Mendele: Yiddish literature and language ______________________________________________________ Contents of Vol. 7.068 September 29, 1997 1) Fisnogi (Mikhoyel Basherives) 2) More on The International (Sholem Yafe) 3) "Zug Es Mir Nukhamol" (Milt Eisner) 4) song about Botvin (Chana and Yosl Mlotek) 5) YIVO's signature (Ron Robboy) 6) A shenereh un besereh velt (Maynard Wishner) 1)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Sat, 27 Sep 1997 21:30:49 -0700 From: Mikhoyel Basherives Subject: Fisnogi Fisnogi, p'tsha, farkilte fis... vos es zol nit zayn! Fishl's description matches to a "T" the dish I know and though I am also originally from Fishl's chicken farming town I didn't eat it til Miami as a kid where it was called "gegliverte fis" by my hosts originally from Zhelekhov, Poland... delicious whatever its name... Mikhoyel Basherives 2)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Sun, 28 Sep 1997 03:13:41 -0400 (EDT) From: LakeJaffe@aol.com Subject: More on The International Since a number of Mendelyaner have shown interest in the various versions of The International in Yiddish, I submit the following two, which differ in various ways from those already presented. 1. From "Mit Gezang Tsum Kamf", by Jacob Schaeffer, published by the International Workers Order in 1932. a. The words in Latin letters exactly as they appear under the musical notes: Shteit of ir a-le ver vi shkla-f'n in hun-ger leb'n muz in noit, Der gaist er kocht er ruft tzu va-f'n, in shlacht unz fi-r'n iz-er greit__ di velt fun g'val-ta-t'n un - lai - d'n tze-shte-r'n ve- l'n mir un dan-- fun frai-hait glaich-hait a gan-ei-d'n, Ba-sha-f'nvet der arbet man - dos vet zain shoin der letz-ter un ant-shi-de-ner shtrait, mit dem in-ter-na-tzio-nal,. Shteit of ir ar-bet-lait, -- dos vet zain shoin der letzter un ant-shi de-ner shtrait mit dem in - ter-na-tzio - nal, --Shteit of ir ar-bet lait. b. The words in Yiddish letters as they appear elsewhere in the book. (I have changed them to Latin letters as required for E-mail.) Shteyt oyf, ir ale ver vi shklafn In hunger lebn, muz un noyt! Der gayst -- er kokht, er ruft tsum vafn, In shlakht unz firn iz er greyt. Di velt fun gvalt-tatn un laydn, Tseshtern veln mir un dan- Fun frayhayt, glaykhheit a gan eydn Bashafn vet der arbetman. Dos vet zayn shoyn der letster Unantshidener shtrayt, Mit dem internatsional, Shteyt oyf ir arbetlayt! Der arbetman vet zayn mamshole Farshpreytn af der gantser erd Un parazitn di mapole Bakumen veln fun zayn shverd. Arop dem yokh, genug gelitn, Genug fargosn blut un shveys, Se blozt dos fayer, lomir shmidn Kolzman dos ayzn iz nokh heys Dos vet zayn shoyn der letster (un azoy vayter) 2. From "Zing a Lid", compiled by Albert Biter, cover design by Ben Yomen, published in New York in 1940. a. The words in Latin letters as they appear under the musical notes. Shteit oif ir ale ver vi shklafn in hunger lebn muz un noit Der gaist er kocht er ruft tzum vafn , in shlacht unz firn iz er greit. Di velt fun gvaldtatn un laidn tzeshtern veln mir un dan, fun fraihait glaichhait a ganeidn bashafn vet der arbet man. Dos iz shoin unzer letzter unantshidener shtrait. Mit dem internatzional shteit of ir arbet lait. Dos iz shoin unzer letzter unantshidener shtrait. Mit dem internatzional shteit of ir arbet lait. Di velt fun gvald tatn un laidn tzeshtern veln mir un dan, Fun frai-hait glaich b. The words as they appear in Yiddish, changed to Latin letters as required for E-mail. Shteyt oyf ir ale ver vi shklafn, In hunger, lebn, muz un noyt. Der gayst, er kokht; er ruft tsum vafn In shlakht undz firn iz er greyt. Di velt fun gvaldtatn un laydn, Tseshtern veln mir un dan, Fun frayhayt, glaykhayt a ganeydn, Bashafn vet der arbetsman. Dos iz shoyn der letster Un antshidener shtrayt, Mit dem internatsional Shteyt oyf ir arbetslayt. Sholem Yafe 3)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Sun, 28 Sep 1997 08:39:33 -0400 From: "Milt Eisner" Subject: "Zug Es Mir Nukhamol" In reply to Alexander Maxwell, "Zug Es Mir Nukhamol" is in "Great Songs of the Yiddish Theater." The words are: Ven ikh zol zikh nor oystoygn, gefinen kheyn in dayne oygn, volt di gantse velt geven shoyn mayn. Ikh volt gezungen di "Hatikve," zikh getoyvlt in der mikve, abi du zolst mit mir in eynem zayn. Ikh volt gemakht a masematn, a knecht gevorn bay dayn tatn, vi Yankev is bay Lovenen geven. Ikh volt gelitn ale aymes, un gemolkn di beheymes, abi ikh zol dir shtendik kenen zen. Du gefelst dokh ayedn glaykh, ver es kukt nor oyf dir. Un du host gefunen kheyn a sakh, in di oygn yetst bay mir. Zog es mir nokh a mol, oy, zog es mir nokh a mol. Vayl ikh bin gern tsu hern di sheyne verter fun dir. Zog es mir nokh a mol, oy, zog