ost popular play in Germany, Russia,
and in the Yiddish theatres of New York. Asch was only twenty-four
years at this time. From this play he made much money and a whole
village was made happy an entire summer.

Since then his income from his writings has increased steadily. Much
of his work is now translated into Russian and German, but as yet not
into English. The income from his translations far exceeds that from
his Yiddish publications, and he is able to support his wife and four
children in ease and comfort. Although he has been to America a few
times during the last six years, it is only several months ago that
his wife and children arrived from Poland and he settled here
permanently.

* * * * *

AN important happening in the history of Jewish literature occurred in
the beginning of April. Perez, the intellectual father of the new
movement, died. Asch and Perez were deep friends. Of all living
writers Perez has had most influence on Asch, both as writer and as
man. When Asch brought him his first story, Perez gave him a volume of
his poems. He said of Asch, "A bird is breaking through the shell--who
knows, is it an eagle or a crow?" It proved to be an eagle. Perez was
a revolutionist, a poet, a dramatist, the defender of the weak, the
inspiration of the talented. A little story of his, "Bonchi the
Silent," about a Jewish workingman who never complained and who took
all his misfortunes as a matter of course, whose desires and hopes
were so thoroughly crushed out of him that on reaching Heaven and
being asked by God to request what he desired most, he said, "I want a
piece of white bread every Friday"--that story, more than any one
influence, caused the formation of the "Bund of the Russian
Revolution." It made the _intelligenzia_ of Russia feel that it was
their duty to teach the workingman to demand the earth.

And now since Perez's death, on Asch's shoulders has fallen the
responsibility of being the greatest Jewish writer living to-day. He
is assuming the added duty of revolutionist as well as artist. For the
serious Jewish writer is a sort of rabbi to his people. Ethically he
stands for the old Jewish ideals. To these Asch has added the beauty
of paganism and the vision of anarchistic communism.

In Paris once he came to a meeting of Zionists. He spoke against the
Zionist idea and was not listened to with great deference. Another
writer, Abraham Raisin, coming in shouted, "