Ruth Rubin

Born Rivke Rosenblatt in 1906 in Khotin, Bessarabia, she grew up speaking Yiddish, English and French.{{Cite web|url=https://ruthrubin.yivo.org/exhibits/show/ruth-rubin-sound-archive/who-was-ruth-rubin/irene-heskes-s-biography-of-ru |title=A biography by Irene Heskes · The Ruth Rubin Legacy |last=Heskes|first=Irene|website=YIVO Institute for Jewish Research|language=en-US|access-date=2022-02-27}} Her parents had immigrated to Canada from Bessarabia, then part of the Russian Empire; she had at least one sibling, a sister Esther. She attended the city's public schools, as well as the Peretz Shule, a secular Yiddish school, where she saw Sholom Aleichem speak in 1915 and was deeply affected.{{Cite web|url=https://www.yiddishbookcenter.org/pakn-treger/12-09/ruth-rubin-a-life-song|title=Ruth Rubin: A Life in Song {{!}} Yiddish Book Center|last=Netsky|first=Hankus|date=2011|website=www.yiddishbookcenter.org|access-date=2020-03-29}} In 1924, she moved to New York where she studied music and attended night school at Hunter College while working as a secretary and stenographer.

Around 1935 Rubin decided to become a Yiddish folklorist and sought out Chaim Zhitlowsky (1865–1943), a prominent Yiddish scholar and writer for guidance. She began her research at the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research, the New York Public Library and the archives of the Jewish Theological Seminary. In addition to teaching music and poetry in Yiddish schools in the city, she also began publishing in journals. During World War II, she translated Yiddish diaries that were smuggled out of European ghettos and concentration camps.

From about 1947 on, Rubin began to conduct serious fieldwork within the Jewish community of immigrants in New York City, Montreal and Toronto, focusing on the displaced persons who had arrived from Europe following the Holocaust.{{Cite web|url=https://jwa.org/encyclopedia/article/rubin-ruth|title=Ruth Rubin {{!}} Jewish Women's Archive|last=Heskes|first=Irene|website=jwa.org|access-date=2020-03-29}}

Rubin's work is considered deeply significant as she began gathering folksong and Yiddish folktales at a time when there was very little interest in Yiddish culture. She gathered thousands of songs over the next twenty years from a generation of survivors who had nearly been annihilated by Nazism and later Stalinist repression. In tandem with this work, Rubin continued her studies in Yiddish language and history with scholar Max Weinreich.

In addition to her work as a collector, Rubin also organized and performed in recitals of Yiddish folksongs and hosted salons in her Grammercy Park Avenue apartment.Sapoznik, H. (2001, Spring). Last chorus: Ruth Rubin, 1906–2000. Sing Out! the Folk Song Magazine, 45, 29 As part of the folk revival movement, she performed at New York's Town Hall and Carnegie Recital Hall, participated in Expo 67, and appeared in folk concerts with Pete Seeger, Paul Robeson and Ronnie Gilbert.{{Cite news|last=Passy|first=Charles|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/institute-gives-yiddish-songs-a-fresh-star-turn-11545355840|title=Institute Gives Yiddish Songs a Fresh Star Turn|date=2018-12-21|work=The Wall Street Journal|access-date=2020-03-29|language=en-US|issn=0099-9660}} She was also heavily involved in the Jewish Music Forum and the National Jewish Music Council and fostered international scholarly relations with folklorists in Israel and Europe.

Irene Heskes (1923–1999) praised Rubin's "prodigious dedication" to collecting and preserving Yiddish culture and song, ranking her as one of the leading Yiddish collector-scholars of the twentieth century. Rubin's performance style was described as "simple and unaffected" and contemporaries report that she saw performance more as an act of cultural transmission rather than artistic expression.

Rubin recorded many of the songs she collected and was a recording artist from the 1940s through to the 1980s. Often working Moses Asch, she also released several collections under Oriole and her own imprint.{{Cite web|url=https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/ruth-rubin-emc|title=Ruth Rubin |website=The Canadian Encyclopedia|last=Potvin|first=Gilles|date=2013-12-16 |access-date=2020-03-29}} She recorded collaborations with Pete Seeger, Fred Hellerman, Dick Weissman and Hedy West.

