Mendele: Yiddish literature and language ______________________________________________________ Contents of Vol. 08.143 April 22, 1999 1) question of a Japanese Yiddish beginner (Yuichi Shimomura) 2) Kotik's memoir and Jewish studies in the US (Seth Wolitz) 3) a nay lid fun alexander belousov (Feigl I Glaser) 4) a very good Hassidic Yiddish book (Steven Jacobson) 5) "quasi Middle High German" (Marion Aptroot) 6) leyenen (Irv Young) 7) Lezn oder leyenen? (Mordkhe Schaechter) 8) Holocaust songs (Mitja Farber) 9) "shpiln di bombe" (Wolf Krakowski) 1)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 8 Apr 1999 04:21:53 -0400 (EDT) From: Yuichi SHIMOMURA Subject: question of a Japanese Yiddish beginner Dear Mendele friends! I am an old Japanese historian and a beginner of the Yiddish. My chief concern has shifted in the last years from the resarch of historical backgounds of modern German anti-Semitism to social conditions of the Jewish people in Russia and eastern Europe at the turn of the century. I am now trying to read the essays of Zhitlovsky " farvos dafke yiddish?" and "dos yiddishe folk un di yiddishe sprakh". I hope the Mendel friends can help me to understand words and phrases I find neither in Weinreich nor in Niborski. But, first of all, I would like raise a primitive, but an important (at least for me) question. Zhitlovsky writes again and again "di yiddishe sprakh un dos yiddishe folk". You surely translate "dos yiddishe folk" into the Jewish people or nation, but what about "di yiddishe sprakh"? Do you speak "the Jewish language"or "the Yiddish language"? I know very well the Yiddish is a widely acknowleged notion for the language. In Japan where recently a growing number of students and researchers studys the language we use also normally the equivalent of the Yiddish, not the Jewish. But I may well wonder whether there is no problem if I translate an adjective in one sentence into two different words. In other words, can it cause a serious misunderstanding if I say the Jewish language for "di yiddishe sprakh"? I hope I express my doubt clearly enough in my poor English. a sheynem dank Yuichi Shimomura 2)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 15 Apr 1999 10:35:44 -0400 (EDT) From: slwolitz@mail.utexas.edu (seth l. wolitz) Subject: Kotik's memoir and Jewish studies in the US I am very happy to see that the Kotik memoir (TMR 03.007) is being given its due. But I regret enormously that we in English must have the text via the Hebrew! This not only absurd given the amount of people who could translate it directly from Yiddish into English but since it is only the first volume, it leaves this key memoir incomplete and who will now publish just Volume 2? It also points up another anomaly in Jewish Studies: were this Memoir offered up in America to an American Press the chances of its publication would be next to nil! But coming from Israel with an imprimatur from a University Press there, it becomes suddenly worthy of attention. This is a characteristic American story as in opera when American singers must go abroad first in order to come home with recognition from the other side. How many Yiddish texts languish in their original tongue awaiting their English translation only after their new recognition abroad! This Kotik Memoir translated from the Hebrew is a slap in the face to American Yiddish literary specialists and a rebuke to Jewish-American historians all of whom could have accomplished this effort and indeed have discussed it for years without any support from American University Presses taking the least interest or encouragement. I suppose that we can now expect to read Sholem Aleykhem's untranslated Yiddish masterpiece Wandering Stars to be put into English via the Hebrew now that it exists in Hebrew translation! What a mockery of American efforts in Jewish Studies! Sincerely, Seth Wolitz 3)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 7 Apr 1999 23:27:16 -0400 (EDT) From: Feigl I Glaser Subject: a nay lid fun alexander belousev ikh meyn az es iz its zeyer a pasike tsayt az oykh ir zolt batrakht di prakhtike poeme "pleytim" fun a nit-yidishn sovyetishn shrayber alexander belousev. ikh bet aykh, ver es veyst mer vegn dem mekhaber fun der varemer yidish-neshomediker poeme, zol mir dos tsushikn. ikh hob tseteylt di poeme tsvishn tsvey talmidim fun mayn yidish-klas in tinek, new jersey, dos fortsuleyenen far der resht talmidim. nokh zeyer sheynem forleyenen, hot zikh antviklt an interesante diskusye vegn der poeme un vegn dem mekhaber. ale hobn bavundert di hartsike reyd fun dem nit-yidishn poet un voltn gevolt visn mer