Mendele: Yiddish literature and language ______________________________________________________ Contents of Vol. 4.137 October 14, 1994 1) Introduction (Moish Mlotek) 2) Introduction (Schmuel Levine) 3) "Simkhes toyre" Song (Michael Alpert) 4) Things are moving along at YIVO (Zachary Baker) 1)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 12 Oct 1994 15:34:20 GMT From: moish.mlotek@weiser.com Subject: Introduction Hello, my name is Moish Mlotek and I am a new subscriber on this network. I would love to receive Mendele messages so that I can keep up with the Yiddish electronic world. If anyone wants to reach me or Zalemen, my brother, Chane, my mother or Yosl my father please leave a message and I will get the messages to them. I look forward to hearing from you. Moish Mlotek City People BBS/Workmen's Circle 212/255-6656 New York City [Mendele adds this last line so that a New York-based Mendelnik might be able to perform a mitsve and advise Moishe Mlotek and Stephen Dowling, both of the Arbeter Ring and both of whom use weiser.com, to find a more reliable carrier. As it stands, the Internet does not recognize their addresses.] 2)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 13 Oct 1994 18:52:36 -0600 (CST) From: schmuel@utxvms.cc.utexas.edu Subject: Introduction My name is Glenn Levine. I've been a subscriber to Mendele for a few months now, but have been hesitant about introducing myself because I wasn't quite sure if I was going to remain a subscriber. You see, as a devoted Yiddishist and a serious linguist, I am disconcerted and even saddened by the pointless, and I'm afraid to say, petty debate going on in Mendele over "romanization" etc. I really don't believe it matters how you transcribe Yiddish, as long as the message comes across. The important thing is that we DO Yiddish, that we don't give it up. I hope I haven't offended those involved in the ongoing debate over transcription: it's just that I feel there are so many substantive issues of Yiddish literature, culture and linguistics that are more worthwhile, and in the long run, more fruitful. I am a graduate student in the Department of Germanic Languages in Austin, Texas. I am currently working on dissertation research with Dr. Robert King and Dr. Itzik Gottesman. I'm investigating the Yiddish spoken by the first generation US-born children of Yiddish-speaking immigrants. Anyone who knows Yiddish speakers in the central Texas area, whether American-born or not, should please let me know, as I am always on the lookout for new people I can interview for my study! I suppose by the presence of my introduction here you can see that I've decided not to quit Mendele, though I'm sure the discussion of transcription will drag on. I find Mendele a valuable source of information; being in a place like Texas it's nice to know one isn't alone. In closing I will throw out a question that has been occupying my mind for some time: What is the nature of the knowledge of Yiddish of a person who learned it from her or his parents as a child, but then ceased using it at about school age. 60 or 70 years have now gone by, little thought has even been given to Yiddish over the years, yet when asked to produce sentences in Yiddish, most can do it relatively easily. What is the nature of this knowledge, and to what extent can this person be said to 'know' Yiddish. Glenn (Schmuel) Levine 3)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 12 Oct 1994 15:51:40 -0400 From: Meyshke@aol.com Subject: "Simkhes toyre" Song For Andrew Cassel: I'm not sure whether the actual "Simkhes toyre" song you mention is published anywhere (this sounds like a job for "the Bobs" - Freedman and/or Rothstein), but for an interesting variant, check out "Adir Eloiheinu" in Chaim Kotylansky's "Folks-gezangen" (YKUF, Los Angeles, 1944), an excellent small collection of East European Jewish songs, including quite a few of Hasidic provenance (likely the case with the one you mention as well). Interestingly, the song is actually associated with the holiday of Shvues rather than Simkhes Toyre, since Shvues also commemorates the giving of the Ten Commandments at Mt Sinai and is sometimes known as "Simkhes toyre habo" (actually ' habo'o ' in loshn keydesh, for the mefunokim among us). Cantor Sam Weiss of Baltimore recently pointed out to me that these "Adir.... , Borukh.... Godoyl..." songs associated with Shvues are - as may be obvious to many - derived from (or at least follow the same formula as) the Peysakh song "Adir hu," found in the Haggadah. As for the genre of the song, it's what is known in the (Jewish) ethnomusicology biz as a "para-liturgical song," i.e. a song that has a religious theme but is not part of the actual liturgy. Such songs are most frequently heard outside the context of synagogal worship, e.g. the zmires for the Shabes table at home or for shaleshudes, or the (by no means always wordless) nigunim sung at a Rebe's tish or other Hasidic gathering. Much of the Hasidic repertoire is thus considered para- liturgical. Hope this sheds at least some light, Michael Alpert 4)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 12 Oct 94 18:14:11 PDT From: bm.yib@rlg.stanford.edu Subject: Things are moving along at YIVO I thought this might be a good juncture to update you all regarding YIVO's move. By and large, things are going smoothly, and I now see the light at the end of the tunnel. Still, it will be early- mid-November before we can set up shop and open to the public. Because much of our collections will be in storage (albeit on shelves, in a building not too far from the interim office), there will be some restrictions on access. For example, if an item is available in microform the original will not be paged. There will be limits to the number of other items that will be paged, in cases when they are housed in storage (this holds true for the entire periodicals collection and for a couple of special collections). Interlibrary loans will be restricted to microforms and photocopies. These are the sort of housekeeping issues that we'll be dealing with for the next couple of years, until we move again. It now looks quite probable that YIVO will be joined at 15 West 16th Street by the American Jewish Historical Society, the Leo Baeck Institute, and the Yeshiva University Museum. The synergy could be quite exciting. Regarding the YIVO/LBI alliance, I hope that it will result in a combination of Germanic efficiency and Eastern European neshome, rather than the other way around. (That is "off-the-record.") The things we're finding in crevices and nooks! Last week, in a locked closet that hadn't been opened in years I found a parchment scroll containing a story by Joseph Opatoshu, "Der mishpet," in megillah-style calligraphy, with modernistic illustrations by V. Vayntroyb. I was familiar with the published version of that story -- including the Vayntroyb illustrations -- but to come across the original was quite an experience. My long-time co-worker Dina Abramowicz remembered the scroll, though she hadn't laid eyes on it in decades, and told me that it belonged (logically enough) to YIVO's Opatoshu Collection, donated after the author's death. My counterpart in the YIVO Archives, Marek Web, then immediately claimed the scroll on the grounds that being an original artwork it belonged in his department (the Archives include all manuscripts and artworks), and not mine. It was painful, but I parted with it only a few days after having rediscovered it. Zachary Baker, YIVO Library ______________________________________________________ End of Mendele Vol. 4.137 Mendele has 2 rules: 1. Provide a meaningful Subject: line 2. Sign your article (full name please) A Table of Contents is now available via anonymous ftp, along with weekly updates. 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