Rubin deposited her field recordings in various archives and research libraries in the United States (Library of Congress, YIVO, Wayne State University), Canada (Canadian Museum of History), and Israel, where they now constitute important archival research collections.{{Cite book|title=Ruth Rubin archives 1947–1966|oclc = 970938400}}{{Cite web|url=https://jewishweek.timesofisrael.com/yiddish-folksong-tradition-in-the-spotlight/|title=Yiddish Folksong Tradition In The Spotlight|last=Robinson|first=George|website=jewishweek.timesofisrael.com|date=19 December 2018 |language=en-US|access-date=2020-03-29}}{{Cite journal|last=Mlotek|first=Zalmen|date=2000|title=Ruth Rubin (1906–2000)|journal=Musica Judaica|volume=15|pages=126–127|issn=0147-7536|jstor=23687781}} Fellow scholars such as Steven Zeitlin of the New York Center for Urban Folk Culture praised Rubin's work as she collected songs from informants who had learned songs in their original context.

In 1932, Rosenblatt married Harry Rubin. The two had a son named Michael in 1937, who passed away in 1959. Her husband died in 1971. She died in 2000.{{Cite news|last=Fox|first=Margalit|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2000/06/17/arts/ruth-rubin-93-folklorist-of-yiddish-songs.html|title=Ruth Rubin, 93, Folklorist of Yiddish Songs|date=2000-06-17|work=The New York Times|access-date=2020-03-29|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331}}

