Mendele: Yiddish literature and language ______________________________________________________ Contents of Vol. 7.027 June 27, 1997 1) Weinreich's Say It In Yiddish (Adam Whiteman) 2) Weinreich's phrase book - redux (Rick Turkel) 3) More kvetching about NYBC (Meyshe-Yankl Sweet) 4) Nu, khevre, her op mit di shtekhvertlakh (Mendy Fliegler) 5) Learning Yiddish (Marvin Zuckerman) 1)---------------------------------------------------- Date: 26 Jun 97 22:14:07 EDT From: Adam Whiteman <74031.775@CompuServe.COM> Subject: Weinreich's Say It In Yiddish Ikh bin maskim mit Rick Turkel un zayn meynung vegn Al Grand's opshatsung fun dem artikl "Say it in Yiddish" fun dem (June-July 1997) numer fun Civilization. Ikh hob gekrogn dem zhurnal umzist a dank der Delta Shuttle vos git avek zhurnaln tsu zeyere pasazhirn in zeyer terminal in LaGuardia luftfeld. Ikh bin bemes ibergerasht tsu leyen aza min artikl in a zhurnal vos iz aruysgegebn fun aza bekovediker institutsye vi di amerikane Library of Congress. Ikh bin nit zikher tsi der mekhaber - Michael Chabon - veyst ver zenen di Weinreichs un zeyer arbet legabe yidish. Er heybt on un ikh tsitir "Probably the saddest book that I own is a paperback copy of Say It in Yiddish edited by Uriel and Beatrice Weinreich." Shpeyter in dem artikl shraybt er "What were they thinking, the Weinreichs? Was the original 1958 Dover edition simply a reprint of some earlier, less heartbreakingly implausible book? At what time in history of the world was there a place of the kind that the Weinreichs imply, a place where not only the doctors and waiters and trolley conductors spoke Yiddish buyt also the airline ticket clerks, travel agents, ferry7 captains and casino employees? A place where you could rent a summer home from Yiddish speakers, go to a Yiddish movie, get a finger wave from a Yiddish speaking hairstylist, a Yiddish speaking shineboy and have your dental bridge repaired by a Yiddish speaking dentist? If, as seems likelier, the book first saw light in 1958, a full 10 years after the founding of Israel - which turned its back once and for all on the Yiddish language, condemning it to watch its native speakers die off one by one in a headlong race for extinction with the 20th century itself - then the tragic dimensions of the joke looms larger and makes the Weinreichs' intentions even harder to divine. Say In In Yiddish seems an entirely futile effort on the part of its authors, a gesture of embittered hope, of valedictory daydreaming, of a utopian impulse turned cruel and ironic." Di letste helft fun dem artikl iz a, zol men zogn, "vos volt geven" rayze in uysgetrakhtn Yidishland. A por bamerkungen. Ikh meyn az in 1958 hot men gekent, un afile in 1997, ken men gefinen Yidish redndike gegntn vu di kremer, aynveyners, kelners, un azey vayter, redn yidish. (Vegn luftlinye arbeters bin ikh nit zikher ober yidish redndike rayze agentn fran a fule.) Chabon shraybt vegn Isroel un der regirungs pozitsiye legabe yidish. Siz emes vos siz fran a fule frages vegn vos di Yisroeldike regirung hot geton (un tut nokh alts) vegn/kegn yidish. Ober yidish iz an untererdishe sprakh in Isroel. Chabron shraybt az di Yidish reders shtarbn uys. Fran nokh alts a fule mentshn in Isroel vos redn un farshteyn yidish, efsher nit in der efntlikhkayt. Fun a perzenlekhn kukvinkl, di verter un frazn in Say It In Yiddish kenen tsu nuts kumen dortn, spetsiel az men darf redn mit di yidish redndike imigrantn fun gevezenem ratnfarband vos arbetn in di kromen, garazhn, parkir erter, restoranen, un hoteln. Es dakht zikh az Chabron hot gemisht zayne perzenlikhen gefiln un frustratsye vegn yidish un nit gekukt mit klore eygn af Weinreich's arbet un kavone. Adam Whiteman 2)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Fri, 27 Jun 1997 10:31:17 -0400 From: rturkel@cas.org (Rick Turkel) Subject: Weinreich's phrase book - redux In response to Ellen Prince's comments in Mendele 7.025 on my "irate response to Al Grand's discussion of the piece on the 'Say It in Yiddish' book," if you reread my remarks you will note that they related to the essay in _Civilization_, not the phrase book itself. Everyone is entitled