Mendele: Yiddish literature and language ______________________________________________________ Contents of Vol. 09.020 July 18, 1999 1) "Handel, handel" (Feygl Infeld Glezer) 2) Sholem Aleichem and Charlie Chaplin (Ester Vaisman) 3) Itzhak Katzanelson: "das lid wagen Szlomo Zalichowski" (Ada Holtzman) 4) The stress pattern of Ashkenazi Hebrew (Rick Turkel) 5) nito keyn foylyakes (Lucas Bruyn) 6) the dying language that refuses to die (Feygl Infeld Glezer) 7) Di Gojim and Gojim (Fred Sherman) 8) Di Gojim and Gojim (Reinhard "Ron" Hahn) 9) French expressions in Yiddish (Mikhl Herzog) 1)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Fri, 16 Jul 1999 05:41:28 -0400 (EDT) From: Feigl I Glaser Subject: "HANDEL, HANDEL" Dovid Krycer iz gerekht [09.017]. Dos lid vos iz gehert gevorn fun an aynvoyner in a moyshev-zikeynim in Melburn iz a barimte shafung fun eynem fun undzere barimte mikhabrim. Ikh ken zikh in itstikn moment nit dermonen ver es hot di poeme ongeshribn, ober mir hobn zi gelernt in di TSISHO-shuln in Poyln un ikh meyn az ikh gedenk khotsh a teyl fun fun di verter. Ikh meyn az der nomen fun der poeme iz "der hendler" oder "handel". Oysgeton fun zikh di shand, mit a zekl [efsher "shtekl"] in der hant geyt er um fun hoyf tsu hoyf, heybt di oygn hoykh aroyf un vi umetik es klingt ibern gantsn hoyf es klingt "handel, handel". Ekh vos zogt ir liber yid? Vos dertseylt mir ayer lid? - Kh'voyn dort oyf der Smotshe gas, In a keler faykht un nas; Zumer kumt dort nit arayn Fun der liber zun keyn shayn, Vinter shmayst der vint. Et vos hob ikh zikh farredt? Efsher hot ir an alt bet, Alte hoyzn, alte shikh, Vos ir vilt nor handl ikh... .... Handel, handel. Ikh bin zikher az imetser vet aykh zogn vu ir kent di poeme gefinen un az ir vet krign di resht fun di verter. Oyb ikh vel zikh dermonen dem sof, oder gefinen di poeme tsvishn mayhne bikher , vel ikh aykh dos mit fargenign tsushikn. Der hoyf- hendler mit der torbe un a shtekn in der hant iz geven a geveyntlekhe dershaynung in Poyln. Do redt zikh vegn a hoyf-hendler in Varshe (vu s'iz geven di barimte Smocza gas (Dragon Street). Mitn shtekn oder shtekl flegt er klapn oyfn hoyf (bay undz in dem ayzernem tirl fun untererdishn shtibl vu der "struzh" {hoyz-vekhter} hot gedreyt a pompe kedey tsu zamlen oyf di dekher regn-vaser), un azoy arum un mit di verter "handel, handel" vos er hot oysgeshrien, flegt er tsien di oyfmerkzamkeyt fun di aynvvoyner (spetsyel fun di kundeysim kinder). Di vayterdike verter "Handel,handel `kh`koyf alte zakhn; Handel, handel kh'hob nisht shabes tsu makhn..." hob ikh gehert di hendler oyszingen, ober ikh gloyb nit az dos zaynen a teyl verter fun der barimter poeme. Mit beste grusn, Ayer, Feygl Infeld Glezer 2)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Fri, 16 Jul 1999 16:01:50 -0400 (EDT) From: Ester Vaisman Subject: Sholem Aleichem and Charlie Chaplin In Mendele, volume 09.013, Larry Rosenwald asked what Sholom Aleichem thought about Charlie Chaplin. Sholom Aleichem himself provides the answer: "Chaplin has the ablility to fill many hearts with joy, particularly children's hearts; without children's laughter the world couldn't exist. Charlie's image fascinated me. Everything about him is grandiose: the small moustache, the excessively large, worn out shoes, the wide, ragged trousers, the tight frock-coat, the tattered derby, the crooked cane, the bizarre walk. This image in itself is a genuine work of art. No one has ever created anything of the like, neither with pen, nor with brush." This quote comes from the journal "Tsaytshrift" (Paris, 1956, n.14, p. 147-150). I found it in a collection of essays entitled "Sholom Aleikhem: Pisatel' i Chelovek" ("Sholom Aleichem: the Writer and the Man", Moscow, 1994), compiled and edited by M. S. Belen'kii. The same book contains an essay by Peretz Markish, written in 1939, but apparently not published until 1959. It was translated into Russian by B. Kotik and E. Lazebnikova, and