89:. He meets and befriends Reb (Rabbi) Sender who is supported by his wife while he spends sixteen hours a day studying the Talmud. Reb Sender is one of the most "nimble-minded" scholars in the town, and well liked. He also befriends Naphtali, another student two years ahead of him. David and Naphtali often study together at nightly vigils until morning worshippers come. David begins to feel an inner conflict between the religious instruction he receives and his growing
93:. He also thinks of his childhood dislike for Red Esther, the daughter of one of the other families in his basement home. Meanwhile, a Pole moves to Antomir and becomes a regular reader at the synagogue. The Pole has memorized 500 pages of the Talmud, provoking David's jealousy. He redoubles his commitment to Talmudic memorization, but Reb Sender finds out and questions his motivations. This leads to a physical confrontation between David and the Pole.
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affair with Dora (though they never have sex) and his company starts to see real success. Orders begin to increase and he travels out of state to acquire new business. On one such trip, he buys a bracelet for Dora, but she rejects the gift, partly from fear of being found out. Finally, Dora breaks off the affair and demands David move out and sever relations with the family.
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David's thoughts and attention have turned from his
Talmudic studies towards America. He falls ill and is visited by Shiphrah every day in the hospital. After discharge, Shiphrah takes him into her home while her husband is out of town on business. He meets her daughter, Matilda, who has studied at a
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David meets Max's wife Dora, and becomes close with the entire family. He moves in with the family and begins to develop feelings towards Dora. David and the family move to a larger apartment up town, as was the trend to move up in society through the northern development of New York City. He has an
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David reflects on other peddlers, and their coarse and exaggerated stories. One Max
Margolis tells him he's a "good-looking chap", and recommends he learn to dance, adding that "every woman can be won." David tries to woo his landlady but she rejects him and says that he is no longer a greenhorn. He
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while conversing with her friends in
Russian, a language David does not understand. She urges him to get an education at a Russian university, but he insists on going to America to work so he can finance his studies. Matilda eventually offers to pay for his journey. Meanwhile, David falls deeply in
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He "destroys" his temple by using the money he saved up to start his own business in the garment industry. His first order goes to a company that soon after goes bankrupt, leaving him in terrible debt. When all seems lost, a check at last arrives from the company and he is able to stay afloat. His
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After nearly two years in
America, David has a chance encounter with Gitelson, the tailor from the ship. Gitelson is now successful and well-dressed, while David is poor and shabbily dressed. On Gitelson's urging, David begins a 6am-9pm apprenticeship. He begins earning and saving, attending local
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students, and continues his studies. As was also customary, he "eats days" at the houses of benefactors, who invite
Talmudic scholars for one meal per week. By and large, however, he goes hungry, until Shiphrah Minsker—a rich woman—hears of his plight. Finally well-fed, he resolves to
377:. To perfect that "Levinsky is a fully realized character in the novel" the use of the name David, in place of Abraham, is needed, to make "relating his candid autobiography" represent "East European Jewish immigrants like himself." Levinsky is described as being "both narrator and participant."
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182:, barely getting by. He switches to selling linens, but his heart is not really in it. He is terribly homesick. He spends many of his free evenings reading at the synagogue, yet gradually sheds his Russian-Jewish traits. His overall impression is that America is an impious land.
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David reflects on how lonely he is and, in spite of his massive financial success, wishes he had led an intellectual rather than commercial life. He says he is deeply unhappy and though many women desire his hand in marriage, the only woman he can think about is Miss Tevkin.
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love with her, culminating in his first kiss. When word arrives that
Matilda's father is returning from his business trip, David returns to the synagogue. She stops by to give him the 80 rubles to pay for his passage and wishes him luck. On the eve of the
202:. He neglects his work peddling and spends his time reading the book. David is fired but impressed by his own progress learning English. He spends a lot of time in a music shop where he borrows a lot of nickels, dimes, and quarters he is unable to repay.
