Mendele: Yiddish literature and language ______________________________________________________ Contents of Vol. 5.170 November 16, 1995 1) Got fun Avrom (Bob Rothstein) 2) Crickets (Bob Rothstein) 3) Skandir programen (Adam Whiteman) 4) Yiddish for beginners (Ruvn Millman) 5) Kitke (Joseph Sherman) 6) Name pairings (Paul Pascal) 7) Name pairings (David Sherman) 8) Orthographic conventions (Miriam Isaacs) 9) Chana Mlotek (Bob Rothstein) 1)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 14 Nov 1995 11:08:32 -0500 (EST) From: rar@slavic.umass.edu Subject: Got fun Avrom I would be grateful for a reference to a published version of the Yiddish prayer "Got fun Avrom" (or for the text, if anyone has it handy). (I am not looking for H. Royzenblat's poem of the same name.) Bob Rothstein 2)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 14 Nov 1995 11:03:47 -0500 (EST) From: rar@slavic.umass.edu Subject: Crickets (zoolinguistic query) Any theories (or knowledge) about why _lamedvovnikl_ can mean 'cricket' or 'grasshopper'? Is it that they are usually hidden from sight? Bob Rothstein 3)---------------------------------------------------- Date: 14 Nov 95 19:29:26 EST From: 74031.775@compuserve.com Subject: Skandir programen Ikh volt zeyer gevolt visn tsi emetser tsvishn unz veys fun, oder hot genutst, a skandir program vos arbet mit hebreyish oder yidish. Mit a por yor karik ikh hob gezen a demonstratsiye in Isruel fun a skandir program farn IBM fun a firme vos heyst Ligature. A dank faruys. I would like to know if anyone knows of or has used a hebrew/yiddish scanning program. A few years ago, while on vacation in Israel, I saw a demonstration of a hebrew scanning program by a company called Ligature. Thanks in advance. Adam Whiteman 4)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 14 Nov 1995 17:35:47 -0500 From: ruvn@aol.com Subject: Yiddish for beginners Yugntruf git a shmueskrayz far onheybers! Muntig dem 20stn November 1995, 7:00 in ovnt vet zikh forkumen a spetsyel shmueskrayz nor _far onheybers_. Me vet "shpiln mit numern af Yidish! Kibud vet servirt vern. $3:00, mitglid un studentn umzist! **** Yugntruf presents a "shmueskrayz" (Yiddish conversation group) for beginners! You know more Yiddish than you think! Come and surprise yourself! If you are starting (or thinking of starting) to learn some Yiddish you need to excercise those speaking and understanding skills - this is your chance! Monday, Nov. 20th 1995 at 7:00pm at 535 West 112th Street. Admission only $3 and free for students and members of Yugntruf. This Yiddish conversation group for beginners will center around number games!! Ruvn Millman 5)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 15 Nov 1995 11:05:32 GMT + 2:00 From: 071jos@muse.arts.wits.ac.za Subject: Kitke I have had several queries from students here in South Africa about the derivation and frequency/area of usage of the word 'kitke' which is more often described as a 'khale' elsewhere in the world. There is an entirely mythical belief here that this word is unique to South African Yiddish speakers and their descendants. Quite evidently this is untrue, since the word is listed in Harkavy (there defined as 'a twisted loaf'). However it does not appear in Weinreich. Why not? Is there/was there any difference between a khale (for Sabbath only) and a kitke (a bread more vokhediks?) Any information will be greatly appreciated. Joseph Sherman 6)---------------------------------------------------- Date: 15 Nov 95 00:47:18 EST From: 75332.2735@compuserve.com Subject: Name pairings In a recent posting, Perets Mett proposes that the name pairing "Yekhiel Mikhl" originates with Yekhiel Mikhl of Zlotshev, an early khsidisher rebe [5.166]. I question that. On a genealogical hunt in Yerusholayim a couple of years ago, I came across Yehiel Mikhl Finklshteyn, buried on the Mount of Olives, and registered at the Ashkenazi Khevre Kdishe as "a great rabbi of Slutsk". Slutsk was a bastion of Misnagdim, and prided itself on having "spanked" the Baal Shem Tov when he paid them an "educational visit" (the stone on which this was supposed to have occurred was, legend has it, revered by Slutsker for years). In any case, Encyclopedia Judaica cites at least two Yehiel Mikhls (spelled "Jehiel Michael"!) prior to the Zlotshever (his years are given as c.1731-1786): Yehiel Mikhl Ben Eliezer, who died in 1648, and Yekhiel Mikhl Ben Yehude Leyb he-hosid, 1680-1728. The origins of "Yehiel Mikhl" are still, IMHO, up for grabs. Paul Pascal Toronto 7)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 15 Nov 95 3:06:46 EST From: dave@cai.lsuc.on.ca Subject: Name pairings Along the lines of Yechiel-Mekhl and Itshe-Mayer, described by Perets Mett as named after khsidishe rebbes, there are some very common pairings in the Lubavitch world, named after the Lubavitcher rebbes. Menakhem-Mendl and Yosef-Yitskhok come to mind. David Sherman 8)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 15 Nov 1995 14:52:33 -0500 (EST) From: miriamis@gwis2.circ.gwu.edu Subject: Orthographic conventions: Spelling Yiddish and Nekudot Ikh hob gefinen hersht nisht lang bikhlekh far kinder oyf Yidish, far frime hasidishe kinder in Borough Park un in di bikher zenen pintelekh, azoy vi Hebreyish nisht inter di vokaln azoy vi men nitst, nor inter di konsonantn, vi in Hebreyish. Mit a pot teg shpeter hob ikh bamerkt az in Sholom Aleychem's artikl, gedrikt in "Never Say Die" lekovid Fishmanen, hot der "zeyde" fin inzer literatur oykh azoy geshribn. Ikh farshtay az er hot geshribn Hebeyish, in vil visn ver nokh hot azoy geshribn. Di klayne kinder in di khasidishe shuln, mestame, lernen zikh di tzvay shprakhn tsuzamen in efsher iz zay gringer azoy. Miriam Isaacs 9)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 15 Nov 1995 23:00:19 -0500 (EST) From: rar@slavic.umass.edu Subject: Welcome to Chana Mlotek A heartfelt _borekhabo_ to Chana Mlotek upon her first appearance in Mendele and congratulations to her and her husband Yosl on the 25th anniversary of "Perl fun der yidisher poezye" in the _Forverts_. Bob Rothstein ______________________________________________________ End of Mendele Vol. 5.170