Mendele: Yiddish literature and language ______________________________________________________ Contents of Vol. 09.013 June 14, 1999 1) Navatne Beheymes (Michoel Ronn) 2) Sholem Aleykhem and Charlie Chaplin (Larry Rosenwald) 3) children's songs and rhymes (Lori Cahan-Simon) 4) How many Yiddish-speakers are there? (Noyekh Miller) 5) interesante gesheyenishn (Pessl Beckler-Semel-Stern) 6) Lists, word & name (Lucas Bruyn) 7) Feet and legs (A.Joseph Ross) 8) Founding Mendele: a correction (Victor Bers) 9) Founding Mendele: a correction (Ellen Prince) 1)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 27 May 1999 01:42:28 -0400 (EDT) From: chromelion@juno.com Subject: Navatne Beheymes In a sikhe vegn parshes noyekh, hot der gevezener Libavicher Rebbe, zkhus yogen oleynu, dermant dem termin "navatne beheymes, " vos meynt "shtubike beheymes." (Far der doziker sikhe, hoben di redaktors funem rebns sikhes keyn mol nit gehert dos vort un hobn nit gevust tsi zay zoln dos vort oysgeleygt vi "navatne" oder "navadne.") Ikh zukh dem shoyresh funem vort. Tsi volt es zayn meglekh az dos vort kumt fun Rusishen "niva" vos meynt a "feld"? Oyb azoy, volt "nivatne" heysen a "feld-beheyme" -- akegn a "vald-beyheme." Ayer, Michoel Ronn Brooklyn, NY 2)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Sun, 30 May 1999 14:22:51 -0400 (EDT) From: Larry Rosenwald Subject: Sholem Aleykhem and Charlie Chaplin As many of you know, towards the end of the second part of Motl Peyse dem khazns there's a wonderful scene where Motl and his friends and family go to see a Charlie Chaplin film. It's a very resonant scene, I think, and I was wondering about a couple of background matters. Do any Mendelyaner know what works of Chaplin's SA knew, or what he thought of them, or more generally what he thought about American silent films? (There's a striking account, in Marie Waife-Goldberg's _My Father Sholom Aleichem_, of SA's describing how he imagined the stories of Motl should be told on the screen - "he dictated a scenario of every story of Motel in great detail, as though he were telling me of an actual movie he had seen. I saw him now in the great combination of his talents, acting the roles of his characters, as though he was performing before the lights in the studio, and yet being the observer of it, enjoying it all immensely. When he turned his forefinger into the air to indicate a hand moving over the screen, writing the words 'Elihu, the Inkmaker,' I could see the screen and had the complete illusion of a movie scene. . . . If a stranger saw us then he would think we were touched in the head. Two men sitting and bursting into laughter, like two kids at a Charlie Chaplin movie" (292).) Did other Yiddish writers who came to America leave vivid accounts of what it was like to see Chaplin or other American film artists? And finally, though not covered by the subject header - the scene in _Motl_ is marked also by the actions of Big Motl, who is among other things a ventriloquist (a boykhreder). Are there other works of SA's that treat this theme? Thanks in advance, Larry Rosenwald 3)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Fri, 28 May 1999 06:11:45 -0400 (EDT) From: Lori Cahan-Simon Subject: children's songs and rhymes Sholem aleykhem! My name is Lori Cahan-Simon. I teach Jewish culture through the Arts in Sunday school at the I. L. Peretz shule at the Workmen's Circle in Cleveland. My areas are Art, Drama (I write and direct the spiln), Music, Cooking and whatever else I'm needed to do. I sing with our Klezmer Orchestra and am beginning a project to collect and record children's songs games and rhymes in Yiddish from those who learned them as children. My everyday job is as a Middle School Spanish teacher. I am from Philadelphia, but live in the Cleveland area now with my husband and 4-year-old son. Lori Cahan-Simon 4)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Sat, 29 May 1999 21:09:08 -0400 From: Norman Miller Subject: How many Yiddish-speakers are there? Miriam Shmulevitz-Hoffman (Forverts, May 21, 1999) writes: di statistik vayst nokh on, az mir hobn ken yirbu iber tsvey-milyon yidish-redner iber der velt in yedn elter, un ikh ken shvern, az yidish vet undz ale iberlebn, aza koyekh nafshi farmogt zi. Iberlebn, alevay. But does anyone know where the 2 million figure comes from? Noyekh Miller 5)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon, 31 May 1999 14:43:07 -0400 (EDT) From: pessl@juno.com Subject: interesante gesheyenishn Khosheve Mendelyaner: Ikh vil zikh teyln mit aykh tsvey interesante gesheyenishn: Reyshis khokhme: Mit a yor tsurik zaynen mir, ikh mitn man geforn af a bazukh kin yisroyl. Afn veg tsurik hobn mir zikh opgeshtelt in london, un fun dorn geforn mit an oytobus in a kleyn shtetl afn grenetz tsvishn england un wales. Dos