vegn im. A NAY LID Fun Aleksander Belousev Du fregst mikh funvanen mayn lid iz gekumen, Mit veytik un fintstern umet bazoymt, Vi glaykh zi volt uralte tsores farnumen Un haynt oyf der vor vegn nekhtn getroymt? Yo, troyerik iz mayn basheydener nign, Vayl shver iz a dikhter bay Yidn tsu zayn; Farmishpet in vundn gehakte tsu lign, Iz yetvedes vort ful mit veytik un payn. Bay hartsike mentshn mayn lid kh'hob geyarshnt, Vos itst in mayn hartsn es yomert un brit; Bay pleytim fun vilne, fun rige, fun varshe, Fun Minsk un fun kiev - fun vanen gor nit! Un keyner nito iz, ver s'zol nit farlirn A tatn, a mamen, a tokhter. a zun - Tsi konen zey ale dem veytik nit filn, Nit trakhtn, nit klogn, nit veynen derfun? Nokh eyns iz faran, vos zey hobn farlorn: Di heymishe erter, di shtetlekh un shtet, Vos zaynen nit mer vi a kholem gevorn, A kholem fun vayte amolike teg. Un glust zikh zey veynen - nito mer keyn trern! Un glust zikh zey shrayen - nito mer keyn kol! Zey lebn -- un vartn farloshn tsu vern, Azoy vi farloshn es iz der amol. Oy, heymloze mentshn, vi feygl on nestn, Vi fish on a taykh un vi beymer on erd, Az vey iz tsu mir, oyb a lid kh'vel fargesn, Vos kh'hob fun a poylishn Yidn gehert, Vos klingt in mayn oyer un vil nit antshtumen, Vos ken oykh tsu shteynerne hertser dergeyn "Ikh bin tsu dir, varshe, fun vaytn gekumen - Un kh'hob nit gefunen keyn shteyn oyf a shteyn". Me hot umetum zey vi kroyvim bagegnt Un alts, vos nor meglekh, far zey m'hot geton; Far pleytim fun fayerdik-blayenem regn: Kum leb un zay gliklekh - nor s'heybt zikh nit on! Tsi ken men dos heymland mit epes farbaytn? Men hot zey gegebn do arbet un shtub - Un dokh s'hot zikh yeder fareltert fritsaytik, Di velt zet zey oys vi a fintsterer grub. Un tomer farbetn zey mikh oyf a simkhe, A yontev tsi glat oyf a glezele vayn - Tsi zogn ikh darf tsulib vos far a sibe In zeyere oygn ikh kuk nit arayn? Dort nest zikh der troyer azoy vi a sove; Ikh zog zey a dank - un ikh kum nit tsu geyn, Vayl kh'veys zeyer gut, az der freylekher ovnt Vet, meglekh, farendikn zikh mit geveyn. Kh'hob moyre far zeyere simkhes' vayl tomer Inmitn dem rekhtn tseshikertn bren Tut eyner a zifts un a krekhts un a yomer Un nemt zikh dermonen: "amol iz geven=85" - Vi s'shpart shoyn der veytik durkh tir un durkh toyer Un alts iz farfaln, di simkhe farshtert. Oyf alts un oyf alemen leygt zikh a troyer, Azoy az s'iz glaykher shoyn lign in dr'erd. Es khapt mikh an ime arum, ven ikh leyen Dem uraltn umet oyf yedn gezikht, Un kh'fil oykh in zikh di farborgene veyen, Vos lebn un tsanken in mir vi likht. Un ven kh'ze a mentshn un kh'fil loyt zayn ponem, Az er hot farkukt zikh oyf nekhtike teg, Dan kh'veys oyf gevis, az an elnter polet Makht durkh in gedank tsu zayn heymshtot dem veg, Fun zey un far zey iz mayn vort un mayn nign, Ikh ken nit zayn anders, un efsher, ver veyst. S'vet kenen mayn lid zeyer veytik bazign, Vet kenen zey brengen a kapetshke treyst. Es tsit mikh alts tifer tsu aykh, mayne brider, Un zol men mir taynen vos vemen zikh glust - Kh'vil zogn: ikh hob nit keyn andere lider=85=20 A NAY LID fun Alexander Belousev (Temporary, almost literary translation by Feygl Infeld Glaser) You ask from whom I learned my song, The song, that is deep-seeded in pain and sadness, As if it had occupied ancient troubles And dreams of yesterday occupy it's reality of today. Yes, sad is my modest tune, For it's very hard to be a poet among Jews; One is condemned to deep injuries, Every word is full of pain and anguish. My words that I inherited from warmhearted people, Words that are burning, lamenting within me, From refugees from Vilne, Riga and Warsaw, From Minsk, Kiev - and all over the world! No one is here among them -- who has not lost A father, a mother, a daughter, a son -- How in the world can they not feel the pain? How could they not think about it, not weep and lament? Additionally, they have lost even Familiar to them places, villages and towns, Places that exist now only in their dreams; Dreams of their old bygone days. They want to cry? - But they are left without tears! They want to shout? - But they're left without voices! They live -- but expect to be extinguished, Just as their past was -- forever extinguished. Oh, homeless people, like birds without nests, like fish without rivers, like trees without earth; Oh, woe to me, if this song I'll forget --=20 The song of a Jewish refugee from Poland, That rings in my ear and cannot be silenced; For it can reach even hearts of stone. "I have come to you, Warsaw, from afar - And have not found a stone upon stone." We welcomed them like beloved relatives And whatever we could, we did to help