The Family Mashber by Der Nister

I want to write my first impression about the book. The Family Mashber by Der Nister.

A monumental, panoramic canvas. A hidden literary treasure and a masterpiece. This book should be on your “bucket list” and you should be delighted if you merited to read this book in your lifetime. I am blown away speechless. But this is just impressionable me, so don’t really take my word for it. The wonder of this work, it was written in the CCCP and the fact that that much of the book survived is the miracle. There are two volumes in this book and the third volume is somewhere in Russia perhaps. Finding the third volume should be our national priority; this is an artistic expression that could be compared to the book of Isaiah and the rest of the canonical treasures.

Pinchus Kahanovich דער נסתּר is a holy soul, how to describe and to mourn his martyrdom in Gulag 1950? Move over Chaim Grade, Der Nister is by far more refined elegant dreamer, not a Litvak like Grade after all. I am hereby revising the title of the Best Yiddish Writer of the 20th century (if ever).

Now few notes about the book. This is definitely a Ukrainian Jewish novel because of the juxtaposition of thieves, starving Jews, gangsters, oligarchs and Rabbis. The community in Ukraine was always very polarized. In fact Ukrainian Jews where always full of holy (and unholy) Rebbes and the dark criminal element. This abundant underworld provided material for Der Nister and even for Babel but it also made the Jews of Belarus, Lithuania and even Poland apprehensive in denigration towards their Ukrainian brothers.

The book has very real references. The town N. is Der Nister’s home town of Berdichev and the real characters down to the reenactment for the Liover Rebbe apostasy. One of the main characters in this book is Luzi Mashber who becomes a Breslover. In fact the older brother of Der Nister was a Berslover Chosid and there are suggestions that the character of Luzi Mashber is that of Der Nister’s brother. The description of the Breslover Chassidim is funny and at the same time so true even today.

There is something in this book that reminds me of the Russian cult classic “Master and Margarita”, written about the same time. Perhaps it is the fantastic characters that sometimes are human and sometimes not completely human. Like the central hero Sruli Gol, who is technically a mamzer from Poland but in reality some sort of an angel. In fact he admits there is a man in his visions that tells him what to do. So the mamzer is an angel that appears at pivotal moments in the plot to change the course of events, the mamzer is the divine providence, shechina itself.

This movement, stirrings and change, the play of unexpected opposites is breathtaking. A Breslover who wakes up every day to say Tikun Hazos becomes the author of anti-Rambam. The town Rabbi Reb Dudi (also historical figure) is the dark side…

The three bothers Mashber Moshe the biggest Gvir in town, Aler the meshugener and Luzi the holy Breslover. Mashber (breaking) is really the breakup of Moshe world, his fall. The brother’s grandfather was a follower of the Shabtai Zvi and the two generations of this family repent for the grandfather’s sins. One day Moshe see a vision where his fall is predicted to him, his father appears in the vision and tells him that it will be Luzi who comes on top. The next hundreds of pages are about Moshe’s fall and the very end Luzi reconnects with his Shabatian grandfather, not literately but in the spirit of always searching… Perhaps this was the vision?

The book is written in the fine Russian literally tradition. Der Nister savors each character, taking his time to describe the details. It is a slow motion tale but it also intense and it maintains the interest. Der Nister is a theatrical writer. Let me explain. Reb Zalman said about Reb Shlomo Carlebach that his stories are like movies; Shlomo first visualizes a movie and then tells a story about it. Well Der Nister writes theater. There are sets in the novel like Moshe's House, Luzi's House, The Market, etc. A lot of novel happens in these confined settings. Each time additional character walks in on the set, they theatrically appear. And unlike some modern novels very little happens in peoples heads, its mostly a dialogue, even when it is a vision there are still characters that speak and act. Perhaps Der Nister envisioned a play?

Unfortunately we don’t have the 3rd volume and I have a feeling that Moshe’s son Mayerel was destined to be the reflection, the alter ego of Der Nister himself.

I also would like to know how relationship between Sruli Gol amd Luzi develops. Perhaps there is an introduction of homoerotic element.

The book writes about constant persecutions of Breslovers. Anybody heard about L.Y. Berdichever cursing out Reb Nachman for him allegedly bowing to Yoshke on his trip to Eretz Isroel?

In conclusion I want to mention the "double edged sword" dialog between Sruli Gol and Luzi Mashber. Definitely up there on the level of "The Great Inquisitor" revelation by Dostoevsky in Bothers Karamazov.

P.S. We would never know how Der Nister’s style would have developed outside of the CCCP. But I have to say that perhaps the essence comes out in the sate of constrains. Although one can't discount the adjustments that he had to make in the book. In any case it is miracle that this book was published in its current form. I just want to note that Der Nister managed to snick in an allegory of Stalin. The scene with drunken Polish noblemen, when they shoot up the portrait of Tsar Alexander and are fearful of the informers is definitely an allegory.