Jewish Bacău in Literature

[Page 151]

Two Poems
By Yitzhak Barkat

Translation by Xuye Song

Yitzhak Barkat, born in Bacău, immigrated to Israel at a young age. An actor and poet whose art and poetry conveyed his emotions and reactions to life. In 1989, Yitzhak Barkat published a poetry collection in Romanian titled Tirguieli^[1] in Tel Aviv. From the book, we selected and translated (free translation) two poems about his hometown.

Coachmen from Bacău^[2]
The sky is veiled in a tender gray
as it hangs above today,
alleys of Jerusalem I was wandering,
drawn in Bacău exactly so

[Page 152]

on the ceiling
inside the coachmen's synagogue on Leca Street^[3]
not far from the southern street.
An anonymous man painted it from memory
preserved for him to see
thousands of years gone through,
showing the worried coachmen who
with tallit wrapped
with tefillin strapped
the painted hue
the arched view
of the dome
above Jerusalem.

Bistrița^[4]
From Stânca drugstore
to Bistrița's shore,
a deep river, with water vast
behold, many Jews flowing past:
distinguished face,
elders totteringly pace,
young girls in beauty and grace–
all the sacred community of Bacău, side by side
approach the river at Tashlich^[5]-tide
to cast their grief away,
and hope for sweetness underway.
Bistrița is a whitewater
a wheaten wave, abounding with water
rafts slide upon its back
and boatmen pull against the track

[Page 153]

upon seeing such a throng
gathered the shore along–
O God! They marvel from mountain peaks
and from valley creeks
hundreds, thousands of Jews had spread
with no path ahead
they wandered through
they flew
like kites soar
like snowstorms roar
they stream
on Bistrița's water stream.

Translator's footnotes

A Romanian word, meaning “acquisition” in English. Return

This is a literary translation of the original Hebrew poem. There is a more literal translation provided below:
The sky– / partly clouded / as it was / today, / when I wandered / outside / into the streets / of Jerusalem– / drawn exactly so / [p. 152] on the ceiling / of the coachmen's synagogue / in Bacău, on Leca Street, / not far from the southern road. / A man / nameless / painted it / from memory / preserved for him / through thousands of years, / to show the worried coachmen / when they were wrapped in tallit / and put on tefillin / the colors and the curves of the sky / in Jerusalem. Return

The street where most impoverished merchants and carriage drivers resided. It was known as Jewish quarter with a Hasidic center. Return

The Bistrița is a river in Transylvania, near the city of Bistrița.
This is a literary translation of the original Hebrew poem. There is a more literal translation provided below:
From Stânca pharmacy / to the shores of the Bistrița, / a deep river, with abundant water / behold, many Jews: / distinguished faces, / elders who barely stand, / young and beautiful girls / the entire sacred community of Bacău / goes out to the river for Tashlich / hoping for sweetness, not bitterness.
Bistrița is a swift river, / a wheaten wave, abounding with water / rafts glide upon it / and the boatmen hold them back / [p. 153] upon seeing such crowds / gathered on the shores /O God! They marvel / from the mountains / and the valley / hundreds and thousands of Jews / set out with no path / they walked / they flew / like kites/ like a blizzard / rushing / on the waters of Bistrița. Return

Tashlich, literally meaning “casting off”, is a Jewish ritual observed on the afternoon of the first day of Rosh Hashanah (the Jewish new year), in which individuals symbolically cast sins away into a body of natural flowing water. Return

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