• Lifetime Achievement Award, Yiddish Folk Arts Program 1989

• {{Cite book|last1=Rosenblatt|first1=Rivke|title=Lider|last2=Niger|first2=Samuel|date=1929|publisher=Y.L. Magid|location=Nyu Yorḳ}}{{Cite book|last1=Rosenblatt|first1=Rivke|title=Lider|last2=Niger|first2=Samuel|date=1929|publisher=Y.L. Magid|location=Nyu Yorḳ|language=yi|oclc=37284901}}
• {{Cite book|last=Rosenblatt|first=Rivke|title=Dos Yidishe folkslid: kurtse ilustrirte lektsie.|date=1948|publisher=National Jewish Music Council|location=New York}}{{Cite book|last=Rosenblatt|first=Rivke|title=Dos Yidishe folkslid: kurtse ilustrirte lektsie.|date=1948|publisher=National Jewish Music Council|location=New York|language=yi|oclc=77625613}}
• {{Cite journal|last=Rubin|first=Ruth|date=1947|title=Literature on Jewish music |journal=Jewish Book Annual|volume=6|pages=64–70}}{{Cite journal|last=Rubin|first=Ruth|title=Literature on Jewish music 1947-1948 |journal=Jewish Book Annual|language=en|volume=6|pages=64–70|oclc=827853730}}
• {{Cite book|last=Rubin|first=Ruth|title=Yiddish riddles and problems |publisher=Folklore Quarterly |location=New York}}
• {{Cite book|last=Rubin|first=Ruth|title=The Yiddish folksong of the East European Jews|date=1948|publisher=National Jewish Music Council, sponsored by National Jewish Welfare Board|location=New York}}
• {{Cite journal|last=Rubin|first=Ruth|date=1952|title=Nineteenth-Century Yiddish Folksongs of Children in Eastern Europe|journal=The Journal of American Folklore |volume=65|issue=257|pages=227–254|doi=10.2307/537076|jstor=537076|issn=0021-8715}} {{Cite journal|last=Rubin|first=Ruth|date=1952|title=Nineteenth-Century Yiddish Folksongs of Children in Eastern Europe|journal=The Journal of American Folklore |volume=65|issue=257|pages=227–254|doi=10.2307/537076|jstor=537076|issn=0021-8715|oclc=7376758594}}
• {{Cite journal|last1=Rubin|first1=Ruth|last2=Bikel|first2=Theodore|date=1956|title=Folk Songs of Israel|journal=The Journal of American Folklore |volume=69|issue=274|pages=418|doi=10.2307/536373|jstor=536373|issn=0021-8715}}{{Cite journal|last1=Rubin|first1=Ruth|last2=Bikel|first2=Theodore|date=1956|title=Folk Songs of Israel|journal=The Journal of American Folklore |volume=69|issue=274|pages=418|doi=10.2307/536373|jstor=536373|issn=0021-8715|oclc=7377089556}}
• {{Cite book|last1=Rubin|first1=Ruth|title=A treasury of Jewish folksong|last2=Post|first2=Ruth|last3=Herzl Rome|first3=T|date=1950|publisher=Verlag nicht ermittelbar|location=New York: Schocken}}{{Cite book|last1=Rubin|first1=Ruth|title=A treasury of Jewish folksong|last2=Post|first2=Ruth|last3=Herzl Rome|first3=T|date=1950|publisher=Verlag nicht ermittelbar|location=New York: Schocken|language=de|oclc=723840810}}
• {{Cite book|last=Rubin|first=Ruth|title=Nineteenth-century Yiddish folksongs of children in Eastern Europe.|date=1952|location=Richmond, Va.}}
• {{Cite book|last=Rubin|first=Ruth|title=Nineteenth-century history in Yiddish folksong|date=1959}}{{Cite book|last=Rubin|first=Ruth|title=Nineteenth-century history in Yiddish folksong|date=1959|language=en|oclc=959339808}}
• {{Cite journal|last=Rubin|first=Ruth|date=1960|title=Yiddish Folk Songs Current in French Canada|journal=Journal of the International Folk Music Council |volume=12|pages=76–78|doi=10.2307/835442|jstor=835442|issn=0950-7922}}{{Cite journal|last=Rubin|first=Ruth|date=1960|title=Yiddish Folk Songs Current in French Canada|journal=Journal of the International Folk Music Council |volume=12|pages=76–78|doi=10.2307/835442|jstor=835442|issn=0950-7922|oclc=7586870291}}
• {{Cite book|last=Rubin|first=Ruth|title=Some aspects of Comparative Jewish Folksong|date=1960|publisher=s.n.|location=Bloomington}} {{Cite book|last=Rubin|first=Ruth|title=Some aspects of Comparative Jewish Folksong|date=1960|publisher=s.n.|location=Bloomington|language=en|oclc=907579108}}
• {{Cite book|last=Rubin|first=Ruth|title=Sholem Aleichem and Yiddish folksongs|date=1960|publisher=Sing out Inc.|location=New York}}{{Cite book|last=Rubin|first=Ruth|title=Sholem Aleichem and Yiddish folksongs|date=1960|publisher=Sing out Inc.|location=New York|language=en|oclc=190789820}}
• {{Cite book|last=Rubin|first=Ruth|title=Yiddish folksongs of immigration and the melting pot|date=1961|publisher=New York Folklore Quarterly|location=New York}}{{Cite book|last=Rubin|first=Ruth|title=Yiddish folksongs of immigration and the melting pot|date=1961|publisher=New York Folklore Quarterly|location=New York|language=en|oclc=970905999}}
• {{Cite book|last=Rubin|first=Ruth|title=Voices of a people, Yiddish folk song., Ruth Rubin.|date=1963|publisher=T. Yoseloff|location=New York; London}}{{Cite book|last=Rubin|first=Ruth|title=Voices of a people, Yiddish folk song., Ruth Rubin.|date=1963|publisher=T. Yoseloff|location=New York; London|language=en|oclc=842380604}}
• {{Cite book|last=Rubin|first=Ruth|title=Jewish folk songs in Yiddish and English|date=1965|location=New York}}{{Cite book|last=Rubin|first=Ruth|title=Jewish folk songs in Yiddish and English|date=1965|location=New York|oclc=473301618}}
• {{Cite journal|last=Rubin|first=Ruth|date=1965|title=A comparative approach to a Yiddish song of protest|journal=Studies in Ethnomusicology|volume=2|pages=54–74}}{{Cite journal|last=Rubin|first=Ruth|date=1965|title=A comparative approach to a Yiddish song of protest|journal=Studies in Ethnomusicology|language=en|volume=2|pages=54–74|oclc=717316306}}
• {{Cite book|last=Rubin|first=Ruth|title=Slavic influences in Yiddish folk songs.|date=1966|location=Hatboro, Pa.}}{{Cite book|last=Rubin|first=Ruth|title=Slavic influences in Yiddish folk songs.|date=1966|location=Hatboro, Pa.|language=en|oclc=1252364}}
• {{Cite book|last=Rubin|first=Ruth|title=Yiddish sayings and some parallels from the sayings of other peoples.|date=1966|publisher=New York Folklore Society|location=Ithaca, N.Y.}}{{Cite book|last=Rubin|first=Ruth|title=Yiddish sayings and some parallels from the sayings of other peoples.|date=1966|publisher=New York Folklore Society|location=Ithaca, N.Y.|language=en|oclc=173027510}}
• {{Cite book|last1=Rubin|first1=Ruth|title=Warsaw Ghetto program|last2=Workman's circle (U.S.)|last3=Education Department|date=1967|publisher=Education Dept. of the Workmen's Circle|location=New York}}{{Cite book|last1=Rubin|first1=Ruth|title=Warsaw Ghetto program|last2=Workman's circle (U.S.)|last3=Education Department|date=1967|publisher=Education Dept. of the Workmen's Circle|location=New York|language=en|oclc=6757708}}
• {{Cite book|last=Rubin|first=Ruth|title=The Yiddish folksong: an illustrated lecture|date=1974|publisher=Jewish Music Council of the National Jewish Welfare Board|location=New York}}{{Cite book|last=Rubin|first=Ruth|title=The Yiddish folksong: an illustrated lecture|date=1974|publisher=Jewish Music Council of the National Jewish Welfare Board|location=New York|language=en|oclc=1130901}}
• {{Cite book|last=Rubin|first=Ruth|title=Yiddish folksongs of social significance|date=1975}}{{Cite book|last=Rubin|first=Ruth|title=Yiddish folksongs of social significance|date=1975|language=en|oclc=719759580}}
• {{Cite thesis|last1=Rubin|first1=Ruth|last2=Union Institute & University|date=1976|title=The Jewish woman and her Yiddish folksong}}{{Cite thesis|title=The Jewish woman and her Yiddish folksong|date=1976|language=en|first=Ruth|last=Rubin|oclc=984187678}}
• {{Cite book|last=Rubin|first=Ruth|title=Jewish folk songs: in Yiddish and English|date=1989|publisher=Published by the author|location=New York}}{{Cite book|last=Rubin|first=Ruth|title=Jewish folk songs: in Yiddish and English|date=1989|publisher=Published by the author|location=New York|language=en|oclc=610455261}}
• {{Cite book|last1=Rubin|first1=Ruth|title=Voices of a people: the story of Yiddish folksong|last2=Slobin|first2=Mark|date=2000|isbn=978-0-252-06918-5}}{{Cite book|last1=Rubin|first1=Ruth|title=Voices of a people: the story of Yiddish folksong|last2=Slobin|first2=Mark|date=2000|isbn=978-0-252-06918-5|language=en|oclc=1110074432}}

