Arbeter Froyen (Yiddish: אַרבעטער פֿרױען, lit. 'Working Women'), also known as Tsu Di Arbeter Froyen (Yiddish: צו די אַרבעטער פֿרױען, lit. 'To the Working Women'), is a Yiddish language poem-cum-song written by David Edelshtat, and first scribed by Yankev Glatshteyn. The song combines themes of Socialist Feminism with the ideals of the Jewish Labour Bund. The text of the poem was published on the 8th of May 1891 in Di Fraye Arbeter Shtime in America, with the first publication of the song as a combination of poem and music being in Warsaw, 1918. However the song had been sung before its first written attribution, as shown by contemporaries to events in the late Russian Empire like Anatole Litvak, Shalom Levin, and Abba Levin; who record that the song was popular in the 1890s amongst strikers.
Recordings
- "Yiddish Songs Of Work And Struggle", Yiddish Youth Ensemble (ft. Betty Glaser, Dina Schwartzman, Josh Waletsky, Judy Gottlieb, Khane Kliger, Moishe Mlotek, Moishe Rosenfeld, Susan Finesilver, Zalmen Mlotek), 1972
- "In Love And In Struggle: The Musical Legacy Of The Jewish Labor Bund", featuring Zalmen Mlotek, Adrienne Cooper, Dan Rous with The New Yiddish Chorale and The Workmen's Circle Chorus, 1999
- "The Butcher's Share", Daniel Kahn & the Painted Bird ft. Sarah Gordon, Lorin Sklamberg, Sasha Lurje, Sveta Kundish, and Patrick Farrell, 2017 [sung in English and Yiddish]
- "Millennial Bundist", Isabel Frey, 2020
Lyrics
Original text
English versions
References
