Mendele: Yiddish literature and language ______________________________________________________ Contents of Vol. 6.225 February 12, 1997 1) Mezinke (Esther Goffstein) 2) Mezinke (Susan Kray) 3) Dovid Bergelson (Marjorie Schonhaut Hirshan) 4) Hebreyizmen in der yidisher shprakh (Al Grand) 5) Yiddish books on tape (Henny Lewin) 1)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 11 Feb 1997 17:41:49 -0500 (EST) From: esterel@aol.com Subject: "Di Mezinke Oysgegebn" For Les Train and Fay Lipshitz and for anyone else who is interested: Di Mezinke Oysgegebn was written [text and music], by M. M. Warshawsky Hekher! Beser1 Di rod, di rod makh greser! Groys hot unz Got gemakht, Glik hot er mir gebrakht, Huliet kinder a gantse nacht! Di mezine oysgegebn! [2] Shtarker! freylekh, Du di malke, ikh der meylakh! Oy, oy, ikh aleyn, Hob mit mayne oygn gezen Vi Got hot mikh matsliekh geven-- Di mezinke oysgegebn! [2] Itsik! shpitsik! Vos shvaygstu mitn shmitsik? Oyf di klezmer gib a geshrey: Tsi shpiln zey, tsi shlofn zey? Tserays di strunes ale oyf tsvey!-- Di mezinke oysgegebn! [2] Ayzik! mazik! Di bobe geyt a kozik. Kayn eyn hore, zet nor zet, Vi zi tupet, vi zi tret. Oy a simkhe, oy a freyd-- Di mezinke oysgegebn! Motl! Shimen! Di oreme layt zaynen gekimen Shtelt far zey dem shensten tish, Tayere vaynen, tayere fish, Oy , mayn tokhter, gib mir a kush-- Di mezinke oysgegebn! [[2] Esther Goffstein 2)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 12 Feb 1997 07:32:38 -0500 (EST) From: abzu@aol.com Subject: die mezinke I seem to recall a "mezinke oysgegebn" song (about marrying off the youngest daughter) from a Theodore Bikel album of Yiddish songs years ago (in the days of vinyl records, maybe the 1960s or 1970s?) Hope this helps. Susan Kray 3)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 12 Feb 1997 11:19:19 -0500 (EST) From: shirshan@aol.com Subject: Tsugreytn a yerushe: Dovid Bergelson Once again we should all sing out, "A blessing on your head, mazl tov, mazl tov..." to our shames. This time it is for his posting 6.220. "Yidn, koyft bikher!" he beseeches. "...Asch, Bergelson and Grade are gone," he continues. The very good news is that Bergelson is alive and well under the talented care of our Mendelnik, Golda Werman, who has a sparkling new translation_The Stories of David Bergelson:Yiddish Short Fiction from the Russian_ (Syracuse University Press 1600 Jamesville Ave, Syracuse, NY 13244-5160. att:Amy Rashap). This seems an excellent choice ontzuheybn tsugreytn oder tsu farbesern a yerushe! Our Golda (definitive translator of Anski's Dybbuk for Schocken Press, 1992) is a scholar to reckon with of 17th century English literature with many learned articles and a recent book on Milton (Milton and Midrash, Catholic University Press, 1995). Holocaust events switched her focus to Yiddish prose of the 19th and 20th centuries. Because the survivors of Treblinka gave their testimony in such elegant and moving Yiddish during the trial of Demanjiuk, she was inspired to study Yiddish, a language she had not taken seriously and had never read. The witnesses described a rich, vibrant Jewish world that was no more. Herein was born her decision to help preserve the remnant of that lost world, the Yiddish books, to snatch them out of the graveyard by translating them into English. She was fascinated and deeply touched by the surprisingly modern stories of Peretz, Sholem Aleichem, the 2 Singers... and her translations were all published in American journals to the applause of their readers. Thinking The Dybbuk had left her breathless, she discovered David Bergelson, whom she names as more sophisticated, more innovative, more modern in outlook than any of the Yiddish writers she studied. Drawn to his elegiac prose style and compelling rhythms (not easily rendered into English), he became her lofty challenge and turned into a project of love. Bergelson wrote for a new time, after the decline of the shtetl and its literature, of the problems of modern society with its lack of commitment to common goals and common values. He captures the dreariness of the uncommitted life and the suffering of alienated, lonely people everywhere. His treatment of women is particularly impressive in their transition from a protected life with little freedom of choice to the new life of freedom but increased tension. His portraits of women will please the most ideological feminist. The book includes Golda's wonderful translations of two short stories and a novella; a long introduction that surveys the tragic history of Yiddish and Yiddish writers under Stalin; and a preface by Aharon Appelfeld. Bergelson's biography is fascinating, scanning the Stalin period. On August 8, 1952, his birthday, he was shot along with most other Yiddish writers who had had no trial. In Golda's sensitive, compassionate hands, Bergelson rises like the phoenix, and will live forever - if you buy the book! Marjorie Schonhaut Hirshan Boynton Beach, Florida 4)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 11 Feb 1997 16:36:39 -0500 (EST) From: savoyid@aol.com Subject: Hebreyizmen in der yidisher shprakh I'm responding to Bess Katz's inquiry regarding a volume entitled "Hebreyizmen in der yidisher shprakh" by Yisroel Steinberg published in Poland in 1949. I own a 1957 volume entitled _Hantbukh fun hebreyizmen in der yidisher shprakh_ by Nakhman Krupin. It was published in Buenos Aires, Argentina. I don't know if Krupin's book has any connection with the similarly titled book by Steinberg. Copies of the Krupin book can be purchased from Manuel Krupin, 11431 Clover Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90066-1331, Tel. (310) 391-9659. Manny Krupin is selling the book for $13.00 plus $1.24 postage ((total: $14.24). The books are in mint condition and very clearly printed. Al Grand 5)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 12 Feb 1997 14:48:28 -0400EDT From: hlewin@polyglot.uvm.edu Subject: Yiddish books on tape Yankel Sacks asked about Yiddish books on tape. Some are available from the National Yiddish Book Center 1-800-535-3595. Henny Lewin ______________________________________________________ End of Mendele Vol. 6.225