• {{Cite AV media |last=Rubin|first=Ruth|title=Yiddish folksongs sung by Ruth Rubin|date=1978 |publisher=Folkways}}{{Cite AV media |title=Yiddish folksongs|publisher=Folkways|oclc=900331031}}
• {{Cite AV media |last1=Rubin|first1=Ruth|title=Yiddish Love Songs Sung By Ruth Rubin |date=1958 |publisher=Washington Records|last2=Hellerman|first2=Fred}}{{Cite AV media |title=Yiddish Love Songs Sung By Ruth Rubin |oclc=603431910}}
• {{Cite AV media |last1=Rubin|first1=Ruth|title=Jewish and Israeli folk songs |publisher=Folkways Records|year=1959}}{{Cite AV media |title=Jewish and Israeli folk songs |year=1959 |oclc=1066756338}}
• {{Cite AV media |last1=Rubin|first1=Ruth|title=Jewish Folk Songs Of Eastern Europe. Farbenkt. Farbenkt.|publisher=Disc|last2=Rady|first2=Gertrude}}{{Cite AV media |title=Jewish Folk Songs Of Eastern Europe. Farbenkt. Farbenkt.|publisher=Disc|oclc=78132026}}
• {{Cite AV media |last1=Rubin|first1=Ruth|title=Jewish Folk Songs Of Eastern Europe. Mit A Nodl. Mit A Nodl.|publisher=Disc|last2=Rady|first2=Gertrude}}{{Cite AV media |title=Jewish Folk Songs Of Eastern Europe. Mit A Nodl. Mit A Nodl.|publisher=Disc|oclc=82047223}}
• {{Cite AV media |last=Rubin|first=Ruth|title=Jewish Folk Songs Of Palestine Zirmu Galim |publisher=Asch}}{{Cite AV media |title=Jewish Folk Songs Of Palestine Zirmu Galim |publisher=Asch|oclc=81945999}}
• {{Cite AV media |last1=פוסט|first1=רות|title=Jewish folk songs|location=New York|publisher=Oriole Records|last2=Post|first2=Ruth}}{{Cite AV media |title=Jewish folk songs|publisher=Oriole Records|oclc=985750817}}
• {{Cite AV media |last=Rubin|first=Ruth|title=Kegn gold fun zun; Zhankoye |date=1900|location=New York |publisher=Asch Records}}{{Cite AV media |title=Kegn gold fun zun; Zhankoye |date=1900|publisher=Asch Records|language=yi|oclc=78156053}}
• {{Cite AV media |last1=Rubin|first1=Ruth|title=Jewish folk songs of Palestine|date=1900|location=New York |publisher=Asch Records|last2=Rady|first2=Gertrude}}{{Cite AV media |title=Jewish folk songs of Palestine|date=1900|publisher=Asch Records|language=he|oclc=83793605}}
• {{Cite AV media |last=Rubin|first=Ruth|title=Jewish Folk Songs Of Eastern Europe Zhankoye (Crimea) |publisher=Asch}}{{Cite AV media |title=Jewish Folk Songs Of Eastern Europe Zhankoye (Crimea) |publisher=Asch|oclc=77776570}}
• {{Cite AV media |last1=Rubin|first1=Ruth|title=Meydlakh dray far a niḳel |date=1930 |location=New York|publisher=Columbia Graphophone Co.|last2=Ziegenlaub|first2=W}}{{Cite AV media |title=Meydlakh dray far a niḳel|date=1930|publisher=Columbia Graphophone Co.|language=yi|oclc=34391504}}
• {{Cite AV media |last1=Rubin|first1=Ruth|title=Geṿald ikh ṿil a boḥur = Gwald ich will a bucher|location=Camden|publisher=Victor Talking Machine Company|last2=Ziegenlaub|first2=W}} {{Cite AV media |title=Geṿald ikh ṿil a boḥur = Gwald ich will a bucher|publisher=Victor Talking Machine Company|language=yi|oclc=41330388}}
• {{Cite AV media |last1=Rubin|first1=Ruth|title=Leydis foirst = Ladies first. Ṭshepe dikh op|date=1930|location=New York?|publisher=Columbia Records|last2=Ziegenlaub|first2=W}}{{Cite AV media |title=Leydis foirst = Ladies first. Ṭshepe dikh op|date=1930|publisher=Columbia Records|language=yi|oclc=34389568}}

