Mendele: Yiddish literature and language ______________________________________________________ Contents of Vol. 08.077 October 23, 1998 1) Grine Felder (Gitl Dubrovsky) 2) Grine Felder (Shloyme Zalmen Millman) 3) Bandure (Rick Gildemeister) 4) bandure and mameloshn in the Senate race (Paul Goldberg) 5) Bandure (Shaya Mitelman) 6) bandura (Itsik Shteyn) 7) Bandure/Bandore/Bandura/Bandurria (Michael Spudic) 8) groyse bahndureh (Mel Poretz) 9) Bandore - bigger than a bread box (Marjorie Schonhaut Hirshan) 1)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 22 Oct 1998 14:01:27 -0400 (EDT) From: GDubrovsky@aol.com Subject: Grine Felder In reply to Ida Selavan-Schwarcz's query as to where in New Jersey Grine Felder was filmed, it was in Flemington, NJ in the '30s. A romantic story about the life of rural Jews, it nevertheless stresses the value of working on the land and encourages farming as a lifestyle. The timing was coincident with the efforts of the Jewish agricultural society in helping new immigrant move out of the cities where they were struggling and onto farms. The first successful and long lasting Jewish farm communities were established in New Jersey. I recommend my Mendelayner friends to see my documentary film, The Land Was Theirs (available from the National Center for Jewish Film in Waltham, MA and from your local library). I use clips of Grine Felder in the film. And while I am at it, I must also encourage readers to think about investigating the Jewish farm experience in America. Jewish rural farm communities were created all over the country but few know about this because Jewish historians and social scientists have not investigated the successful communities. Their efforts have been devoted almost entirely to the failed communal experiments (which lasted at most 2 to 5 years) and thus they reinforce the prevalent stereotype: Jews are not farmers, and when they try, they fail. By the way, my book The Land Was Theirs (same title as the film) about one Jewish farm community in New Jersey, Farmingdale, is available from the University of Alabama Press. We need more community studies before comparative analyses can be done. Zay mir gezint, Gitl Dubrovsky 2)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 22 Oct 1998 23:15:31 -0400 (EDT) From: MILLPERSON@aol.com Subject: Grine Felder In response to the writer who would like to know where Grine Felder was filmed, the answer is the old Fort Lee Studios on the New Jersey Palisades overlooking the Hudson River. What appeared to be an entire Eastern European shteytl or dorf was constructed there and was used for several Yiddish language films made in the 1930's. This included one with Moyshe Oysher, called "Der Vilner Balebeysl". (which was translated, I can't understand why, as "Overture to Glory") and in which I appeared as a meshoyrer ( choir boy) at the age of 5 or 6. This was over 60 years ago, but I still have a vivid reccollection of the couple of days of filming on the Palisades. I believe that fancy high rises now stand on those Palisades, where those film sets once stood ( and where Perils of Pauline was shot some 90 years ago ), and where the Palisades Amusement Park once stood. Shloyme Zalmen Millman 3)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 22 Oct 1998 15:01:37 -0400 (EDT) From: Riquili@aol.com Subject: Bandure There's a song I heard on WEVD long ago which goes like this: (unfortunately I only know a few verses, and I'm mixing them in an artificial stanza) Fintster jn biter iz mir maan velt Beral maane oygn zenen mir farshtelt Shenkt a nedUve, shenkt a nedUve Khob a vaab mit kinder fir Khob a vaab mit kinder fir Shpil ikh mir of der bandure a kalike der tate I'm inferring it's a musical instrument. Tayere fraynt, dakht zikh mir az efsher hob ikh gemakht toesn inem dozikn lid, un efsher veist emetser di rikhtike verter. Rick Gildemeister 4)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 22 Oct 1998 15:04:43 -0400 (EDT) From: PGoldb1491@aol.com Subject: bandure and mameloshn in the Senate race Re: (1) Robert Goldbenberg's question about "bandure," and (2) unrelated expression of concern about increasing frequency of bastardization of mama- loshen by sundry political figures. (1) The word "bandura" is commonly used in Russian to describe large, awkward objects. Webster's contains a reference to "bandore" ("bandurria" in Spanish, "pandura" in Latin, and "pandoura" in Greek). According to Webster's, bandore is "an ancient musical instrument somewhat like a guitar." I always thought a "bandure" is somewhat like an overgrown "balalayke." This could be just a matter of perspective. (2) On another matter entirely, I hope Mendelianers who were outraged by Monica Lewinsky's use of the word "schmucko" in a reference to the President of the United States, will be similarly dismayed by Alfonse D'Amato's use of the word "putzhead" to describe his opponent, Charles Schummer. While the Starr report includes no attempt to define the dangerous Taleyne-Yiddish fusion that produced "schmucko," D'Amato ventures deeper into linguistic wilderness to attempt a definition of "putzhead." "The Yiddish word I used to describe you at a private meeting means `fool,'" he wrote in a letter to Schummer. (The Washington Post, Oct. 22). "You are trying to twist that into a religious slur... I stand by my remark 100 