to his or her own opinion of the book, which probably is pretty amusing, given the context. However, no one can deny, assuming Al Grand's original comments to be true, that the review belittles the history and culture of Ashkenaz, and I don't see how anyone who cares enough about Yiddish to belong to this list can find that anything but disturbing at the very least. As for Al Grand's sarcastic response to my comments, the latter were based on his review, which I took to be a more or less honest survey of the contents of the article. Since I see no reason to assume the contrary, I don't see any positive purpose in supporting the publisher of such tripe, even if it is the Library of Congress, by purchasing a copy of that issue of _Civilization_. Clearly I don't stand alone; I received several email notes off-list praising my comments, including a copy of a lengthy letter to the editors of _Civilization_ by another mendele subscriber taking them to task for their unprofessional treatment of Yiddish culture. Also, please note the comments of Mordkhe Schaechter right below yours in mendele 7.025. To tell the truth, I'd much prefer to remain in their company than to join those who think Yiddish is some kind of joke, your comments notwithstanding. A gut shabbos alemen. Rick Turkel 3)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 26 Jun 1997 22:35:37 -0500 From: "Michael J. Sweet" Subject: More kvetching about NYBC Like Sholem Berger, I'm a longtime member of the NYBC, and salute its wonderful achievements. But they're not a sacred cow, and my experience has not been that they have a "scholarly and helpful staff"- aderabe. They do pretend to be, among other things, a resource for scholars, yet, unlike the invariably helpful YIVO staff, I've found their assistance disappointing. For example, there was a drawing in a previous issue of their magazine, the Pakn Treger, that related to a research interest of mine. I wrote to the editor a courteous letter asking for the source of the drawing, if known. Many months pass, and no reply. I sent a second letter, with a copy to Aaron Lansky, requesting the information, and two months later still no reply. If they even had replied in a sentance "we don't know where this drawing was from" or "we don't have the staff to reply to individual inquiries"---dayenu. But not to answer at all is a breach of scholarly courtesy, in my opinion. Somehow, I think I would have had a reply had I been a rich contributor, rather than one of modest means. In this, NYBC reveals itself to be quintessentially American--"money talks". This is of a piece with turning Yiddish culture into a suburban theme park. YIVO, on the other hand, has remained true to the intellectual ideals of its Vilna past, and for that, more power to them. Meyshe-Yankl Sweet 4)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Fri, 27 Jun 1997 10:37:09 -0100 From: emenems@juno.com Subject: Nu, khevre, her op mit di shtekhvertlakh..... Ikh denk az es iz tzayt, a bisl, tsuriktsugeyn un dermanen zikh veygn a pur Yidishe vertlakh.... Ershtns iz du dos vertl: 'er/zi vet zikh dos eygen(e) shteytl bashteyn'... (dos ken men nisht ibertaytshn azoy shnel...) Ikh hob andere, ober shpeyter... Nu Mendlyanerim, ir kent dos vertl? Fun vanen iz es gekimen, un vi nitzt men es?? Mendy Fliegler 5)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Fri, 27 Jun 1997 09:38:33 -0700 From: "Marvin S. Zuckerman" Subject: Learning Yiddish For the Mendelyaner who is learning Yiddish and asked about "hearing" Yiddish as well as seeing it written: the text for beginners Marion Herbst and I wrote, called LEARNING YIDDISH IN EASY STAGES not only has an answer book, but also a tape that pronounces the readings, exercises, and folksongs in the book. It is available from the following sources: Jack Roth/Bookseller (Los Angeles): (310) 557-1848; National Yiddish Book Center: (800) 535-3595; Workmen's Circle Bookstore: (800) 922-2558 Marvin Zuckerman ______________________________________________________ End of Mendele Vol. 7.027 Mendele has 2 rules: 1. Provide a meaningful Subject: line 2. 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