{{reflist}}

• [https://exhibitions.yivo.org/exhibits/show/ruth-rubin-sound-archive/home Ruth Rubin archive of Yiddish Folksongs], YIVO Institute for Jewish Research
• [http://archives.wayne.edu/repositories/2/archival_objects/295782 Ruth Rubin holdings] at Wayne State University Archives (part of the People's Song Library)
• [https://lccn.loc.gov/2011655376 Ruth Rubin papers] at the Library of Congress
• [https://merhav.nli.org.il/primo-explore/search?query=any,contains,%22From%20the%20Ruth%20Rubin%20collection%20of%20Jewish%20folksongs%22&tab=default_tab&search_scope=Local&vid=NLI&mfacet=rtype,include,recethno,1&mfacet=tlevel,include,online_resources,2&lang=en_US Ethnographic recordings available online] from the Ruth Rubin collection of Jewish folksongs, Israeli National Library, National Sound Archive
• [https://exhibitions.yivo.org/exhibits/show/ruth-rubin-sound-archive/videos Ruth Rubin: A Life in Song] (1986 documentary)

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Rubin, Ruth}}

Category:1906 births

Category:2000 deaths

Category:Canadian emigrants to the United States

Category:Canadian folklorists

Category:Canadian women folklorists

Category:Jewish folklorists

Category:Canadian women folk singers

Category:Jewish folklore

Category:Yiddish-language folklore

Category:Yiddish-language music

Category:Yiddish-language singers of Canada

Category:Yiddish–English translators

Category:American poets in Yiddish

Category:20th-century translators