Malka Lee

Malka Lee (pseudonym of Malka Leopold Rappaport) was a prolific and beloved Yiddish poet whose verse captured the feelings and experiences of a generation of Jewish immigrants to the United States. She was born in the Galician shtetl of Monastrikh (in present-day Ukraine) and immigrated to New York in 1921. Lee’s poetry revolved around themes such as memory of the Old Country, the trials of life in the New World, the pain and guilt of witnessing the Holocaust from a distance, a renewed attachment to America, and the birth of the State of Israel. In addition to several collections of poetry, she also wrote prose fiction, children’s literature, and fables. In 1965, she received the Hayim Greenberg Award of Pioneer Women of America.