171:. At a synagogue he asks to sleep there for the night, but is told repeatedly that "America is not Russia." There he meets Mr. Even, a wealthy Jewish man, who gives him money, clothing, dinner, and a haircut—including the removal of his
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To the book's author, Abraham Cahan, who was "the son of a rabbi ... trained as a teacher in the Jewish Folk
Schools" described as "a literary realist devoted to presenting real life in fiction," the link from
167:, and thinking about Matilda. He meets a fellow passenger, Gitelson, and wanders through the city. A man recognizes Gitelson to be a tailor and offers him work. David wanders about and is repeatedly called a
297:, in March 2007. New Vista was founded by |Avi Hoffman, who played the role of the younger David Levinsky in the original production. He played the role of the older David Levinsky in the new production.
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of the
Russian Empire (present-day Lithuania). His father dies when he is three, leaving him and his mother to fend for themselves. He grows up in abject poverty. Better off relatives send him to a private
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Through trial and error he is finally matched up with a fiancée. His fortune continues to grow. He and his fellow industry magnates also have to handle labor disputes instigated by socialists.
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He befriends the Tevkin family and patronizes their socialist causes (she is a socialist) to try and win her favor. However, she rejects his proposal and marries a different suitor.
215:, to which he refers as his new "temple". During the garment industry's idle season he resume his studies. He shows little interest in socialists and the garment workers union.
261:. There, he is smitten by a woman, Miss Tevkin, who is not attracted to him. Nevertheless, he can't get this woman out of his head, causing him to break off his engagement.
109:; one gentile punches him. His mother sees his split lip and, against the advice of neighbors, goes out to set things straight. She is beaten badly, dying that night.
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Jewish theater, and practicing his
English. Working 16-hour days and saving aggressively, David hopes to save enough money to support himself so he can attend the
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rededicate himself to his studies. However, he finds that the spark has gone out and his interest in the Talmud has seemingly vanished. After the assassination of
640:
Mackes, Marilyn F., "The rise of David
Levinsky: Autobiographical mask for a dispossessed American Adam." (1983). Theses and Dissertations. Paper 2460.
486:
311:
as "'The Rise of David Levinsky' is a triumph for off-Broadway" at John Houseman Theater, described as a "tiny theater on West 42nd Street."
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He sets up his business to run while he travels across the country trying to sell his garments, and he goes on and on about selling cloaks.
450:
125:, many Jews flee the Russian Empire for lands free of religious persecution. David's thoughts now turn to starting a new life in America.
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labeled a "semi-autobiographical work" both by and about someone "torn apart between the American materialism and his spiritual roots."
534:.. is considered to be the first American novel to chronicle the Jewish American immigrant experience at the end of the 19th century.
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is part of his Jewish educational upbringing. An analysis of the book's name says that "Cahan drew the subtitle of his series from
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story that begins with "the metamorphosis" of "arrived .. with four cents in my pocket" to "worth more than two million dollars."
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tries his former landlady, who kisses him once but rejects further advances. Work is only an obligation which he doesn't like.
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self view is worded as "inner identity .. precisely the same as it was thirty or forty years ago ... devoid of significance."
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He enrolls in night school, learning English and mimicking his teacher's mannerisms. His teacher gives David a copy of
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The book has been described as "one of the earliest and one of the most notable pieces of Jewish immigrant fiction."
73:. Initially bullied by well-off classmates, he eventually becomes one of the tougher kids and excels academically.
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What became the book The Rise of David Levinsky originally appeared as four related short stories in ...McClure's
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business slowly starts taking off and he abandons his academic plans for this new commercial enterprise.
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Ellilot Resnick (February 11, 2011). "Veteran Newspaperman Seth Lipsky Reminisces On His Career".
175:. He arranges for David's lodging and beseeches him to not neglect his religion and his studies.
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It would seem impossible ... American Jewish Theater has done so glowingly at the 92d Street Y.
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The novel was made into a musical by Isaiah Sheffer and Robert Paul and performed at the
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The main character, David Levinsky, is born in 1865 in Antomir, a city of 80,000 in the
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of his mother's death, he goes to the train station, and is seen off by his friends.
