Itche Goldberg (Yiddish: איטשע גאָלדבערג; March 22, 1904 – December 27, 2006) was a Polish-born Yiddish language writer of children's books, poet, librettist, educator, literary critic, camp director, publisher, fundraiser, essayist, literary editor, Yiddish language and culture scholar, and left-wing political activist. He devoted his life to the preservation of the Yiddish language and secular Yiddish culture. Early years Goldberg was born in Opatów, Poland, and moved to Warsaw in 1914, attending Poznanski Teachers Seminary. In 1920 he moved to Toronto, Ontario, Canada, studying philosophy, German and political science at McMaster University. While in Toronto, he taught Yiddish at The Workmen's Circle/Arbeter Ring school; it was in Toronto that his leftist/pro-communist sympathies matured. He moved to New York City in the late 1920s, and continued teaching Yiddish there as well as in Philadelphia, but left the socialist Workmen's Circle schools for the more radical Arbeter Ordn Shuln. The education schism, with Goldberg and many schools leaving the Arbeter Ring to form the Ordn network, was part of an exceedingly vituperative break within the leftist Yiddish community between the communists and socialists (who the communists sometimes called "social fascists"). Yiddishist Passing on the Yiddish tradition to future generations was a mainstay of his life. From 1937 to 1951 he was editor of Yunvarg, a children's magazine. He wrote many children's stories, and his book, Yiddish Stories for Young People, is still being used at Workmen's Circle schools. From 1970 to 1985 he was professor of Yiddish language and literature at Queens College (C.U.N.Y.). He may be currently best known as editor from 1964 to 2004 of the longest running journal of Yiddish literature, Yidishe Kultur. The frequency of publication went down during this period, as Yiddish writers and speakers gradually died off. The final edition was published in 2004. Yet, he clung to the notion that Yiddish can still be a living language. He saw in the Yiddish/Jewish culture of Eastern Europe humanistic and progressive values. He felt that these were important, not religious ritual. He even criticized Nobel Prize–winning author I.B. Singer for not portraying these ideals in his writings. Leftist Goldberg, a secular Jew, had been closely associated with left-wing causes for many years. There were probably several threads to his attraction to a radical cause. His close associates in Toronto were Communists, including his brother-in-law, who shared his revolutionary world view of social justice. He saw the Soviet