Mendele: Yiddish literature and language ______________________________________________________ Contents of Vol. 6.215 February 3, 1997 1) yidishe kompyuter-terminologye (sholem berger) 2) Sholem-Aleykhem's Mazepevke (Louis Fridhandler) 3) Sources of humor? (Louis Fridhandler) 1)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Sun, 02 Feb 1997 00:53:03 +0000 From: bergez01@mchip00.med.nyu.edu Subject: yidishe kompyuter-terminologye a groysn dank frieda cielakn farn vider untershtreykhn di neytikayt fun a yidisher kompyuter-terminologie [6.14]. me darf ober dermonen, az s'rov dermonte verter shtamen original nisht fun "mendele"-shmuesn, nor fun an artikl in zhurnal "yugntruf" vos datirt tsurik tsu melekh sobietskis tsaytn (1988). s'hot geheysn "afn ekran" un iz ongeshribn gevorn durkh odem vaytman. ist nem ikh zikh tsu di verter. ikh bet baym "mendele"-oylem mekhile, vos di reshime vet zayn aza megile. az ir zayt nisht farinteresirt, leyent nisht vayter un kvetsht nisht (vi ellen prince hot gezogt af an andern fal). "computer": poshet "kompyuter." azoy zogt men shoyn. tsu vos der "mikro"? "data-base": efsher iz beser "datn-banke"? FAX a vort vos vert shoyn oysgenist (khuts "faks" aleyn) iz "telekopirke," afn model fun "shraybmashinke," "entferke," "fluorestsirke," un andere. "diskette" dos englishe vort iz shoyn an internatsionalizm, vi ikh meyn. derfar volt "disket" oykh geven a pasike breyre. "font" "der shrift," "di kase" zaynen shoyn alte verter far dem. naye darf me nisht oystrakhtn. "- editor far vos nisht "shriftprogram," prost un poshet? program" "internet" iz shoyn an internatsionalizm oykh. af ivrit, af shpanish, af frantseyzish, af rusish zogt men "internet." s'rov mentshn vos ikh ken nistn dos vort "internet" oykh. "mouse pad" iz gikher "moyzveg", mit a zayen. nor a tikn-toes. "word process" khotsh der "bal-shprakhgefil" mordkhe shekhter nitst zikh shoyn oys mitn oystrakhtenish "vortirn," iz mayn prefernts "(elektronish) onshraybn," un far "w.p.-program," "shraybprogram." agev bamerk ikh nokh a kleyntshikn toes: "veb-krikher" hot keyn shaykhes nisht tsu "word-processing program." ayer sholem berger 2)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Sun, 2 Feb 1997 15:04:21 -0500 (EST) From: lfridhan@aol.com Subject: Sholem-Aleykhem's Mazepevke and Byron's Mazeppa In my article _Place Names and Their Meaning in Sholem-Aleykhem's Work [in "The Three Great Classic Writers of Modern Yiddish Literature: Sholem-Aleykhem," eds. Zuckerman and Herbst, Joseph Simon, Pangloss Press, 1994, p.30], I discussed Mazepevke. He created it no later than 1888. It is an awful place befitting its association with Mazepa, the Cossack hetman who succeeded the infamous Khmielnitski. Incidentally, wretched Mazepevke is the original home town of Menakhem-Mendl, not beloved Kasrilevke, as in the revised form now available. I did not then mention Lord Byron's poem, Mazeppa, because a quick reading made it clear that Byron's subject was somebody else. However, there may still be some untapped connection. Sholem-Aleykhem read Byron (probably in Russian translation). That was revealed in at least one place: in an interview in the New York Times published on Oct. 22, 1906, page 7 where he is quoted saying that his favorite English writers were Shakespeare, Byron, Kipling and Mark Twain. Could it be that his imagination was triggered by noting Byron's subject? Could anyone in this khevre, expert in English literature, throw light on whom Byron's Mazeppa was modeled? Was it simply Byron's imagination? Perhaps his Mazeppa was a relative of the successor to Khmielnitski? I would guess that Sholem-Aleykhem obtained much inspiration for his own prolific output from his wide reading. One hint must have led to many associations with his current experience and his ideas flowed profusely. Louis Fridhandler 3)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Sun, 2 Feb 1997 15:06:09 -0500 (EST) From: lfridhan@aol.com Subject: Sources of humor? Oy vey! It's true. Looking at the sources of humor is no laughing matter. The struggle to achieve mastery over life's occasional blows is fought in many different ways. Humor is a difficult but attractive and often effective choice. A letter from 29-year-old Sholem Aleichem to Shimen Dubnov illustrates. While humor is, at its source, self-directed, this example takes off from a dreadful experience of another Russian Jew. Since almost all Russian Jews were in the same boat, I suggest it is also self-directed. The letter is an invitation to Dubnov to come for a visit. To reinforce the invitation, he praises the charm of his two children. First, he relates a rather frightening interruption in the life of Jacob Dineson, but Sholem Aleichem puts a mildly humorous, ironic spin on it (surely not meant to rub salt into Dineson's wounded dignity). Reaction to the kind of danger that Russian Jews constantly faced then must have been potentially overwhelming, consuming, but gentle humor (often in the form of irony) aided maintenance of perspective and mastery over crippling anxiety. Is it any wonder, Sholem Aleichem was so beloved? Excerpt of letter to Dubnow, orignially in Russian, translated into Yiddish by Dubnov, translated into English by me. Aug 7, '88 ...To show even more clearly that you _must_ stay at my place, I relate a sad tale of what befell J. Dineson, whom you know. This fine, likable man was in Podol [a district in Kiev where Jews were allowed to live]. Just in time for midnight prayers (while happily reading my "Bouquet," by the way), "they" thumped on his door... Well, after this and that, "they" suggested he read my "prose stanzas" some other time. Without ceremony "they" placed him in some sort of dungeon for about ten hours. That was just two weeks ago. He [Dineson] swore never to read my works again, but also never to be in Podol again. Now is it not clear that you must stay with me? About being crowded, there's no point in discussing it. My wife plans to travel to Yalta in September, and a visit from you would please me very much. I've forgotten to let you know that at my place there live two little angels in the form of two little girls with whom you will soon fall in love, exactly as Dineson did. He also made Mr. Frischmann [David Frischmann] also fall from afar (all the way from Warsaw). (From _Fun Zhargon tsu Yidish_, by S. Dubnov, Vilna: Kletskin, 1929, p.66.) The book by Dubnov provides insight into this historian's assessment of the historical background and current status of Yiddish in 1929. Louis Fridhandler ______________________________________________________ End of Mendele Vol. 6.215