Mendele: Yiddish literature and language ______________________________________________________ Contents of Vol. 7.020 June 18, 1997 1) yidishe divre-toyre? (Sholem Berger) 2) Help with idiomatic yiddish expressions (Irv Justman) 3) Trochaic tetrameter (Tilo Alt) 4) Der nayer binyen fun NYBC [The NYBC's new building] (Sholem Berger) 1)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon, 16 Jun 1997 20:38:44 +0000 From: bergez01@mchip00.med.nyu.edu Subject: yidishe divre-toyre? Nishka pleonazm: Der internet iz a brokhe mekoyekh yidisher informatsye: s'zaynen do hunderter mokrim fun limudem kdoyshim afn veb. Un af ale shivim leshoynes haoylem... khuts, farshteyt zikh, yidish. Zukh ikh balonim af bateylikn zikh in a yidish-shprakhiker reshime, vos zol efntlekh diskutirn di parshe fun der vokh. Mayn plan: yede vokh zol an anderer mitglid fun der reshime shraybn khotsh a por paragrafn vegn der parshe. Un shoyn--posheter ken nisht zayn. Ikh vil laf-dafke talmide-khakhomem, bloyz yidn farinteresirte in a bisl toyre lernen. (Ikh bin aleyn vayt nisht keyn rov, nor kh'ken yo lernen...) Ver s'vil azoyns, gib mir a shrayb: bergez01@popmail.med.nyu.edu. [English translation] No pleonasms here: The Internet is a boon for Jewish information: there are hundreds of sources for religious texts on the Web, and in all tongues of humankind... except, of course, for Yiddish. I'm looking for people interested in participating in a Yiddish-language mailing list which would "marbits toyre berabem"--i.e. publicly discuss the parashah of the week. My plan is that members of the list should alternate in writing even just a couple of paragraphs on the week's portion. (If you don't feel comfortable writing, you can just receive--that's fine too.) I'm not necessary looking for Torah scholars here, just Jews interested in a little study. Whoever's interested, drop me a line: bergez01@popmail.med.nyu.edu. Sholem Berger New York 2)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 17 Jun 1997 13:25:13 -0400 (EDT) From: IRVMIL@aol.com Subject: Help with idiomatic yiddish expressions In translating my father's notes and diaries, I am sometimes stumped by some idiomatic phrases as, for example, the CAPITALIZED words in these sentences: Mir hoben gehat a gantz finem dinner, zayer eingenemen un zayer shayn. FARTRACHT (OR FARBRACHT) VEE GEVAYNTLICH. Bin ich a bissel eingeshlofen oif der komfort tshayr. Getrunken vine un tay mit KREMZLACH. Ich ken shoin mer nisht ligen in bet. ES HAYBT MIR AROIS FUN FARSHIDENEH GEDANKEN. Ich vays shoin gor nisht vos der heintiger tog vet zein. Thank you in advance for your help. Irv Justman 3)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 17 Jun 1997 14:38:52 -0400 (EDT) From: Arthur Alt Subject: Trochaic tetrameter as a footnote to Joachim Neugroschel's comment [7.019], I would like to point out that this meter harks back to classical Spanish tragedy (drama) and was used by the German Anacreontics, the German Romanticists as well as the Austrian playwrights Grillparzer and Raimund. Heinrich Heine applied this verseform to his epic romance "Don Ramiro." tilo alt. 4)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 17 Jun 1997 22:55:45 -0500 From: bergez01@mchip00.med.nyu.edu Subject: Der nayer binyen fun NYBC (The NYBC's new building) [English version follows.] Mendelistn: Ikh darf aykh zogn, az dos vayterdiks iz nisht keyn eydele reyd. Mayne meynungen zaynen eynzaytik, un efsher umonshtendik. Meyle--kh'vil aykh nor onreytsn a bisl. Hot nor in zinen, az kh'bin nokh nisht geven baym muzey gufe--kh'hob nor geleyent vegn dem inem Times. Der nayer binyen fun bikher-tsentrale hot zikh lesof derefnt, un ikh veys nisht tsi ikh frey zikh dermit. Far vos? (Ikh veys yo az keyner hot bay mir keyn meynung nisht gebetn, nor ikh zog zikh aroys sayvi, loytn minheg internet.) Der bikher-tsentrale kumt farshteyt zikh a yasher-koyekh far zeyer gor vikhtiker arbet baym zamlen fargesene un farvorfene yidishe bikher. Keyner vet