originally printed in a literary journal "Druzhba Narodov" (Moscow, 1959, n.3). In the following excerpt from his essay, Markish addresses some similarities between Sholom Aleichem and Chaplin: "In the character of his comic elements, Sholom Aleichem is close to Charlie Chaplin. In essence, Sholom Aleichem's little man, just like Charlie, takes the road of his misfortunes. Sholom Aleichem's characters are so surprisingly serious, so immersed in their own naive calculations, so deeply, almost statesmanly worried: Bismarck didn't, G-d forbid, catch a cold, did he? For if Bismarck has caught a cold, the stock market will fall, and then, before you know it, the smell of war is in the air.... And all this -- the seriousness and the naivete, the high politics and the people's diplomacy, from people who already who knows how long haven't had a crumb in their mouths, and who can't wait until a three-rouble note from home arrives here, to the exchange...." Both of the above quotes were also included in Belen'kii's book, "Biographia Smekha" ("A Biography of Laughter", Moscow, 1991). Belen'kii writes: "A surprising coincidence: the beginning of Chaplin's artistic career coincided with the date of Sholom Aleichem's second visit to New York, 1914. The writer highly valued the cinema, which was able not only to amuse, but also to convey important information to broad sections of the population. He frequently visited small movie theaters in Harlem and those near his home. One can say without doubt that Sholom Aleichem hadn't missed a single one of Chaplin's films." Footnotes: Moisei Solomonovich Belen'kii was a writer, translator, philosopher, director of a Yiddish theatrical college at GOSET (Gosudarstvennyi Evreiskii Teatr), and chief editor of the publishing house "Der Emes". He had been arrested in 1949, was imprisoned for more than a year, and afterwards spent four more years in a camp near Karaganda. He has written over a dozen books and many articles. Belen'kii was one of the leading scholars of Sholom Aleichem in the Soviet Union. He compiled, edited, and wrote comments for three six-volume collections of Sholom Aleichem's works, translated into Russian (1959-1961, 1971-1974, 1988-1990). He died two years ago in Israel. The quotes in this posting were translated from Russian; I haven't seen the Yiddish originals. Ester Vaisman 3)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Fri, 16 Jul 1999 10:46:40 -0400 (EDT) From: ada01@netvision.net.il Subject: Itzhak Katzanelson: "das lid wagen Szlomo Zalichowski" Shalom, this poem, written by Itzhak Katzanelson, the Holocaust poet, in Ghetto Warsaw, July 1942, following the public execution of 10 Jews in Zdunska Wola. Szlomo Zalichowski, son of Reb Gedalia was from Pabianice and only moved to Zdunska Wola during the war. I would like to know if anyone knows if this poem was translated to English, when, by whom and where? I wish to include in my new memorial web page dedicated to Zdunska Wola, http://www.geocities.com/Paris/Rue/4017/zdunska/zdunska.htm Many thanks, Ada Holtzman ISRAEL 4)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Fri, 16 Jul 1999 15:38:24 -0400 (EDT) From: rturkel@cas.org Subject: The stress pattern of Ashkenazi Hebrew Rubke Fischmann asked in Mendele 09.015: Although this list is devoted to Yiddish, I would like to enquire about the nature of word-stress in the traditional Ashkenazi pronunciation of the loshn-koydesh. I understand that the majority of words are stressed penultimately, unless the last-but-one syllable contains a khotef vowel - in that case the stress shifts on the third syllable from the end. Is that correct? For the most part, yes. Of course, if there _is_ no prepenultimate syllable, the stress does fall on the syllable with the chotef vowel, as in the word 'emes. 1. If it is so, then: what of the prefixes like l@-/li- (@ being schwa), b@-/bi-, or, for that matter, the definite article ha-/ho-/hey? Can they ever bear stress? Not