Mendele: Yiddish literature and language ______________________________________________________ Contents of Vol. 7.021 June 20, 1997 1) boyuvka (Marvin (Meyer) Engel) 2) Isaac Singer: "Noble" [sic] Laureate (Dan Leeson) 3) barikht vegnm kalevers vizit in ingern (Vera Szabo) 1)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 18 Jun 1997 16:46:28 -0400 From: marvin engel Subject: boyuvka tayere, gelernte mendelayner, ikh zukh der genoyer maynung fun dos vort 'boyuvka', un bin zikher az eyner fun aykh vet mir kenen oyshelfn. beys, komets alef, yud, vov, shtimer alef, 2 vovn, kuf, alef. Ikh gloyb az es maynt epes militarish: cadre, patrol, upteylung, comitet, etc. Dos vort gefint zikh in: lodzer almanakh, lodzer branch 324 fun arbeter ring, Bronx, NY (1934?), LC call # DS135.P62L64414, zayt 92. a shaynem dank, marvin (meyer) engel [English translation]: Dear, learned mendelayners, I'm stuck for the exact definition of a word and am sublimely confident that someone out there can unstick me in short order. The word is 'boyuvka', spelled: beys, komets alef, yud, vov, shtimer alef, 2 vovn, kuf, alef. In context, it probably has a military connotation: cadre, patrol, squad, committee, etc. The source is: lodzer almanakh, lodzer branch 324 of Workmen's Circle, Bronx, NY (1934?), LC call # DS135.P62L64414, Page 92. a shaynem dank, Marvin (Meyer) Engel 2)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 19 Jun 1997 08:15:38 EDT From: Dan Leeson Subject: Isaac Singer: "Noble" [sic] Laureate Today's NY Times (6/19/97, page A18) has a very lengthy article on the correction of a typographical error on both the headstone and the footstone located on the grave of Singer. While I cannot sign my speculations with Singer's autograph, I suspect that he would have found both comedy and tragedy in the scene. To make a long story short, an engraver is said to have made the error by placing on both stones the fact that Singer was a "Nobel Laureate." The smaller stone was corrected very quickly, but it took until now to correct the headstone, though all it has on its is two lines which (now) read: SINGER Nobel Laureate To make the matter worse, it appears to me from the photograph in the referenced newspaper article, that the correction was made by cutting out the offending text and then placing a tablet with the corrected text into the stone. Such addenda to memorial tablets are prime targets for theives, and to own the tablet from Singer's stone is someday going to be a cottage industry. If it lasts for 10 years, I will be astonished. There is a personal and unrelated sadness to the story in the telling of the tale of the site selection for Singer's grave by his wife, the former Adele Wasserman who, it is said, left her husband, Walter Wasserman, to marry Singer. In searching for a site, Mrs. Wasserman found one very close to her former husband and also near her daughter with whom she unfortunately did not have good relations and who passed away from cancer. The entire episode could be made into a sad/funny short story that Singer could have done up brown! Dan Leeson, Los Altos, California Rosanne Leeson, Los Altos, California 3)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Fri, 20 Jun 1997 06:44:58 EDT From: verele@isis.elte.hu Subject: barikht vegnm kalevers vizit in ingern A dank, koydem kol, Perets Mettn far korigirn mayn yidish. Ikh hob take gemakht a toes. Halevay es volt geven tomid emetser, vos iz greyt tsu korigirn vos ikh shrayb af yidish! Vehasheynes vil ikh derklern dem filologishn hintergrunt fun mayn toes. Ven ikh hob geshribn 'gegebn a tish', iz dos nisht geven keyn iberzetsung fun english, nor fun ingerish, vos iz mayn mame-loshn. Az an ingerisher yid zogt af ingerish 'der rebe hot gefirt a tish', zogt er _a rebe tisht csinalt_ (= Engl.'made') oder a _rebe tisht adott_ (Engl.'gave'). Yes, with the Yiddish word in it, even though 'tish' in Hungarian is _asztal_. Dem dozikn oysdruk hob ikh instinktiv tsurik ibergezets vi 'gegebn a tish'. How would you translate 'gefirt a tish' into English, by the way? And thirdly, in English, so that everyone on _mendele_ should be informed, I mentioned that the Hungarian TV filmed the entire visit of the Kalever rebe (who, indeed, used to live in Rishon letsion, but moved to Bne-brak a few years ago). Even his visit to Nagykallo was filmed: how he sang, how he davened, how he gave a telephone interview to the Israeli radio. The material is now put together and it will be shown on Hungarian TV soon. If anyone is interested in seeing it, I can help you make contact with the producer of the film. Vera Szabo ______________________________________________________ End of Mendele Vol. 7.021