Mendele: Yiddish literature and language ______________________________________________________ Contents of Vol. 4.278 January 16, 1995 1) Prakhes=stuffed cabbage? (Shleyme Axelrod) 2) Yiddish literature in English (Daniella HarPaz) 3) Learning Yiddish (Dzjuila Schere) 4) Yiddish in summer (Rokhl Bernard) 5) Yiddish in summer (Jason M. Payne) 6) Yiddish in summer (Daniella HarPaz) 7) Zikh teyln vs tseteyln (Mikh Herzog) 8) A Guide to Hebraic Words in Yiddish (Noyekh Miller) 1)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Sat, 14 Jan 1995 22:39:48 -0500 (EST) From: ptyaxel@ubvms.cc.buffalo.edu Subject: Prakhes=stuffed cabbage? A friend recalls that his mother, who came from a shtetl (Yikhlin? Dzhikhlin?) near Lodz, referred to stuffed cabbage as _prakhes_. Is this term familiar to anyone on Mendele? A sheynem dank, Shleyme Axelrod 2)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Sat, 14 Jan 1995 15:07:11 -0500 (EST) From: harpaz@binah.cc.brandeis.edu Subject: Yiddish literature in English I am teaching Yiddish literature in English translation this semester (as I mentioned in a previous posting) for the first time. I am eager to hear from others who might have already had this experience or who have been students in such a course. I have already prepared much of the course's direction/reading list/syllabus/etc. But nothing is written in stone.... Some questions/anxieties/curiosities of mine before the semester begins: -How much of an introduction should I give the students (approximately 20 undergraduates) about Yiddish language/culture at the very beginning of the course? -How much "secondary" reading should I assign (ie., about the texts/authors, rather than just the lit. itself)? -Should I encourage discussion of the texts moslty as "Yiddish literature" or should I encourage more free associative personal relating to each text just as a text? -To teach theory or not to teach theory? That is the question. -Suggestions of films to show the class? "Hester Street"/"Tevye..."/? -Are there stories/novel(la)s/poems you think I _must_ teach or die? -Anything hideous you would avoid? -Will my students like me? Just kidding! :) I'm interested in any opinions! Daniella HarPaz 3)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 12 Jan 95 10:29:15 -0500 From: scher008@maroon.tc.umn.edu Subject: Learning Yiddish I have just recently joined mendele and would like to solicit opinions on a topic which I hope will be of interest to many of you. I am a graduate of the YIVO summer program unheyber level and I study gender and Jewish radicalism in the US in the cultural studies department at the University of Minnesota. I am writing an essay in which I need to articulate, "while avoiding nostalgia and Jewish exceptionalism," how learning Yiddish can be considered a political act. In addition to any thoughts on the matter, I would also appreciate directions to written sources on this topic and the related one of the current Yiddish "revival." A sheynem dank, Dzjuila Schere 4)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Fri, 13 Jan 1995 14:40:11 -0500 (EST) From: dschrag@acs.bu.edu Subject: Summer Yiddish Program at Columbia University Burton Leiser inquired about summer programs that offer Yiddish language instruction and/or courses about Yiddish culture. I attended one such program last summer at Columbia University, the YIVO Institute sponsored Uriel Weinreich Summer Program in Yiddish Language, Literature and Culture at Columbia University. This program offers a six-week course in Beginning, Intermediate, or Advanced Yiddish Language and Literature instruction with a faculty that includes Dr. Mordkhe Shechter. In addition, workshops are offered in a variety of areas of Yiddish culture, such as folksong, dance (last year with Michael Alpert), film, translation and theatre. There are also occasional lectures in Yiddish and English on a variety of topics and weekend or evening excursions -- we took a road trip to the National Yiddish Book Center in Amherst. I highly recommend the program. I attended because I am a vocalist who sings Yiddish music professionally but always needed someome else to tell me what I was singing about. Now, after six weeks in the Beginner class last summer, I speak, read, and write Yiddish at a high Intermediate level and have continued my studies on my own. For additional Information, contact Jeffrey Salant (Yankel) at YIVO at (212)246-6080 (phone). This year's dates for the program are June 26-August 4, 1995. Rhoda Bernard (Rokhl) 5)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 12 Jan 1995 19:50:43 -0500 (EST) From: jmpayne@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu Subject: Yiddish in summer For Berel Leiser: The summer generally provides several Yiddish