es mir nokh a mol, Vayl dayne reydn brengt freydn un git mut on a shir. Mayn harts, es vakst in mir atsindert fun groys freyd. Az ikh hob derlebt tsu hern fun dir azelkhe reyd. Zog es mir nokh a mol, oy, zog es mir nokh a mol, oy, n'khomele, n'shomele, zog es mir nokh a mol. Milt Eisner 4)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Sun, 28 Sep 1997 11:30:15 -0400 (EDT) From: EMlotek@aol.com Subject: song about Botvin There was a song about Naftoli Botvin that we published in the "Perl fun der yidisher poezye" on August l, l982. This song we had transcribed from the Ben Stonehill taped collection at YIVO. A lid vegn Naftoli Botvin hobn mir gedrukt in undzer kolum "Perl fun der yidisher poezye" vos iz geven rekordirt in der Ben Stonehill arkhiv vos gefint zikh in yivo. Mir hobn dortn geshribn: "Haynt drukn mir a lid vegn Naftoli Botvin, dem yungn yidishn komunist fun Lemberg, vos hot in yor l925 geshosn a provokator Yuzef Tsekhnovski un er iz derfar farmishpet gevorn fun a poylish gerikht tsum toyt. Der toyt-urteyl iz oysgefirt gevorn dem 6tn oygust,l925. Er hot zikh opgezogt tsu betn bagnedikung baym prezident un zikh nisht gelozt farbindn di oygn beys der ekzekutsye. Ot iz dos lid, vi mir hobn es aropgeshribn fun der tashme: Botvin iz akhtsn yor alt gevorn, An onteyl nemt er in di kompartey, Tsu tsvantsik yor vert er arestirt In di shuts fun di vayse politsey. Botvin iz bald gevoyr gevorn, Az der provekator darf adurkhtsugeyn, Aroysgenumen hot er dem revolver Un shist im glaykh in harts arayn. Der provokator iz gefaln a toyter, Botvin iz mutik geblibn shteyn, S'hot dokh gornisht lang gedoyert, Er iz shoyn bay der vayser politsey. Botvin iz on shrek un on eyme, Men firt im in gerikht arayn, Ober Botvin hot dokh nit keyn moyre, Er zingt dem "internatsyonal". Veynt nit brider, veynt nit shvester, Veynt nit ale - - - (nit klor), Az es falt a korbn, falt nit keyner, Nor es falt der bester. Di letste strofe vert gezungen mit der melodye fun lid "Borekh Shulman," a mitglid fun der poylisher sotsyalistisher partey P.P.S., velkher hot dem ltn may l905 gevorfn a bombe oyfn gehilf-politsey-komisar Konstantinov in Varshe un im derharget. Di verter fun der letster strofe funem lid vegn Borukh Shulman zaynen: Veynt nit shvester, veynt nit, brider, Troyert nisht, muter, nokh ayer kind. Az es falt, falt der bester, Der vos hot nor getray gedint. Chana and Yosl Mlotek 5)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Sun, 28 Sep 1997 11:06:42 -0700 From: rrobboy@cts.com (Ron Robboy) Subject: YIVO's signature Miriam Issacs (7.065.4) was saddened, even indignant, to see the signature of Tom Freudenheim, new Executive Director of YIVO, appearing upside down in a fund-raising letter. The recent appointment of Freudenheim, a professional and capable museum administrator but with scant background in Yiddish, as I recall, had been cause for concern among some observers. If, however, he is able to write even this well upside down, I would say he is far more talented than advertised! Surely, no one can believe that Freudenheim actually did sign it that way, but it would be interesting to learn exactly how it did happen. For offset printing, when more than one color appears, a color separation is necessary, with different plates being photographically produced for each color ink. The entire run then passes through the press as many times as there are colors, with the plate and corresponding ink color changing each time. Freudenheim's signature, appearing in blue, could have been inverted by a printer -- the human being who operates a printing press, not a "peripheral," as computer components are called -- somewhere in that process. Or it could have happened on a computer screen by a careless layout artist inserting the Executive Director's "signature," which might exist as a graphic file on a disk. The inescapable implication, however, is that the gaffe must have been overlooked by both the printer as well as the white-collar worker with responsibility for the mailer. A generation ago, individuals in both those capacities would have been fluent readers of Yiddish. Whatever the cause, and regardless of whether there is any blame to affix, the anomaly does point to an inevitable evolution of the social and institutional structure of YIVO. Hugh Denman (7.046.4) raised a related issue speaking of the out-sourcing of YIVO's publications to the Arbeter Ring Book Service. The days are long gone, I suspect, of YIVO's being overseen vertically by a cadre of Yiddish scholars who make institutional policy, run the library, organize the fund raising, and write the monographs. Just as in the corporate world, the tasks of the institution, like those