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After mourning, David moves into the synagogue, as was often customary for poorer
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of David Levinsky, a Russian Jew who emigrates to America and rises from
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On his way to visit his fiancée's family, he stops at a resort in the
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in Germany as well at secular Russian schools. Matilda taunts him in
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The musical was performed again by the New Vista Theatre Company in
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The Autobiography of an American Jew: The Rise of David Levinsky
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David spends Even's money on dry goods and begins to work as a
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451:"Avi Hoffman to Reprise Role in FL Premiere of David Levinsky"
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487:"'The Rise of David Levinsky' is a triumph for off-Broadway"
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to New York. He spends most of the journey praying, reading
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At age 13 David finishes his cheder education and begins
466:"Avi Hoffman's rising again in David Levinsky reprise"
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651:"The Rise of David Levinsky and Portnoy's Complaint"
373:multi-part series upon which the book was built is
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427:"STAGE: JEWISH THEATER'S 'RISE OF DAVID LEVINSKY'"
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401:a "somewhat neglected novel novel," which another
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364:, the most influential advocate for realism."
607:"The Rise of David Levinsky, by Abraham Cahan"
548:"The Rise of David Levinsky, by Abraham Cahan"
530:"The Rise of David Levinsky, by Abraham Cahan"
305:1987 saw the opening of what was headlined by
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101:David is harassed in the Horse-market during
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40:The book is told in the form of a fictional
672:Penguin edition: The Rise of David Levinsky
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581:"Howells ... befriended Cahan in 1895"
507:Hilary Daninhirsch (February 4, 2011).
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219:Book VIII: The Destruction of My Temple
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32:, and remains Cahan's best known work.
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391:on-stage adaptations and presentations
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425:Richard F. Shepard (March 27, 1983).
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273:Book XIV: Episodes of a Lonely Life
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105:by a group of gentiles celebrating
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389:calls "newspapering" and various
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485:Gloria Cole (January 12, 1987).
449:Kenneth Jones (March 19, 2007).
408:The book was reprinted in 1993.
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290:in New York City in the 1980s.
265:Book XIII: At Her Father's House
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186:Book VI: A Greenhorn No Longer
65:for elementary instruction in
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669:Cahan, Abraham (March 1993).
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393:, an 82 page 1983 university
592:"The Rise of David Levinsky"
565:"The Rise of David Levinsky"
509:"The Rise of David Levinsky"
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749:Novels about businesspeople
722:public domain audiobook at
16:1917 novel by Abraham Cahan
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719:The Rise of David Levinsky
702:The Rise of David Levinsky
491:United Press International
151:Book V: I Discover America
97:Book III: I Lose my Mother
21:The Rise of David Levinsky
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663:with an introduction by
605:Susan Kittner Huntting.
546:Susan Kittner Huntting.
528:Susan Kittner Huntting.
399:The Rise of David Linsky
358:The Rise of Silas Lapham
213:City College of New York
121:in 1881 and subsequent
52:Book I: Home and School
28:. It was published in
744:Jewish American novels
367:The full title of the
295:Boynton Beach, Florida
397:concludes by calling
253:Book XII: Miss Tevkin
739:1917 American novels
514:The Jewish Chronicle
362:William Dean Howells
145:one-year anniversary
77:Book II: Enter Satan
237:Book X: On the Road
206:Book VII: My Temple
432:The New York Times
370:McClure's Magazine
319:Cahan's book is a
282:Musical Adaptation
245:Book XI: Matrimony
707:Project Gutenberg
123:anti-Jewish riots
119:Czar Alexander II
91:interest in girls
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360:(1885) by
339:Alter Ego
331:Immigrant
259:Catskills
173:sidelocks
169:greenhorn
165:Psalm 104
724:LibriVox
114:Talmudic
103:Passover
87:yeshivah
83:Talmudic
69:and the
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157:steamer
140:Yiddish
67:Judaism
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403:thesis
395:thesis
381:Impact
354:Levite
344:Cahan/
161:Bremen
107:Easter
63:cheder
346:Kohen
159:from
71:Torah
677:ISBN
350:Levi
30:1917
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325:His
308:UPI
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