Mendele: Yiddish literature and language ______________________________________________________ Contents of Vol. 7.008 May 23, 1997 1) "Es vi a porets" (Zellig Bach) 2) Yiddish "Khad-gadyo" (Bob Rothstein) 3) "Papirosn" (Bob Rothstein) 4) Going to a monastery (Michael Shimshoni) 5) The Forward (Marjorie Schonhaut Hirshan) 6) A very important announcement (Noyekh Miller) 7) Mendele gets a web page (Noyekh Miller) 1)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 22 May 1997 19:43:30 -0400 (EDT) From: zellig@aol.com Subject: "Es vi a porets" Ruth Kleinman Etkin (7.004,3) remembers from her childhood that after the last words of the benediction before sitting down to a meal -- "hamoytsi lekhem min haarets" -- her folks would add the words: "es vi a porets" [eat like a gentile landowner]. She wonders whether these Yiddish words were ever included at the end of the brokhe. The answer is no. They were never included in the canon of this benediction, and were certainly never meant to be included. One minor but significant pronunciation correction: In those days in Poland the Hebrew words of the brokhe were spoken the Ashkenazic way and not in modern sephardic Hebrew. The last word therefore sounded not ha'Arets, as she transcribes it in her post, but _ha'Orerts_, with a komets-alef. The rhyming factor of _ha'Orets_ and _pOrets_ was clearly predominant in this family tradition, and not the riches of the porets. Otherwise, why not say "es vi Rotshild," universally familiar among Jews for his legendary riches? But Rotshild lived far, far away, in a different land, while a porets could occasionally be seen in shtetl flaunting his wealth in a specially designed coach, pulled by three muscular, well-groomed horses, with a driver and a footman to boot. So the wealth of the porets was, so to speak, a visible one, and more real than Rotshild's countless gold _dukatn_ that one could only talk or imagine about... Thus the ready rhyme and reality gained the primacy over dreaming... However, the image of the porets among Jews was generally, by an unspoken consensus, one who was habitually given to overindulgence in food and drink. Therefore, "es vi a porets" certainly did not mean in a literal sense but rather: Relax, take your time, chew well, enjoy! I gather it was a light-hearted within-family joke, causing smiles all around, and a relaxed atmosphere. A happy household! Zellig Bach Lakehurst, NJ 2)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 22 May 1997 21:51:42 -0400 (EDT) From: rar@slavic.umass.edu Subject: Yiddish "Khad-gadyo" (was "Yiddish chad-gadya") A belated bibliographical footnote to Itzkhok-Dovid Goldfein's inquiry in 6.289. Noyekh Prilutski's _Yidishe folkslider, ershter band_ (Warsaw: Bikher-far-ale, 1911) contains two variants of "Shikt der har..." (plus commentary), pp. 75-84 (##55-56). There is also a version, with additional references, in Shmuel Zanvel Pipe's _Yiddish Folksongs from Galicia_, ed. Dov and Meir Noy, published in volume 2 of _Folklore Research Center Studies_ (Jerusalem: The Hebrew University, 1971), pp. 224-26 and 324 (#146). Finally, the Mloteks' column in the _Forverts_ for April 11 of this year contains information about another Yiddish version of "Khad-gadyo." Bob Rothstein 3)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 22 May 1997 21:51:42 -0400 (EDT) From: rar@slavic.umass.edu Subject: "Papirosn" In 4.094 there are comments by Sheldon Benjamin about the possible Russian origins of the "Papirosn" melody, as well as my report of information from the Bulgarian folklorist Professor Nikolai Kaufman, who cites a Bulgarian song with the same melody as an example of songs song to Romanian urban melodies and popularized in Bulgaria by the circus _kupletist_ [singer of (usually satirical) cabaret songs] Dzhib, whose real name was Iakob Goldshtain. "The melody," Professor Kaufman wrote, "like all his other melodies, came from Romania, his birthplace. He came to Bulgaria around 1919.... Dzhib sang all his songs to Romanian, or rather Romanian-Jewish melodies.... Yablokoff's song 'Papirosn' [written in Kovno in 1922, but not popularized by Yablokoff until some ten years later] probably had the same origin as Dzhib's songs---his