Gedalia Seligman's Sons 

(1851-ca. 1897)

This article, "Theater in the City," by Chatzkel Seligman, appeared in HaYom in 1887.

“Recently, Hebrew players came to our city to present a play in the spoken Jewish tongue. They presented several heartwarming plays. Every actor and actress deserved adulation, but two were extraordinary: H. Tanzman (also the manager) and H. Berlman. Their use of dialect in their songs and the emotions they expressed were wonderful ; the audience was so taken it appeared as real life, and not a play. Last Thursday they presented a great play, “The Doctor Al Masada.” The theater was full, and many  were turned back because there were no more tickets."

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either of Gedalia Seligman’s sons lived a long life. Israel (1851- ca. 1891) died of tuberculosis. His wife Rifka bore two daughters, Chana (1868-?) and Leika (1870-?), and two sons, Abraham (1883-1963) and Nathan (1880-1954). When Israel died, she left them with their grandfather. They ultimately emigrated to the U.S.

Son Chatzkel, an educated man, was hired as a live-in teacher for children of the well-to-do. He died at 43, between 1891, when his last child was born, and 1897, a year before the birth of his wife Michla Reisel's first child by her second marriage to Zusia Sorin (1852-1928). She eventually joined her children in Massachusetts.

Chatzkel wrote for several Jewish publications. One, Yudishes Folksblatt, was the first modern European periodical published in Yiddish. He also covered local affairs for HaMelitz, the first Hebrew-language paper in Russia, an organ of the progressive, or haskalah, movement and for HaYom, Russia's first Hebrew daily.

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