them; We said: "Ye, refugees out of the rain of fire and lead,=20 Come, live and be happy amongst us! But it didn't come true! How can one replace one's home? They were given here work and shelter; But -- each of them has prematurely aged, The whole world seems to them like a grave in darkness. And if they invite me to one of their parties, A holiday or merely a glass of wine, I ought to ask what is the reason But I do not look straight in their eyes Where sadness nests, like in an owl; I thank them, but I don't come there For I know well that the joyous occasion Might, possibly, end in heartbreaking tears. I fear their celebration, for it may well be That amidst the drinking and being joyful One of them may break out with a groan, sigh or lament And begin recollecting "Once there was=85" As the pain pushes through the doors and chambers, As all is lost, the celebration is ruined, And all present are covered in sadness And the feeling of "it's better to be dead" prevails. Terror embraces me, when I read The ancient sadness on their faces, I feel their repressed outcries; That dwell within them and flicker like candles. When I see a person and recognize in his face That he is staring into days gone-by, I know for certain that a lonely refugee Is on an imaginary journey back home. My words and my tune are of them and for them, I cannot forget it, and perhaps it may be That my song will be victorious over their sadness And bring to some of them consolation. My brothers, I am drawn deeper and closer toward you, And whatever one argues, whatever one wills -- My answer: I am void of any and all other songs Feigl I Glaser 4)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 15 Apr 1999 14:39:04 -0400 (EDT) From: JACOBSON STEVEN A Subject: a very good Hassidic Yiddish book For some time now there has been a debate whether there would be a new blossoming of quality Yiddish literature coming forth from the Hassidic community. The major spokesman for this hope among scholars of Yiddish has been Dovid Katz (see his article in the English "Forward" of June 26, 1998). Arguing in the other direction have been Ruth Wisse (see her article in "The New Republic" of May 27, 1996) and Chone Shmeruk (see the interview with him in "Di Pen" of Nov. 1994). I take it the objection has been that high quality literature demands a certain amount of perspective. When Yiddish literature flowered 100 years ago Mendele, Peretz, Sholem Aleichem, and all the rest of the writers came from a traditional Jewish environment not unlike that of the Hassidm today, but they were able to move over to secular or at least not nearly so religious but still Yiddish-speaking world to gain the required perspective, to obtain access to models of quality writing in world literature, and to find a Yiddish-reading audience for their work. Today no such Yiddish-speaking but non-Haredi world exists. Chone Shmeruk states (if I understand correctly), that anyone who leaves the Haredi world to write, will write not in Yiddish, but in Hebrew or in English. An example of this is Pearl Abraham's semi-autobiographical novel (written in English), "The Romance Reader". The implication here is that the hope for high-quality literature in Yiddish to come out of the Haredi environment is largely wishful thinking. Just recently, however, I've read a book in Yiddish that has made me believe that there's a lot more than just wishful thinking in what Dovid Katz has said, that maybe a good writer doesn't really have to leave the community. This book is "Aleyn in Vald", an 850 page long fictionalized account of the life of the Jewish iconoclastic (or heretical, if you wish) philosopher Solomon Maimon. The book is excellently written, approaching in many instances (in my opinion) in writing quality the best of Yiddish literature that comes from the so-called secular side (the portrayal of the Yishuvnik's house where the hero gets his first employment as a private teacher, is just great). There is plenty of critical perspective concerning past (and present) practices of traditional Jewish society, as well, of course, and astute portrayal of what effect the hero's separation from the community had on the hero himself. The author is Isroel Mendelovitsh, and the publisher is Or Yisroel Publishing, 51 Forest Rd. Suite 14-3, Monroe, NY 10950; phone (914)-782-4662. One would have to call concerning price and ordering. I've read a number of Yiddish books from the Hassidic (or more generally Haredi) community, including several other novels, and a Holocause memoir. It's a pity such books are not more easily available. They are rarely