Mendele: Yiddish literature and language
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Contents of Vol. 5.178
November 30, 1995

1) Yidish nokhalts in _Times_ (Ruvn Millman)
2) Yiddish and Judendeutsch (Jonathan Bellman)
3) Havdola/Hanukah simkhe (Marcia Gruss Levinsohn)
4) Der tunkeler [2] (Peter Kluehs)
5) Belz or Belts (David Herskovic)

1)----------------------------------------------------
Date: Sat, 25 Nov 1995 02:15:54 -0500
From: ruvn@aol.com
Subject: Yidish nokhalts in _Times_

Tayere Mendele-leyners!

Ir gedenkt mistome der artikl (Mendele 5.165) vos me hot geshribn mit
tsvey vokhn tsurik inem zuntikn _New York Times_ vegn der konferents "Di
Froyen: Froyen un Yidish."  Ikh shik aykh a kopye fun a briv vos ikh'ob
geshikt in redaktsye (gedrukt in _N.Y.T._ dem 19stn Nov.).  Ikh vil aykh
shtark beytn shraybn briv...vos mer me hert vegn der shprakh vos mer
interes shaft es vos beser.

Der artikl vos iz dershinen in _Times_ (5/XI/95) iz geven azoy
shpilevdik, azoy narish, azoy gornishtik un trivial mikhoyekh Yidish.
Tsi mir, libhobers fun der shprakh, derlozn shraybn azelekhe zakhn aza
tsaytung (a tsaytung geleyent iber der gantser land) zenen mir aleyn
shuldik ven undzere Amerikaner landslayt zogn vos Yidish iz a komish
shprakh - a shprakh in dem vos me vitslt zikh nor.

********baygeleyte briv gedrukt in NYT 19/XI/95*******

"Their Game Is Basketball, Their Playbook's in Yiddish"

To the Editor:

The use of a button to illustrate the article concerning a conference
about women and Yiddish (Yiddish: the Seminar," Nov. 5) leaves the
impression that the button was the seminar's logo.  Actually the button -
which bears the message "Speak to me in Yiddish" - is produced and sold
by Yugntruf/Youth for Yiddish, an international organization of young
Yiddish speakers.

The basketball game mentioned in the article is a Yugntruf activity.
Anyone interested in joining us for a merciless game in Yiddish will find
us Wednesday mornings at 8 o'clock in Tompkins Square Park.

Roland Millman
Brooklyn Heights

**************sof baygeleygte briv************

Ruvn Millman

2)----------------------------------------------------
Date: Sun, 26 Nov 1995 12:49:23 -0700 (MST)
From: jdbellm@bentley.univnorthco.edu
Subject: Yiddish and Judendeutsch

Forgive this comment from a *real* ignoramus.  As far as I can tell,
there was a substantial group of people who sought to distinguish between
the various Yiddishes of Eastern Europe and the Western dialect of
Yiddish, which became known as Judendeutsch.  For example, the article
for "dialect" in the *New Standard Jewish Encyclopedia* takes great pains
to delineate two classes of Jewish dialects, home-grown and the sort Jews
brought with them from one place to another.  Needless to say, Yiddish
and Judendeutsch are thus able to be listed separately, one in each
category.

This distinction enabled those (Western European Jews and non-Jews alike)
profoundly uncomfortable with the accents, poverty, mores, religiosity,
Communist-atheism, or what-have-you of *Ostjuden* to make virtually a
different species of them, and utterly different languages of two highly
similar dialects of Judeo-German.  There is a substantial Yiddish strain
of satire of such up-gebuttoned (so to speak) German Jews; one hilarious
example being something I saw in the *Forverts* in the late 1980s, a
satirical supposed-speech by Bruno Bettleheim.  (This followed a supposed
song by Broos Springshteyn, which had a chorus of "Lomir redn Yiddish;
Die Kinder zoln nit fershteyn.")  "Bettleheim"'s speech began with
something very close to: "Meyn Damen unt Herren: van ikh gedenk meyn
mutti unt putti..."