own text set to a familiar Romanian-Jewish melody." Bob Rothstein 4)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Fri, 23 May 97 11:14:22 +0300 From: mash@weizmann.weizmann.ac.il Subject: Going to a monastery In Vol. 7.006 Dan Leeson expresses remorse (as he should have) for having paraded in public his ignorance about the continued existence of Forverts in Yiddish. He is to be praised for the extreme form of tshuve he imposes on himself by informing us of his intention of joining a monastery. And the reason why I have chosen that one is that they have a resident rabbi, Charles Arian. [..] So I will start a small Yiddish club in the Abbey of New Clairvaux and your guilt will be unable to reach me there. May I warn khaver Leeson to think again before he makes a life commitment to the Abbey. From what I have read, Rabbi Arian's stay at the monastery will end this summer, and then it might be a very sparsely populated Yiddish club. Actually, while from past contact with Rabbi Arian I know that he has a pretty good command of Hebrew, I am not sure that his Yiddish is so hot. There are not too many arians who speak Yiddish. A gutn shabes, Michael Shimshoni 5)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Fri, 23 May 1997 10:22:35 -0400 (EDT) From: shirshan@aol.com Subject: The Forward But--The Envelope, please All things considered, the ribald content of Dan Leeson's first fictional publication in the Fast Forward (May 16 issue), would give one pause to think that he might take the Bard's advice, "Get thee to a nunnery" in lieu of a monastery to start his Yiddish Club. But--I think our Academy should present him with the golden Mendele award for the funniest posting (7.006) in all the years I am part of it. I join in the dancing in the streets to celebrate the Forward's centennial! A blessing on Bob Rothstein's kepele for his appeal for 100 new subscriptions! But--isn't there something deeply lacking in its new essence if a reader like Leeson was unaware its mother publication, the Forverts, is still alive, and lives right across the hall? The youthful editors are truly Adler's "papirene kinder" that the Mloteks offered us. How might they be educated to educate the Dan Leesons who are eager students? Marjorie Schonhaut Hirshan 6)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Fri, 23 May 1997 From: nmiller@trincoll.edu Subject: A very important announcement Khosheve mendelistn: Mendele is not only getting new shamosim; it's also getting a new computer. The venerable machine at Yale (remember it from the days when we still used punch-cards?) has been replaced by a new one. And it has a new, simpler address. From now on, please send posts to: mendele@lists.yale.edu Furthermore, _listserv_ is gone and has been replaced by _listproc_. From now on, please send messages about change-of-address, etc. to: listproc@lists.yale.edu For those interested in other possible commands, please have a look at the "Short User's [??] Reference Card available from: http://www.cren.net Noyekh Miller 7)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Fri, 23 May 1997 From: nmiller@trincoll.edu Subject: Mendele gets a web page Despite much grumbling about the frivolous and gaudy nature of the World Wide Web, it's become obvious to this cranky troglodite that it's too useful a resource to ignore. The Web is the perfect place for storing and retrieving all manners of archival material: books, bibliographies, photographs, and so on. A naye velt! So without shtiklekh a web page has been established at: http://www2.trincoll.edu/~mendele There's nothing much on it as yet, but there are some interesting plans afoot. Leonard Prager and I have been conferring and I hope that others will offer us their advice and counsel as things proceed. Expect many changes. As a _total_ ignoramus in the writing of web pages who shuns manuals like the onshikenishn they are, nothing would have happened without the advice and help of Iosif Vaisman, Refoyl Finkel and Bernard Greenberg. The latter is not only a musmakh in kompyuteray but a dauntingly good editor. My thanks to all. Un a gut shabes aykh. Noyekh Miller ______________________________________________________ End of Mendele Vol. 7.008