that I know of, except possibly for emphasis. This is another exception to the general rule, like the chotef vowel mentioned above. (e.g. in the brokhe: ['boyrey 'pri 'ho?eyts] OR [ho'?eyts] ?) Definitely the latter. The former sounds terrible to me. 2. Do the same rules of prosody apply to the Aramaic of the gemore or some of the tfiles? I'm not 100% sure that they do, but I can't think of any exceptions al regel achas. Hope this helps. A gutn. Rick Turkel 5)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 15 Jul 1999 11:17:08 -0400 (EDT) From: Marion Troia Subject: nito keyn foylyakes I ask Ms Khane Kleine to forgive me for responding to her refutation of my criticism of Yiddish in admirable Yiddish in English. I belong to the growing group of people, who thoroughly enjoy Yiddish, but cannot call it 'mameloshn'. Living in a region where Yiddish is not spoken and not being wealthy enough to follow 'summer courses' abroad I depend on 'books'. To answer her point by point: 1. It is very good news that an index of all words contained in the 'Thesaurus of the Yiddish Language' is forthcoming. Nahum Stutchkoff's work appeared almost 50 years ago and its one obvious defect, the absence of such an index, must have been clear to all who used this treasure since. The compilation of such a list does not call for an expert linguist - its just a lot of work. That it had to take 50 years to do it seems a bit excessive. The availability of a comprehensive word list of a language is the prerequisite for the putting together of dictionaries. Let us hope Simon Neuberg will make his list available to all, preferably on the Net. 2. First I would like to point out that I was speaking about the (22nd) edition of Alexander Harkavy's English-Yiddish & Yiddish English Dictionary, which does not contain Hebrew. Secondly, that the (first edition of the) dictionary of 'fun loshn-koydesh shtamike verter' by Niborski and Neuberg does on the one hand not contain very many words not to be found in Weinreich's English-Yiddish & Yiddish-English dictionary and on the other is still far from complete. The words not contained in Weinreich could easily be translated into English. I agree that these three dictionaries were written with a different concept. Harkavi wrote in the first place for speakers of Yiddish, who having immigrated to the States needed to learn English. Weinreich wanted to purify the Yiddish language of Germanisms etc. and to set a new standard: Modern Yiddish. Niborski gives a list of Jiddish words of Hebrew-Aramaic origin with their translations in Yiddish and literary quotations illustrating their usage. The concept of Weinreich's dictionary, though reasonable 30 years ago, is outdated. We don't need a prescriptive dictionary, but a dictionary of both spoken and literary Yiddish. Since the access to Yiddish for many new learners of the language is through literature, all words to be found in say Sholem Aleykhem's work ought to be in, whether puristically correct or not. Also all words to be heard in the modern spoken language, whether in the States, Canada, the former Soviet Union, Israel, South-America, Europe or Australia, should be in. This is not the case. My proposal to fuse at least the three dictionaries mentioned would be only one step towards the goal. With modern computer technology an easy step. The argument that this would be impossible because one cannot mix apples with pears does not hold. Basically all three dictionaries contain but one ingredient, Yiddish. Any new dictionary is a fusion of the lexicographic work previously done, with new additions. It would seem to me that the main reason why it has not been done yet is because the publishers of these works pay rather homage to the God of copyright than work for the benefit of the Yiddish language. 