nisht farleykenen dem batayt fun der uvde. Bibliotekn kostn tayer, un tayere, geshedikte bikher neytikn zikh in gor tayere un spetsiele bibliotekn. Deriber hob ikh keyn taynes nisht tsu zeyer rizikn gelt-shaferay tsum nayem binyen. (Nor halevay volt yeder yidish-organizatsye genosn fun khotsh eyn protsent fun di besheyfedike gelter!) Tsu vos zhe hob ikh yo taynes? Tsu zeyer pirsem--i dem geveyntlekhn, i dem vos iz mefarsem dem nor vos derefntn muzey. Arn Lansky, agev a voyler yid un an inspirirter organizatsye-firer, pretendirt keseyder, az er ratevet di yidishe kultur baym rateven di bikher. Rak er zogt, az "mir veln oyflebn di yidishe kultur far a nayem dor," az der tsentrales radio-spektakln (oder english-shprakhike oysgabes, oder hemdelekh, oder kasetn, oder voser-nisht-iz NYBC-skhoyre) mintern oyf a kloymershte toyte kultur. Af dem smakh shaft er s'rov fun zayn gelt--nisht nor ratevet er di bikher, nor er derleyzt di kultur aleyn, af english take! Vunderlekh sheyn un kuntsik mitamol, viazoy a english-redndike organizatsye, vos zogt alemol foroys mayse harshav-vays dem noentn toyt fun der shprakh, shtelt zikh for vi Yiddish Central. Vos iz Lanskys hoypt-toes? Ot gey ikh iber af groyshantike oysyes, vayl ikh vil untershtreykhn dem iker-printsip vos Lansky un a sakh andere onhengers fun "der kultur" farshteyen lakhlutn nisht: DI YIDISH-KULTUR UN DI YIDISHE SHPRAKH ZAYNEN HAYNE-HAKH. [Ikh vil nisht keyn misfarshteyenishn--nisht kultur bay yidn meyn ikh, nor di _yidish-kultur_, d"h di kultur vos hot zikh antviklt un antviklt zikh adayem afn smakh fun der mizrekh-eyropeisher yidishkayt-yerushe.] S'iz a punkt a gants posheter vos vert shtendik ignorirt. Lemoshl: ven Lansky tret aroys mit zayn geveynlekhn zog--oder nisht-derzogte meynung--az keyner redt nisht keyn yidish, i makht er zikh nisht visndik fun di hunderter toyznter yidish-redndike khsidim, i pruvt er bagrobn di toyznter veltlekhe yidn vos redn es yo. Ven er pruvt brengn tsu dem, az di gantse yidishe kultur zol dezertirn ir kvalshprakh, i farrat er di shprakh, i fardreyt er di kultur, i firt er a gantsn oylem in bod arayn, vos redt zikh tsu az an english-shprakhike Yiddish Culture ekzistirt bikhlal. er shikt zey ober nokh a yaknehoz. Ikh hob fundestvegn nokh nisht gezogt vos di bikher-tsentrale darf yo ton. Bay vosere umshtendn volt ikh zikh mesameyekh geven mitn nayem yidishn muzey a"n Zekher Leloshn Shehoyo? Ven der NYBC zol zikh farnemen mit derklern zayn publikum emeser haynttsaytiker yidishe kultur--i bay frume, i bay fraye. Ven er zol undz mer nisht krikhn in ponem arayn mit zayne shtendike dekleratsyes, az er iz meshiekh, derfar vayl er metsenirt a sakh iberzetsungen un transmitirt di dozike arbet durkh efntlekhn radio. Ven er zol zikh forshteln vi er iz take, a klal-tuer, a bikher-zamler, a vikhtiker mentsh, un nisht vi keyn shprakh- tsi kultur-ratever. Kukt ober af vos es tut di bikher-tsentrale bpoyel-mamesh: der muzey, loyt ale bagleybte nayes-kvaln, shtelt mit zikh for a groysn, multimilion-dolardikn hesped. Er bashtetikt mit kloymershtiker visnshaftlekher pinktlekhkayt dem toyt fun der shprakh, azoy vi loyt a farshpreytn bilbl s'zaynen zikh noyeg di haytnike doktoyrem in iberflants-opteyln fun groyse shpiteler: me definirt dem toyt mit der grober finger, oder poshet ven s'glust zikh. Azoy tuen Lansky un di bikher-tsentrale: zey viln vi frankenshtaynen iberflantsn an azoy-gerufene Yiddish Culture inem tsunoyfgeshtukevetn guf fun a muzey--ober on dem guf fun yidish gufe vet Yiddish Culture blaybn shteyn, shtil, un shtum. [English version] Mendeleniks: What I have to say here isn't polite, but rather one-sided and purposely exaggerated. But that's all right--I just want to get some discussion started. (As you read the following, please keep in mind that I haven't myself been to the new museum yet; I've just read about it in the Times.) The new building of the NYBC has recently opened, and I don't know if I'm happy about it. Why? (I know that no one's