Idiots First by Bernard Malamud

gut yontif.

Well, that was depressing. With a title like Idiots First, you might think this short-story might be some  kind of dark comedy or satire, but nope. Far from it. Malamud drags the reader straight into a heartbreaking tale about a poor, dying father named Mendel, whose only mission is to secure a train ticket to California for his mentally challenged son so he can live with a wealthy uncle. Whether the uncle has even agreed to this arrangement is beside the point; Mendel is out of time, out of resources, and out of options. The urgency in his quest is palpable. Malamud captures that frantic, last-chance energy so effectively that you feel the weight on every one of Mendel’s steps as the father and son venture into the cold, heartless city. 

What makes the story even more sad is the way the Jewish community responds to him. Instead of warmth or solidarity, he’s met with a harshness that borders on cruelty. One scene in particular is downright humiliating: Mendel shows up at the home of a wealthy Jewish man, begging for help, and is looked down upon as worthless, a reflection of failure. He is promptly thrown out and if that’s not bad enough, the synagogue (supposedly a spiritual refuge) offers only partial relief. The rabbi himself shows compassion by giving Mendel his elegant coat to sell, but his cantankerous wife feels very differently. 

This is where Malamud’s recurring themes of antisemitism and Jewish self-hatred surface. The prejudice in the story doesn’t just come from outside forces. It festers within the community itself. Characters turn away from Mendel out of shame, fear, or a desire to distance themselves from the “undesirable” image of the poor, desperate Jew. Malamud isn’t just depicting discrimination; he’s showing how internalized antisemitism corrodes empathy and fractures communal identity. It’s painful, but that’s also what makes the story so powerful.

And then we have Ginzburg. Who is this man? A train-ticket collector with uncanny timing? A hallucination born from Mendel’s failing body? Or, as the story suggests, the Angel of Death himself? Malamud leaves it deliberately ambiguous, brushing the story with a hint of magical realism. But the ending feels clear enough: once Mendel succeeds in getting his son on that train (fulfilling the only task that matters), Ginzburg comes to collect what’s left of him.

Bleak and tragic, Idiots First is another example of how Malamud takes a simple premise and transforms it into something haunting.

You can read this story HERE.