KHAYIM-BETSALEL GRINBERG

KHAYIM-BETSALEL GRINBERG (b. 1860)

            He was born in Vengrov (Węgrów), Shedlets (Siedlce) region, Poland.  Until age fifteen he studied in religious primary school, later in synagogue study hall.  While still young, he was well-known in his town as a ridiculer and troublemaker.  He left subsequently for Warsaw where he joined an acting troupe known by the name “Di broder” (The Brodyans), and he left with them for Galicia.  What happened with him thereafter remains unknown.  He authored two booklets: 1. Bintshe di tsadeykeste, oder di ayngefalene bod (Bintshe the pious woman, or the sunken bathhouse), “He who has much time and enjoys love / Should have this booklet beside him in his home. / I have taken considerable trouble / To think well of everyone. / This booklet is good for enjoyment, / Especially when reading not by oneself./ Perhaps one may keep this in mind, / For that which he can find no consent. / Believe me, I shan’t be making any money from this. / But I begrudge no one for anything proper.” (Warsaw, 1883), 28 pp.; second edition (1911); 2. Di khevre-kedishe sude, oder r’ arye der bal-menagen (The burial society repast, or R. Arye the musician), “Here are depicted the extremely critical matters of the ancient world, as well as the customs of the ancient burial society and how it conducted itself with the dead and with the living.  Also described here is one burial society trustee who prepared a meal for the members of the society, and how someone stole the meal and the trustee was imprisoned.” (Warsaw, 1883), 28 pp.; later edition (1911), 32 pp.  Both booklets were meant as folkish satires of contemporary community relations in Jewish life.

Sources: Zalmen Reyzen, Leksikon, vol. 1; Z. Zilbertsvayg, Leksikon fun yidishn teater (Handbook of the Yiddish theater), vol. 1; N. Prilucki, Mame-loshn (Mother tongue) (Warsaw, 1924), p. 119.