percent." Could any of this possibly be good for the Yiddishists? Paul Goldberg 5)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 22 Oct 1998 17:06:38 -0400 (EDT) From: Serge Mitelman Subject: Bandure Tsu Itsik Goldenbergs frage veygn bandure: Bandure - s'iz an ukrainisher filstrune tsup-instrument, vos m'halt im vertikal, tsunoyfgedrikt mit di kni. Di bandure hot say basove say eyber-register un zi iz noent tsu huslyes, tsitre, lyutne un harfe. Ikh ober gedenk, az in Keshenev hot men gerufn a groyse bas-balalayke oykhet bandure. Zi iz geven tsu-groys un m'halt ir mitn untershtn ek fun der drayekiker deke ongeshpart in der erd. Der ibergetrogener, figureler batayt funem vort - epes tsu-groys, farnemiks, umgelumperts - iz a farshpreyter banuts in idish, rushish un ukrainish. I suspect that bandore, bandura and bandurria are different variants of lute. Shaya Mitelman. 6)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 22 Oct 1998 19:28:36 -0400 (EDT) From: shteyn@juno.com (Isak Shteyn) Subject: bandura bandura is a ukrainish primitiv muzikalish instrument mit a sakh strines, velkhe me fleg shtshipn oder tsupn of arojstsubrengen a ton oder klang. ikh gedenk in unser bukoviner shtetl in di dreisiger jorn blinde un betlers sitzen ojf der erd un shpiln ojf bandures un singen derbaj. der ojlem flegt sej tsuvarfen etlekhe matbejes, frukhten, u.a. hejojs di banduras sajnen grojs legabe a fidele oder a gitare, is faran in russishn u. ukrainishn dos glajkh vertel "grojs vi a bandure". fun danen hobn mir es ojkh ibergenumen. zajt gesund, Itsik Shteyn 7)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Fri, 23 Oct 1998 00:24:04 -0400 (EDT) From: SHPINAT@aol.com Subject: Bandure/Bandore/Bandura/Bandurria In response to Itzik Goldenberg's inquiry concerning the derivation of the word "bandure" (or "bandore"), according to a handy compendium by Eberhard Thiel, "Sachwoerterbuch der Musik" ("Dictionary of Musical Terminology"), the "bandura" (as spelled in this source) is a plucked instrument similar to the mandolin, particular to the Orient and Slavic countries. The number of strings varies, but the norm involves 6-8 stopped strings together with a number of offboard or drone strings. A Polish variant with 15 strings is mentioned ("panskaja"), as well as a Ukrainian derivative. And bringing us somewhat away from the pale there is also mention of a Spanish version of this instrument, known as the "bandurria," up until the 18th century a favorite folk instrument in Spain and still performed upon today. Somewhat coincidental to this question, several weeks ago, while receiving a Sunday morning haircut in my neighborhood in Forest Hills, I learned that the person cutting my hair was an emigre from Kiev and that as a child she played a folk instrument that she called a bandura. I at first thought of the balalaika and wondered about the difference between the two instrument types. Now armed with Itsik Goldenberg's question regarding use of this word in an added extra-musical context, I'll make it a point during my next haircut to ask Malke if she knows of any extended use of this word while growing up in Kiev. Michael Spudic Forest Hills, New York 8)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Fri, 23 Oct 1998 03:39:07 -0400 (EDT) From: EMPE@aol.com Subject: groyse bahndureh This expression was frequently used in my home, both to denote a large chest or piece of furniture or, for that matter, anything (or anyone) who was big and heavy, as well as for people who were "heavy" in the head. In this latter usage, I believe it might have been somewhat synonymous to the word "buhlvahn," although the latter carried more pejorative weight. MEL PORETZ 9)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Fri, 23 Oct 1998 10:03:19 -0400 (EDT) From: SHirshan@aol.com Subject: Bandore - bigger than a bread box A bandore was a star at Ashkenaz '95 in Toronto Itsik Goldenberg got it right on two counts in Mendele 8.075. A bandore is a musical instrument, a big and clumsy string instrument. Shaped like an oversized guitar, the one I saw and heard boasted an additional S-shaped opening covered with a second set of strings, and its tone was deep, bass, and very rich. Azoyne zise muzikalishe zakhroynes: Thanks to Bruce Rosensweet who posted it on Mendele, we partook of the Ashkenaz '95 Celebration, and experienced joys of Yiddish that left us on a high for weeks; we still grow breyter vi leynger at the memories: Adrienne Cooper (my favorite), Davka, John Zorn and Masada, the Klezmatics, Shirim, Finjan, Mlotek Trio, Muszikas.....to name but a few. One event created by the august Michael Alpert and Brave Old World (he called it Night Songs from a Neighboring Village) traced a nigun in a shtetl that floated through the night from a Jewish shtibele to a Russian hayzkele to the Russian church and then was incorporated into a khazonishe tfile. In the Russain church, it was performed on a bandore that could almost speak. So thank you for posting it, Mendele. Thank you. Again. Marjorie Schonhaut Hirshan Boynton Beach, Florida ______________________________________________________ End of Mendele Vol. 08.077 Address for the postings to Mendele: mendele@lists.yale.edu Address for the list commands: listproc@lists.yale.edu Mendele on the Web: http://mendele.commons.yale.edu http://sunsite.unc.edu/yiddish/mendele.html