asked my opinion, but according to Internet custom I can express it anyway.) Of course the NYBC deserves a yasher-koyekh for its very important work of collecting forgotten and abandoned Yiddish books. No one can deny the significance of their task. Libraries are expensive, and expensive, damaged books need quite costly and special libraries. I have therefore no particular quarrel with the huge fund-raising campaign needed to raise money for the new museum (although I do wonder what other Yiddish organizations could do with just one one-hundredth of those funds!). So what am I complaining about? Their publicity--both their usual fund-raising letters and their recent press releases which have publicized the just-opened museum. Aaron Lansky, although a man of many virtues, continually claims to be saving Yiddish Culture by saving books. He keeps saying: "We want to bring Yiddish culture alive for a new generation," and claims that the NYBC's radio shows (or English-language publications, or T-shirts, or cassettes, or any sort of NYBC product or merchandise) are reviving a so-called dead culture. On these grounds does he raise the bulk of his money--he's not just saving books, but he's saving the culture itself, and--something special--without the bother of the source language! It's really neat that an English-language organization which continually predicts Harshav-Wisse-like the imminent death of the language should present itself as Yiddish Central. What's Lansky's main mistake? I'm going to express the main thought here in capital letters, because I want to emphasize the major principle that Lansky and many other supporters of Yiddish Culture don't get: YIDDISH CULTURE AND THE YIDDISH LANGUAGE ARE ONE AND THE SAME. [I don't want any misunderstandings: I don't mean Jewish culture, but Yiddish culture, that is, that culture which has developed and develops still on the basis of the Eastern European yidishkayt-inheritance.] The above is a pretty simple point which usually gets ignored. For example: when Lansky comes out with his usual statement--explicit or implied--that no one speaks Yiddish anymore, he's doing two things at once: pretending or displaying ignorance of the hundreds of thousands of Yiddish-speaking Chasidim, and trying to bury those thousands of secular Jews who still do speak it. When he tries to make what he calls Yiddish Culture desert its source language, he betrays the language, distorts the Culture, and leads astray an entire public which convinces itself that an English-language Yiddish Culture actually does exist. The wild goose they're chasing wears a sign reading "Ganz," but when caught it quotes nothing but Leo Rosten. But I still haven't said what I think the Book Center should be doing. Under what circumstances would I be happy with the new Dead Language Museum? If the NYBC were to engage itself in explaining to its public the true modern Yiddish culture which exists among secular and religious Jews. If Lansky were to tone down his constant declarations that he is our savior because he sponsors a number of translations and broadcasts them over public radio. If he were to present himself as he really is: an important activist, a book saver, an important man, but no savior of language or culture. On the other hand, look at what the NYBC's actually doing: the museum, according to all reliable sources, comprises a multi-million-dollar eulogy. It claims to confirm with scientific accuracy the death of of a language, much as vicious and false tabloid rumor describes the behavior of big-time transplant doctors, who declare death when it suits them. That's what Lansky and the NYBC are doing: they want to be Frankensteins and transplant their so-called Yiddish Culture into the cobbled-together body of a museum. But without the body of Yiddish itself, Yiddish Culture will remain stockstill and silent. Sholem Berger New York ______________________________________________________ End of Mendele Vol. 7.020