Dr. Israel Tsinberg writes about him:
"For the half-assimilated, in the Jewish environment the Jews still prayed, those who had lived in the Russian Petersburg, Rivesman was actually a treasure, the embodiment of popularity, from good-natured humor and merriment, a living reservoir of juicy Vilna Yiddish, from popular jokes, puns, grammatical combinations, and we had laughed from jokes from his false Kirov parables, songs, declamations, theater scenes and humorousness. He had passionate love for the scene, the old folks scenes with the precarious repertoire, and the old-fashioned manner of capturing, knew his audience, who paid him with love and recognition, and a large audience had accompanied him to his eternity."
This week, at Hanukkah time, we at CSS, celebrate his Yiddish song, Oy Khanike, Oy Khanike or as we know it, Oh Chanukah, Oh Chanukah. This song has reached such popularity over the generations that it now innocently falls into the “folk” tradition, with no recollection of Mordkhe Riveson. It is a joyous song, also translated into English, Hebrew and other vernaculars that paints a picture of Jews dancing the horah, playing with dreidels, eating steaming hot latkes, lighting the Hanukkah candles and singing around the menorah. It was first published in Susman Kiselgof’s 1912 songbook, Lider Zamibukh.