programs. There is one at Columbia University, Bar Ilan in Israel, and the Oxford program. There has been peculiar talk about Oxford recently, however. No one is sure whether Oxford will have a program or not. There are also whisperings about a program this summer in Brussels, but I've not heard a lot about this. Jason M. Payne 6)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Sat, 14 Jan 1995 14:47:16 -0500 (EST) From: harpaz@binah.cc.brandeis.edu Subject: Yiddish in summer Burton (Berel) Leiser: You will undoubtedly get information from all corners of Mendele about the Weinreich Yiddish Summer Program (at Columbia University) and about summer study opportunities in Yiddish at the Oxford program. I will therefore not elaborate on them--however, if you would like info./addresses for the above please contact me directly. The National Yiddish Book Center does offer weekend workshops and programs that might interest you. If you are not on their mailing list I recommend it: National Yiddish Book Center/48 Woodbridge St./ South Hadley/MA/01075/Phone:413-535-1303/FAX:413-535-1007. Also, I recently learned of an annual summer program that sounds very interesting. I have been in touch with (and have seen last year's program for) the "Charlotte Yiddish Institute at Wildacres". This is an award winning (1990 National JWB Award for Excellence in Judaic Programming) 5 day program sponsored by tge Jewish Community Center of Charlotte, NC. The faculty on last year's program included: Ruth Barlas, Zalman Mlotek, and Shoshana Ron. "The Charlotte Yiddish Institute is open to men and women dedicated to enhancing their knowledge and use of the Yiddish language and culture in a stimulating heymish environment." A graduate student with whom I have worked here at Brandeis attended the Institute last year and had good things to say about it! I have had only pleasant interactions/correspondence with the Institute's representatives. For info.: Beila Pransky, Coordinator/ Charlotte Yiddish Institute/The Jewish Community Center of Charlotte/ 5007 Providence Rd./Charlotte/NC/28226/Phone:704-366-5564. Daniella HarPaz 7)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Sun, 15 Jan 95 17:54 EST From: zogur@cuvmb.columbia.edu Subject: Zikh teyln vs tseteyln Perhaps the distinction to be preserved is between _(di shutfim) teyln zikh mitn revakh_ as against _tseteyln dem revakh (tsvishn di shutfim)_ Mikhl Herzog 8)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Sun, 15 Jan 1995 13:27:37 +0500 From: nmiller@mail.trincoll.edu Subject: A Guide to Hebraic Words in Yiddish A month or so back I received a wonderful matone from Steve Jacobson of the University of Alaska, a copy of his _A Guide to the More Common Hebraic Words in Yiddish_ (3rd ed.). Steve asked me not to mention it until he got back from Tahiti. Loynt zikh take voynen in Alaska: ven me ken eyns-tsvey-dray aribershpringen kayn Bali.. The guide is a compilation from various sources of "the words and phrases from Aramaic, Greek and other languages which are used in the Talmud and other texts from the same period". It comes in two sections. The first presents words as they are traditionally spelled, then phonetically respelled, and finally translated into English. The second section (immensely useful for those with weak or no Hebrew) reverses the order of things and arranges words first by their phonetic spelling, followed by the traditional spelling and an English translation. Is it useful? Take an example from today's Mendele. Mikhl writes about _revakh_ and doesn't define it. You turn to Harkavy or Weinreich for a definition but, since it's a hebraic word, the spelling is non-phonetic and you'll have a hell of a time finding it. No longer! Since Steve is not one to toot his own horn (er barimt zikh nisht) I have volunteered to serve as press agent. The book is a gem. It belongs on every Mendelnik's desk. The price, which includes postage, is $12 for US residents and $17 for others. The address is: Steven A. Jacobson P.O. Box 82849 Fairbanks, AL 99708 U.S.A. Addendum: the Guide is self-published and is the only worthwhile example of desktop publishing I've ever seen. (That was yesteryear's hype. Today it's "information" as in Mosaic and Netscape and the rest of that tomfoolery. Dear friends, if you have a civilized bathroom in your house you have more available and useful information at your fingertips than you'll _ever_ get from WWW. Ober nisht dos bin ikh oysn.) Steve's book should be available in bookstores everywhere and toward that end deserves to be published by a commercial or academic press. Noyekh Miller ______________________________________________________ End of Mendele Vol. 4.278 Mendele has 2 rules: 1. 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