑ Rubin, Ruth (1966). Slavic influences in Yiddish folk songs. Hatboro, Pa. OCLC 1252364.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  26. ↑ Rubin, Ruth (1966). Yiddish sayings and some parallels from the sayings of other peoples. Ithaca, N.Y.: New York Folklore Society. OCLC 173027510.
  27. ↑ Rubin, Ruth; Workman's circle (U.S.); Education Department (1967). Warsaw Ghetto program. New York: Education Dept. of the Workmen's Circle. OCLC 6757708.
  28. ↑ Rubin, Ruth (1974). The Yiddish folksong: an illustrated lecture. New York: Jewish Music Council of the National Jewish Welfare Board. OCLC 1130901.
  29. ↑ Rubin, Ruth (1975). Yiddish folksongs of social significance. OCLC 719759580.
  30. ↑ Rubin, Ruth (1976). The Jewish woman and her Yiddish folksong (Thesis). OCLC 984187678.
  31. ↑ Rubin, Ruth (1989). Jewish folk songs: in Yiddish and English. New York: Published by the author. OCLC 610455261.
  32. ↑ Rubin, Ruth; Slobin, Mark (2000). Voices of a people: the story of Yiddish folksong. ISBN 978-0-252-06918-5. OCLC 1110074432.
  33. ↑ Yiddish folksongs. Folkways. OCLC 900331031.
  34. ↑ Yiddish Love Songs Sung By Ruth Rubin. OCLC 603431910.
  35. ↑ Jewish and Israeli folk songs. 1959. OCLC 1066756338.
  36. ↑ Jewish Folk Songs Of Eastern Europe. Farbenkt. Farbenkt. Disc. OCLC 78132026.
  37. ↑ Jewish Folk Songs Of Eastern Europe. Mit A Nodl. Mit A Nodl. Disc. OCLC 82047223.
  38. ↑ Jewish Folk Songs Of Palestine Zirmu Galim. Asch. OCLC 81945999.
  39. ↑ Jewish folk songs. Oriole Records. OCLC 985750817.
  40. ↑ Kegn gold fun zun ; Zhankoye (in Yiddish). Asch Records. 1900. OCLC 78156053.
  41. ↑ Jewish folk songs of Palestine (in Hebrew). Asch Records. 1900. OCLC 83793605.
  42. ↑ Jewish Folk Songs Of Eastern Europe Zhankoye (Crimea). Asch. OCLC 77776570.
  43. ↑ Meydlakh dray far a niḳel (in Yiddish). Columbia Graphophone Co. 1930. OCLC 34391504.
  44. ↑ Geṿald ikh ṿil a boḥur = Gwald ich will a bucher (in Yiddish). Victor Talking Mmachine Co. OCLC 41330388.
  45. ↑ Leydis foirst = Ladies first. Ṭshepe dikh op (in Yiddish). Columbia Records. 1930. OCLC 34389568.
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