3. I have nothing against 'College Yiddish' per se". It is only thoroughly outdated. Obviously it escapes Ms Kleine, that during the last 50 years the approaches to language teaching have radically changed. I would be happy to explain, but would have to write a separate piece on the subject. The Gaon of Vilna is well known for the great interest he took in physics. He missed Newton, because he only read on the subject in Hebrew. You missed the 'communicative' approach in language teaching and so did all writers of recent Yiddish textbooks. I dare say: there is not one decent book for learning Yiddish on the market - if we may compare them to the courses available for learning most modern languages. 4. I have never been to any seminar for teachers of Yiddish. However, judging by the courses available, they must be substandard. From my correspondence with several prominent teachers of Yiddish it became clear to me that they generally don't have any idea about modern methodology or socio-linguistics and what is more - they show very little interest. Some time ago I summoned the Mendelianer to work together on making an inventory of all existing teaching materials available. Only one reaction. A critical review of one of the most recently published course books was rejected by "The Mendele Review", because the writer might be offended. I maintain: Yiddish is very much alive, but a bit lazy. Lucas Bruyn. 6)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Fri, 16 Jul 1999 19:03:30 -0400 (EDT) From: Feigl I Glaser Subject: the dying language that refuses to die di shtarbndike shprakh vos zogt zikh op fun shtarbn Shoyn iber 100 yor vi gevise"perzenlekhkeytn" redn vegn Yidish vi a shtarbndike shprakh. Ikh (un avade oykh a sakh fun aykh) hob gehert farsheydene shtus vegn Yidish: 1. "Yidish iz nit keyn shprakh, nor a gemish fun farsheydene shprakhn." Mayn gelungnster entfer oyf dem iz geven gevondn tsu an English-geboyrenem kuzin, vos hot geredt mit a "cockney accent" un mit bitul tsu Yidish, az "nit ale zaynen gebentsht mit a kuzine, vos redt in tsvey azelkhe gemishte nit-shprakhike shprakhn - Yiddish un English". Vi ken men gor farglaykhn di tsvey shprakhn, hot er zikh gevundert un er iz gevorn oyser zikh baleydikndik. 2. Ikh hob gehert vegn eynem, "a groysn shprakhn-kener" vos hot zikh oysgedrikt far talmidim fun Yiddish in Columbia Universitet, az der untersheyd tsvishn a shprakh un a dyalekt iz: "a shprakh hot a land un a dialekt hot nit." Nu, vos ken men nebekh fun im farlangen, az dos gantse lebn hot men im in Isroel geshtupt azoyne trotshines in kop arayn, un farshteyt zikh az dos iz a groyser , groyser "nonsense". Un vifl mentshn fun mizrekh-ayrope, afile azelkhe vos barimen zikh az zey shtamen fun rabonishn ikhes, dertseyln dem umzin, "az dortn hobn zey nit gekent keyn Yiddish; nor ersht do, in di Fareynikte Shtatn hobn zey zikh oysgelernt di shprakh?" Aza eyne, a gor noente kroyve mayne, hob ikh amol gefregt tsi "zi hot keyn mol nit geredt tsu ir tatn un mamen, vayl yene hobn dokh biklal nit gekent keyn andere shprakh vi Yidish. Dos aynredn dort di yidish-redndike yidn az me darf nor redn hebreish un di shprakh funem land vu zey voynen, iz geven di arbet fun der Haskole bavegung un fun di Hebreistn vos hobn gevolt dos loshn mit koyekh aroysraysn fun zikorn fun di Yidish-redndike. Azoy vi ir ale, bin ikh zeyer tsufridn az in gevise gimnazyes, in ale gehoybene universitetn un in a sakh vinkelekh iber der velt lernen zikh yugntlekhe Yidish. Ikh bin tsufridn az azoy fil eltere mentshn lekhtsn nokh a Yidish vort un kumen zikh oyslebn in Yidish in farsheydene tsentern. Ikh bin tsufridn, az endlekh hot di kneset onerkent Yidish vi a shprakh vun Yidn un az in gevise erter iber Medines Isroel vert gelernt a bisl Yidish. Dos iz a groyser shrit foroys. Ikh bin tsufridn vos es zaynen oyfgekumen azoy fil klezmer-kapeles un khorn vos kumen zikh lernen Yidish kedey tsu farshteyn di muzik un lirik vos zey shpiln un zingen. Ikh bin tsufridn az Mame-Loshn un andere Yidish-libhobers kumen zikh tsuzamen oyf a por teg kedey zikh tsu lernen Yidish un tsu farbrengen