of any large not-for-profit research or cultural organization, have been spread out among professionals with expertise, we hope, in their particular areas. (If the corporate analogy seems far-fetched, consider for a moment the imminent merger YIVO is dancing around.) For some tasks, it is no longer seen as efficient to maintain in-house departments. Fund raising and marketing, in particular, are susceptible to this tide, and outside consultants often do much of the work. There are, I am told by a knowledgeable acquaintance, even consultants who specialize in writing just such letters as Freudenheim signed, and they do so for dozens of different clients. YIVO, in other words, is no longer an amateur affair. I mean no derogation by amateur, but rather in the sense of one who loves what they are doing and would continue doing it regardless of whether funding or a job or an institution were there to support their obsession. There certainly still remain such dedicated Yiddishists and researchers associated with YIVO, but the shape and future of the institution no longer remain exclusively in their hands. In an environment such as that, there is no way of knowing who decided even on the content, much less the style, of Freudenheim's letter. While the upside-down signature suggests that whoever signed off (so to speak) on the finished mailer had little or no experience with hand-written _oysyes_, it may be that they just had a headache, or been in a rush, or . . . who knows? One does wonder, though, if Freudenheim merely wields the proverbial rubber stamp, with fund raisers really running the show. If so, maybe it just got a little disoriented this time. Reflecting further on the upside-down signature, what I find sad is not its mere fact, but how many years it's been since a union bug has been seen on a YIVO document or publication. Looking at what I have on hand, I see that the 1978 YIVO Annual of Jewish Social Science does indeed still carry a union label. By the 1983 edition, it was gone. Using shackled air controllers as an example, it didn't take Reagan long to change the way business was done in America, did it? Of course, in the era of desktop publishing, financial pressures increasingly dictate that "independent contractors" -- i.e., without benefits or pensions -- do the typesetting and layout for something as simple as a fund-raising letter. Besides, a union label would no longer guarantee that whoever was setting a Yiddish text had any idea of what they were doing, as it once would have. I also have on hand a much earlier YIVO volume, from 1946, one certainly carrying a union bug. In Max Weinreich's Introduction to it, he explains that this volume represents the first of the _Perzenlekhe dokumentn_, a series long-delayed by the vicissitudes of war and attendant change of continent. The collection of autobiographical data had been among YIVO's earliest projects, both because of what they told of the lives of individual Jews, Weinreich wrote, and what they told of the greater society around them. This first such published document was written by Shmuel Sheynfeld (Samuel Schoenfeld), a Jew who had emigrated to America from Odessa in 1891. It describes his traditional education midst the winds of change in the old country, the drama of emigration, and how the cultural forces in and outside the Yiddish-speaking communities of New York City shaped his life. The core of the book concerns itself with his involvement in the trade union movement. Who exactly was Shmuel Sheynfeld, and what does he call his life story? The book is _Zikhroynes fun a shriftzetser_ (Memoirs of a compositor). The man was a typesetter. His life was devoted to preparing the Yiddish word for publication; insuring that those engaged in that work were qualified and competent; and struggling to maintain institutional recognition and compensation for that competence. Just as the book's content is offered as an epitome of the Diaspora experience, the document itself and the pride with which it was chosen to finally initiate the series epitomized YIVO's concerns and intellectual direction. No less than a personal document, it was offered as a portrait of the institution itself. Times change. Ron Robboy 6)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Sun, 28 Sep 1997 14:57:06 -0500 From: mwishner@jon.cjfny.org Subject: A shenereh un besereh velt Thanks to Elye Palevsky for linking "A shenereh un besereh velt" with "Tikun Olam". Since the latter precedes the former by a millenia or two...perhaps that is what we were doing all the time...but didn't always know it. Maynard Wishner ______________________________________________________ End of Mendele Vol. 7.068