Nisht di meysim loybn got

"Nisht di meysim loybn got" is a poem by Jacob Glatstein, a prominent figure in mid-20th-century American Yiddish literature. The poem, meaning "The Dead Do Not Praise God," reflects Glatstein's turn towards elegiac verse mourning the destruction of traditional Jewish life in Eastern Europe.1

In this work, Glatstein expresses a profound sense of loss and a re-evaluation of Jewish tradition in the wake of the Holocaust. He acknowledges the death of the traditional Jewish way of life, famously stating, "We received the Torah at Mount Sinai, / And in Lublin we gave it back". The poem signifies a defiant embrace of Jewish heritage while simultaneously mourning its perceived end.12