in a Yidisher svive. Un dokh iz umetik oyfn harts! Me ruft Yidish mame-loshn vayl dos iz geven dos ershte loshn vos Yidishe kinder hobn ongehoybn hern un aynzapn in zikh fun zeyere mames, ven zey hobn gezeygt milkh fun di mames brustn. Vifl azelkhe kinder hobn mir haynt, say tsvishn di veltlekhe yidn, say tsvishn di religyeze? Zeltn ven un vu me ken hern afile tsvishn di kinder in Boro Park, Monsey un andere shtokhim bazetst fun frume, a Yidish vort. Zeltn voser Yishive lernt mit di kinder shraybn un leyenen yidish, shoyn opgeredt fun Yidishe lider un Yidisher literatur. A sakh fun di yidishe togshuln in dorem amerike zaynen tsu bislekh ibergegangen in di hent fun di hebreistn. Frier hot men dort gelernt hebreish vi a tsveyte shprakh ober itst lernt men dort Yidish oyfn shpits fun a tey-lefele. Di yidishe tsdoke federatsyes un andere organizatsyes helfn veynik tsu organizirn yidishe shuln un yidishe klasn. Ikh veys nit fun vanen es kenen kumen groyse masn Yidish-redndike kayn Amerike un kayn Isroel. Fun di nokhmitog shuln kenen mir tsu fil nit dervartn - di kinder veln zikh dortn oyslernen a lidele, a poemele vegn a yidishn yontev, a bisele un take a bisele leyenen un shraybn, un a bisl yidishe legendes. Keyn gute lerer fun yidish veln fun di nokhmitogshuln nit aroyskumen. Fun di kaledzhes kumen aroys a bisl yidish redndike, ober zeyer shprakh iz a shtolene un bagrenetste. Yidish lebt, ober es iz troyerik oyfn harts. Der lerer Kazdan hot lange yorn gefodert men zol boyen yidishe togshuln taynendik az nor azoyne shuln kenen farzikhern dem kium fun mame-loshn. Es zaynen demolt geven fil nokh-milkhomedike imigrantn vos hobn mit di kinder in der heym geredt Yidish un fil Amerikaner geboyrene vos hobn gekent a gutn yidish. Vel ikh itst nit arayngeyn in di yemoltike sikhsokhim beis shul-konferentsn. S'iz afile geven baym Arbeter-Ring a gresere sume gelt far dem tsvek (vos ikh veys nit vos es iz dermit geshen). Der Yidish Natsyonaler Arbeter Farband hot a tsayt yo gehat a vizye un geefnt dray togshuln in New York (di Kineret A', Kineret B' un eyne in Brighton. Trots di groyse makhloykes tsvishn komitet-mitglider un di Pyonern Froyen onfirershaft, vos hot deroyf gegebn groyse sumes gelt, (di merste makhloykes zaynen geven vegn Yidish vs English), iz der hoypt limud geven yidish. Tsu bislekh hobn naye shvakhere mentshn ibergenumen di firershaft funem shuln komitet; di groyse firer funem shuln-komitet zaynen oysgeshtorbn un es zaynen arayngekumen naye mistome Amerikaner-geboyrene komitet-mitglider, naye lerer , un mistome iz oykh geven der druk fun Isroel vayl epes iz dort kale gevorn der eysik. Itst shtelt zikh di frage: tsi hobn mir take farshpetikt di ban, oder ken men khapn a shpetere ban? Vos kenen mir ton vegn dem inien Yidishe togshuln? Vos zayt ir, vi a yokhid greyt tsu ton dervegn un vos iz ayer organizatsye feik un vilig tsu ton oyf tsu farzikhern dem kium fun Yidish. Genug geredt un gevorfn shmuts eyner oyfn andern. S'iz di hekhste tsayt zikh farkatshen di arbl un nemen tsu di keshenes. Ikh bet aykh tsu shraybn direkt tsu mir oder/un durkh Mendele. Ikh hof az mir veln bikorev anshtot tsu zogn "di shtarbndike shprakh vos zogt zikh op fun shtarn", zogn "di lebedike shprakh vos lebt un vet lebn"!!! Mit hartsike, vareme, khavershe grusn, Ayer, Feygl Infeld Glezer 7)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 15 Jul 1999 12:20:37 -0400 (EDT) From: Fred Sherman Subject: Di Gojim and Gojim I am alarmed at the interest in Yiddish music by all these goyim. Don't they realize how dead Yiddish is? Gentiles singing Yiddish music, Japanese professors teaching Yiddish to Israelis--if things keep going on like this, g_d knows what will happen. Fred Sherman 8)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Fri, 16 Jul 1999 16:21:22 -0400 (EDT) From: Lowlands-L Administrator Subject: "Di Gojim and Gojim" Many thanks to Stanley (Zalman) Matoren for his piece about East European Jewish music and Yiddish