Although the Jewish God is a central character in “In the City of Slaughter” and although the poem certainly assumes an impious attitude toward God that some readers may find surprising, Bialik’s readers at the time recognized immediately that an indictment of God was not the main point of the poem. Nor was the poem primarily focused on indicting the perpetrators of the pogrom. Instead, much to the dismay of some readers, the primary target of the poem’s anger seems to be the Jewish victims of the pogrom. Here are excerpts from two well-known writers and intellectuals, each of whom responded to the poem immediately after its publication and particularly to the blame it places on Jews for their own suffering.

The first response is by Zionist literary critic Yosef Klausner and the second is by eminent Hebrew-Yiddish novelist S. Y. Abramovitsh (Mendele Moykher Sforim).

Suggested Activities: Read these two reactions to “In the City of Slaughter.” What did these writers find compelling or troubling about the poem? How did their reactions differ and in what ways did they overlap? Abramovitsh’s anger seems to center on Bialik’s treatment of the pogrom victims. How does Bialik describe the victims and their behavior (and how does he relate to various kinds of victims: men as opposed to women, for instance)? Bialik seems especially concerned with Jewish masculinity, with the action or inaction and weakness of Jewish men. What are we to make of this? How does gender operate in his nightmarish portrayal of the pogrom and its aftermath?