Certyfikat

More about the book

In 1922, David Bendiger, an aspiring writer of eighteen-and-a-half, arrives in Warsaw, homeless and broke. His only connections are Sonya, a young woman from his village, and a Zionist functionary who informs him he qualifies for a certificate to emigrate to Palestine. To secure his journey, David must enter a fictitious marriage with a woman desperate to reach Palestine who will cover all expenses. While awaiting his certificate, he becomes entangled with Sonya, Edusha—a sexually avant-garde Communist Party member who offers him temporary refuge—and Minna, a wealthy woman eager to join her fiancé in Palestine who agrees to "marry" him. Amidst romantic and political upheaval, David also grapples with his literary aspirations and religious heritage, especially when his older brother, a disillusioned writer, and his father, an Orthodox rabbi, arrive in Warsaw. Originally serialized in Yiddish in 1967, this work may have been penned earlier. The translator, Leonard Wolf, describes it as "a very young man's book" and "the most playful of Singer's long fictions," showcasing David's passions for women, philosophical musings, Jewish religious thought, and whimsical fantasies, making it a captivating tale from a master storyteller.