Incidentally, let me thank Mendele: it enables me to at least maintain my
kindishe bukh-gelernt Yiddish, practice it with the Yiddish posts, and
see what the Yiddish-minded are thinking about.  I wish I had the
background, knowledge, and ability to participate on the level that some
of you do (recent posts dealing with words in different dialects of
Yiddish I found to be dizzyingly virtuosic), but I'm enjoying what I can.

Jonathan Bellman

3)----------------------------------------------------
Date: Sun, 26 Nov 1995 17:53:18 -0500 (EST)
From: mashinke@wam.umd.edu
Subject: Havdola/Hanukah simkhe

If you are in the DCmetro area please call to join us on Saturday
evening, December 9, 5:30pm, in the Glenmont area of Silver Spring,
Maryland. Mishpokhe Yiddish, under the auspices of Yiddish of Greater
Washington and the Jewish Educational Workshop, will combine their annual
celebrations of Havdola and Hanukah.  The pot-luck light dairy supper
will include Yiddish Shabos and Hanukah songs, games, crafts and Israeli
dancing.  All former and prospective Mishpokhe Yiddish participants are
invited to RSVP to Zeyde Meyshe/Bobe Marcia at 301-933-3520 or email
<mashinke@wam.umd.edu>.

Activities are designed for children aged 3-6 and their families are
invited to participate.

Zayt zshe gezunt un shtark un a gut yom tov tsu ale,

Marcia Gruss Levinsohn

4)----------------------------------------------------
Date: 27 Nov 1995 20:59:00 +0200
From: pete@pko.rhein-main.de
Subject: Der tunkeler [2]

hemshekh fun *literatn mit bekies* in mendele vol. 5.175.

nokh dem artikl bavayzt zikh an artikl fun leo finkelshteyn in di
literarishe *bezem-bleter* oyf der teme "di reale rukhnyes un di
metafizik fun hinerplet". tsvishn andern shraybt er: "gevis, dos artikl
fun kolege d"r zshitlovski tsvingt oykh tsu fartrakhtn zikh iber dem
groysn problematishn problem fun der eybiker vayberisher vayblekhkeyt
fun der vayb. zelbstfarshtendlekh, az di tsitate, vos er brengt fun dem
englishn denker, dem genialn *shintse*, az "di froy iz der tsimes fun der
natur", hot getrofn in same tsenter fun pintl. un merkvirdik iz, beshas
ikh hob geleyent di geniale verk fun dem groysn un mayn balibtn un
gaystik farvandetn *shintse*, hob ikh oykh zikh opgeshtelt oyf der
doziker frase, velkhe iz far mir, vi far fil undzere fun zayne talmidim
un denkendike mentshn, poshet an antplekung. yo, "di froy iz der tsimes
fun der natur". aza lozung hot gekent geboyrn vern in dem moyekh fun an
englender, a ratsionalist, pozitivist un filatelist, vi es iz geven der
englender *shintse*... un hagam es teylt undz op gantse 7 yorhunderter
fun zayn shafung-period, dokh blaybt zayn yede fraze frish un yung un
genug aktuel far ale tsaytn un doyres. yo, "di froy iz der tsimes fun der
natur".

vayterdiker hemshekh folgt!

peter kluehs
wehrheim, germany

5)----------------------------------------------------
Date: 29 Nov 95 16:15:41 EST
From: 100114.750@compuserve.com
Subject: Belz or Belts

Is the title of the song "Belz, mayn shteytele Belz" 'Belz' or 'Belts'?

I have heard from Belzer khsidim that the song was composed by one of
theirs who left the fold and the title is Belz. But an aunt of mine tells
me it should be Belts after a town in Rumania that was the Broadway of
Yiddish Theatre in that region.

The few cassette sleeve covers I have seen have it as Belz.

David Herskovic

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End of Mendele Vol. 5.178