Judah Shteynberg

Born in Lipkany, Bessarabia (today in Moldova) to a Hasidic family, Judah Shteynberg (Steinberg) was a pioneer of modern Hebrew and Yiddish children’s literature. He received a traditional education and upbringing. Married at age seventeen, he was soon drawn to Haskalah ideals and eventually embraced national Hebraist ideals. In 1893, Steinberg published his first reader-cum-textbook, Niv sefatayim (Fruit of the Lips). He subsequently went on to write many parables, stories, and articles in Yiddish and Hebrew. He moved to Odessa in 1905 to work as a correspondent for the New York–based Yiddish paper Di varhayt (Di warheit; The Truth). Shteynberg’s writing for children relied heavily on Hasidic motifs and legends. It was noted for its clarity, imagination, and moralistic insights.