shtetl heyst hey on way (Hay on Wye) Der taykh Wye iz take di grenetz tsvishn england un wales. Iz vos iz di g'dile mit yenem shtetl? Iz di zakh azoy: In yenem shtetl zaynen faran 38 gesheftn, vos handlen mit alte, tayere bikher. (antiquarian book dealers), un hayoys mayn man iz shtark farinteresirt in azelkhe bikher hobn mir farbrakht dortn etlekhe teg. Geyen mir azoy fun gesheft in gesheft. Er zukht bikher vos hobn tsu ton mitn amolikn englishn mandat iber palestine, un ikh kuk, dervayl, af geshikhtr bikher, uk'doyme. Geyen mir arayn in a kleyn gevelbl, un ikh ze, ober derze nit af a momemt: Af a politze shteyt a bukh, oysgedreyt mit der hile tsu mir, un af der hile shteyt ongeshribn mit a yidishn ksav, b'ze haloshn.: fanni levando, vegetarish-dietisher kokhbukh. Un tomer iz dos veynik zaynen di alefs ongeshribn mitn modernem YIVO ksav. Dos bukh hot men aroysgegebn in Vilne in 1938. Di levando hot gefirt a vegitarishn restoran af daytshe gas 14, un rekomendirt dem restoran (tsum sof bukh) hobn, tsvishn andere: mark shagal, yudl mark, noyakh prilutsky, d. tsharni, yonas turkov, khes shin kazdan un shin mendelson. Ir megt zikh forshteln, az ikh hob dem balabos batsolt di 6.5 funt, vos er hot gebetn un mir hobn genumen di fis af di pleytses un gemakht pleyte. Zumer, afn mame-loshn fun arbeter-ring hob ikh dos bukh gevisz dem khaver mordkhe shekhter. Zogt er mir, az dos bukh iz a yekar hamtsiyes, un s'volt mit der tsayt gedarft zayn in YIVO. Nu, efsher mit der tsayt, ober dervayl shteyt dos bukh tsvishn mayne. Vayisheynis: Es klingt tsu mir mayn shtif-tokher. Arumdreyen zikh in a bikher gesheft nit vayt fun shtub (zi iz dokh dem tatns a kind!) hot zi derzen a yidish bukh. Hot zi es far mir gekoyft. Iz vil ikh visn tsi ementsn iz bakant dos bukh. Der m'khaber iz yankev leshtsinski; dos bukh heyst "afn rand fun opgrunt fun yidishn lebn in poyln 1927-1933" aroysgegebn durkhn tsentral farband fun poylishe yidn in argentine, (buenos ayres). Der oysleyg vi ir kent zikh forshteln, iz a moderner, YIVO oysleyg, azoy vi bay der m'khaberin, fani levando. Tsi veyst emetzer vegn dem yidn leshtsinski? Ikh vel aykh dankbar zayn oyb ir kent mir moydye zayn epes vegn m'khaber. A sheynem dank Pessl Beckler-Semel-Stern 6)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon, 31 May 1999 15:00:13 -0400 (EDT) From: Marion Troia Subject: Lists, word & name Dear Mendelianer, Translators from Yiddish to English share some common problems: What spelling to use for words not translated? (matses or the better known matzoth). How far to go giving explanations in footnotes or special word lists? ('shabbes' the general reader should know, but 'khazn', 'tfile'?). How to render Yiddish personal names? (Moyshe-Moshe). Do we have to explain all Jewish holidays again and again? Are there any ready made lists with some authority available on the Net that could solve all or some of these problems? Thank you for sharing your information, Lucas Bruyn. 7)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 1 Jun 1999 23:56:19 -0400 (EDT) From: "A. Joseph Ross" Subject: Feet and legs Vulf Plotkin mentions that there is no distinction between "foot" and "leg" in Yiddish and attributes that to various slavic languages. But I believe that Hebrew, also, has no such distinction. Milt Koosman says that there is no differentiation in Yiddish between "finger" and "toe." I think there is. I've heard a "toe" referred to as a "fusfinger." This, too, is consistent with Hebrew. A.Joseph Ross 8)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 25 May 1999 22:57:44 -0400 (EDT) From: Victor Bers Subject: Founding MENDELE: a correction In his remarks on the provenance of our members (Vol. 9.001), Iosif Vaisman writes of the time "When Noyekh Miller and Victor Bers started Mendele eight years ago..." This is a kovid to which I have no right whatsoever. Noyekh is the one and only Ur-Shames. My official (and truly minor) role began some time later when MENDELE was searching for a more commodious mainframe computer and I agreed to become the "local owner" at Yale. Now Iosif does the real work and I try to handle requests for help subscribing, unsubscribing, and postponing. Sub-Shames Bers 9)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 25 May 1999 23:53:52 -0400 (EDT) From: "Ellen F. Prince" Subject: Founding MENDELE: a correction As long as we're getting into Mendele-history, I have an addition, not a correction: In the beginning there was mail.yiddish, thanks to David Sherman. And mail.yiddish begat Mendele. There is a great irony in WHY Mendele was begat in the first place -- David, your motto must be 'He who laughs last laughs best', right? ;) Ellen Prince ______________________________________________________ End of Mendele Vol. 09.013 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