songs performed by European Gentiles ("Di Gojim and Gojim" -- Mendele Vol 09.015, 7). He writes: What do you think of the revival in Europe, both East and West, of the interest in Yiddish music (klezmer) by groups of non-Jewish performers? This movement began in some cases as long ago as a quarter of a century. I am quite sure -- based on my personal experience -- that it goes back farther than that, at least to the early 1960s. However, it may well be correct to say that the history of major recording activities goes back no farther than to the mid 70s. Furthermore, Northwest European Gentile interest in Jewish music goes beyond klezmer music. It includes lyrical, theatrical and spiritual pieces as well. It is, however, true to say that popular interest has been reinforced more recently by the burgeoning of what might be seen as an international klezmer music "revival" and the relative ease with which one can have one's music published these days (on CDs). Jewish music, both Ashkenazi and Sephardi, has long had its admirers, even fanatics, among non-Jews in post-war Western Europe, though admittedly by a minority. Although I am aware of some activities in other countries, I can competently speak only of Germany. I understand that the Holocaust awareness campaign in that country stimulated far more interest in Jewish history and culture than is known by those who rely mostly on selective and washed-down information provided by centralized international press agencies. There has been, for the past fifty-odd years, a flood of German language publications on Jewish topics, and numerous Yiddish and Hebrew works have been published in German translation. Publications such as those by the Swiss Salcia Landmann helped to create an interest and appreciation of the Yiddish language in German-speaking areas. Jewish music recordings have always found a keen audience in post-war Germany. In Hamburg I attended several concerts featuring Yiddish music and song performed by artists from several countries in packed houses. Moreover, some German artists, though not all that many that were then considered "marketable," have included Jewish, especially Yiddish, songs in their repertoires. Yiddish songs played important parts in the folk music movement of the 1960s in Germany and other West European countries. These tended to be performed in special international folk music clubs, mostly by non-Jews. Personally I have had the pleasure of listening to some splendid performances of Yiddish songs by non-Jews, based on solid language and culture study. However, hardly any of these performances were recorded. The movement grew out of a branch of a post-war sub- or counter-culture and was not considered economically exploitable then. It seems that this is now changing, probably thanks to the discovery of klezmer music by the larger recording studios around the world. Music tends to be at the forefront of crossing ethnic boundaries. Ethnic apartheid in folk music is a thing of the past, as is musical gender division (e.g., women now performing sea chanteys and other work songs originally considered strictly male domains). Yidishe lider oys goyishe moyler? Why not indeed? So what if the old pronunciation needs a bit tweaking here and there? We can deal with that. Best regards, Reinhard "Ron" Hahn Seattle, USA 9)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Fri, 16 Jul 1999 16:30:01 -0400 (EDT) From: "Mikhl Herzog" Subject: French expressions in Yiddish Harold Orbach's question (9.018) about French expressions in Yiddish calls to mind Max Weinreich's report of the _di pa'rshive remi'ze_ (in Vilna?)--as I recall, the place where the firefighters parked their equipment, apparently derived from French _remise por chevaux_, the location where Napolean's soldiers billeted their horses. Mikhl Herzog ______________________________________________________ End of Mendele Vol. 09.020 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