stocked by the CYCO, NYBC, the Workman's Circle Bookstore, or the Peretz Bookstore in Tel-Aviv, unless policies have changed recently. Steven Jacobson 5)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 20 Apr 1999 07:35:56 -0400 (EDT) From: aptroot@phil-fak.uni-duesseldorf.de (Marion Aptroot) Subject: "quasi Middle High German" Jerold Frakes has written a very interesting book on Germanists' views on Yiddish (_The Politics of Interpretation_), but I don't think he is fair when he gives the impression that Erika Timm's work treats "early Yiddish simply as disguised, deformed, and debased German that must be 'cleaned up' and published as if Middle High German." (Mendele 08.140) I think Erika Timm is one of the greatest Yiddish scholars alive and it is a pity that American scholars don't pay much attention to her work. Outstanding Israeli scholars of Yiddish do not seem to have the same reservations, as is illustrated by the fact that Khone Shmeruk published the edition Jerold Frakes rightly praises in cooperation with Timm and that a catalogue by Chava Turniansky and Erika Timm is forthcoming. It is exactly Erika Timm's painstaking research and the comparisons she has made between Yiddish and German at different stages of the development of both languages and their dialects, which shows that Yiddish developed independently - albeit under continuing influence from German - from the time of the earliest glosses and texts available. Timm does not just use linguistic evidence, but also other historical and cultural sources to explain linguistic phenomena. This may account for the fact that she is most highly regarded by a number of historians of Central European Jewry in early modern times who are familiar with primary sources in German, Hebrew and Yiddish. Of course there are publications by Germanists who regard Yiddish, especially older Yiddish, as a quasi-Middle High German (here I would recommend Jerold Frakes' book), but it is the work of Erika Timm, Walter Roell, Simon Neuberg and others scholars which provide us with the most detailed evidence against the views of those Germanists (and against the claim that Western and Eastern Yiddish are not related). Marion Aptroot 6)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 20 Apr 1999 18:16:40 -0400 (EDT) From: YOU2IG@aol.com Subject: leyenen Regarding Sidney Belman's inquiry on the use of "leyenen" it is my recollection that it found its place in connection with liturgical religious events. For example: Me leyent chumasch or me leyent schachris. It embodies a concept somewhat more then reading (Lesen) ,perhaps an element of reverent study. Irv Young Elkins Park, PA 7)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 21 Apr 1999 07:01:17 -0400 (EDT) From: MSchaecht@aol.com Subject: Lezn oder leyenen? Lezn oder leyenen? In mizrekh-eyropeishn yiddish: leyenen, leynen, laynen. In mayrev-yidish un in ershtn literarishn yidish (shraybshprakh alef) - leyen. Lezn hot zikh bavizn shpet, ersht in nayntsetn yorhundert, ba shraybers maskilim un shpeter ba yidishe zhurnalistn mit a daytshmerishn stil. Fun zey iz es arayn oykh inem loshn fun teyl leyeners fun der yidisher prese in der "nayer heym". Ver se hot genitst dos vort leyenen? The usual suspects: di pyonirn funem modernem literarishn yidish: Mendl Lefin Sotenever, Khaykl Hurvits, Aksnfeld, Gotlober, Shloyme Etinger, Perl, Shiye-Motl (I. M.) Lifshits, Mendele Moykher Sforim, Linyetski. Vayter: Sholem-Aleykhem, Ravnitski, Berditshevski, hunderter shraybers inem tsvontsikstn yorhundert. Ale baley-loshn un afile nisht keyn baley--loshn. Tsvishn di hunderter togbleter, vokhnbleter, khoydeshnikes, kvartlnikes in di fargangene 60 yor iz, dakht zikh, nishto ken eyne vu me zol hobn genitst lezn (khuts inem amolikn Forverts unter der redaktsye fun Ab. Kahan un shpeter Hilel Rogof). Ayer Mordkhe Schaechter 8)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 20 Apr 1999 04:13:54 -0400 (EDT) From: "Mitja A. Farber" Subject: Holocaust songs Would you be so kind to help me in Yiddish texts of Hanne Khaitin's song "In a derfl litish vayt..." ( also named "a idish kind") and Katzenelson's "Aroys iz gegangen a yid"? Thanks a lot. Mitja Farber moskve, rusland 9)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 20 Apr 1999 15:56:23 -0400 (EDT) From: wolf krakowski Subject: "shpiln di bombe" Dear Mendelyaner: I am looking for an accurate English rendering of the Yiddish expression: . Wolf Krakowski ______________________________________________________ End of Mendele Vol. 08.143 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://metalab.unc.edu/yiddish/mendele.html