Mendele: Yiddish literature and language ______________________________________________________ Contents of Vol. 09.027 September 9, 1999 1) fishman-fundatsiye dermonung (Joshua Fishman) 2) Abraham Brumberg's article (Bruce Mitchell) 3) Brumberg's article (Anatole Beck) 4) Brumberg on Yiddish/Hebrew (Charles H Fuchsman) 5) Abraham Brumberg's article (Mendy Fliegler) 6) translation help (Jason Payne) 7) Dybbuk stars (Michael Steinlauf) 8) From Haiku to Khaiku (Marjorie/Mirl Schonhaut Hirshan) 9) Yiddish proverb (Harlan Coben) 1)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Sun, 5 Sep 1999 11:02:04 -0400 (EDT) From: Joshua Fishman Subject: fishman-fundatsiye dermonung Proyektn af tsu shtarkn yidish tsvishn kinder un yugnt veln batrkht vern af der zitsung fun di direktorn fun der fishman-fundatsiye sof oktober. 1999. Aplikatsiyes in shaykes mit proyektn vos veln zikh onheybn inem nayem yor (tasha"s/2000) darfn onkumen tsu der fundatsiye (afn nayem adres: 3616 Henry Hudson parkway, Apt. 7B-N, Riverdale, NY 10463) nit shpeter vi oktober dem 15tn, 1999. Aplikatsiyes muzn zayn af yidish un muzn bagleyt vern durkh a genoyem budzshet fun nit mer vi $2000. Men ken zikh vendn tsu bakumen a kontrolirke ("check-list") fun di foderungen fun der fundatsiye baym durkhkukn aplikatsiyes. Joshua Fishman 2)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Sun, 29 Aug 1999 17:39:44 -0400 (EDT) From: Bruce Mitchell Subject: Abraham Brumberg's article Abraham Brumberg mentions in his article regarding the history of polemics surrounding the use of Yiddish vs. Hebrew that Ladino has "virtually no surviving speakers" and further that it has almost no literary merit (Mendele Vol. 09.024). In fact, there are several thousand speakers of "Ladino", also called Judeo-Spanish and Judezmo in academic circles, both in Israel and the diaspora. Centres such as Bat-Yam, Netanya, and Jerusalem are an uncontestable fact in Israel, while there are approximately 19,000 speakers in Turkey, and between one and two thousand in Greece. One can also find small groups of speakers in France, Belgium, and the United States, Seattle in particular. As for "Ladino" having no literary merit, I must again object. Matilda Coen Sarano, a contemporary Ladino author residing in Jerusalem, has recently authored several anthologies of Sephardic stories, composed orginal poetry, and written a musical icomedy which was staged in Ladino in Mexico City just two years ago. There is also an amateur Ladino theatre in Bat-Yam which, in many ways, is more vibrant than the Yiddish version in Tel-Aviv. Various dramatists (Sarah Benveniste Benrey, R. Anach, et alia) have composed new plays to be staged in recent years and continue to do so. The same troupe stages Ladino versions of contemporary Hebrew and French comedies. This company sells over two thousand tickets per season. I cannot even list in this brief email the various poets in Turkey, Israel, and elsewhere. For a more in depth discussion of contemporary Ladino culture, I suggest reading my last three articles on the topic in the quarterly "Los Muestros" (Di Unzere),numbers 33, 34, and 35, which are available on line at (www.sefarad.org). As for Ladino not being suppressed to the same extent as Yiddish in the early years of the Zionist state, this is quite accurate. However, this is no longer the case. While Yiddish is a subject studied in Israeli secondary schools, there is to date only one religious all-girls school in the entire country which offers Ladino as a language, despite it's tenaciously vibrant culture. Where is the funding from the Israeli government for Ladino programs in areas with large populations of Jews from Turkey and Greece? Yiddish certainly has it in many locations, not that I think Yiddish funding is by any means sufficient. I trust that Abraham Brumberg is well meaning in his appraisal of Ladino, but he needs to revise a few facts before making such sweeping proclamations about the language. In his defense, I can only say that some people have even been awarded doctorates in "Ladino" and made similar factual oversights. One dissertation in particular, dated 1979, claims that, despite repeated efforts, no speakers under twenty years of age could be found (University if Michigan awarded this doctorate, I believe). In 1998, I found more than a few speakers under twenty, and dozens more who would have been around or under twenty years of age in 1979 (for a clearly documented example, check the children of Matilda Coen Sarano, all under forty years old, two of which are fluent in Ladino while another has only partial competence). This is truly a sad state of affairs in academia. Yiddish Regarding Brumbergs statements about efforts to keep Yiddish alive, I must point out that any efforts at keeping Yiddish alive pale in comparison with all the concerted efforts made to kill it off as quickly as possible. This notwithstanding, Dovid Katz makes clear in his article in the July 6th edition of the Forverts, that there are indeed a good many authors who still write in Yiddish, but they are systematically overlooked in the Anglo/American Jewish press. Perhaps if more Yiddish speakers looked at what remains of Yiddish culture instead of bemoaning its demise, there would be a much more vibrant Yiddish language readership. Then there is the sad fact that the Sokhnut (please correct my transliteration if it is faulty) is actively discouraging the propagation of Yiddish in the former Soviet Union. On this point, I wholeheartedly agree with Brumberg. During my recent visit to Vilna, I was sickened by the way in which the Israeli goverment bribes Lithuanian Jews not to teach Yiddish in a school called "Sholem Aleichem". Teach Yiddish as a living language, which it still is in Vilna among Jews over forty, and the school gets no funding. TO my knowledge, however, the school isn't even teaching Yiddish as a dead language, but as an extra-curricular activity, which amounts to nothing substantial. Finally, I would like to take issue with the "except for the ultra-orthodox". That is a BIG, and I mean BIG "except". We are talking about hundreds of thousands of speakers, the most vibrant Yiddish press in the world, a thriving literature for children, and much more. Sadly enough, "except for the ultra-orthodox" is becoming a lieu commun in articles dealing with the current state of Yiddish (none of which Brumberg quotes). If I spoke about German in America, for example, I might say that "except for the Mennonites, the Amish (alias the Pennsylvania Dutch), and small communities of German speakers in rural Texas, German is dead in America". Indeed, if I systematically excluded all of those groups who currently use German in America today, I could very safely say "German is dead in America". Very unfortunately indeed, such is the current state of discourse when discussing Yiddish, Ladino, and other Jewish vernaculars of the diaspora. I am just glad I still have enough of a taste for the absurd that I can still laugh between tears. Bruce Mitchell 3)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 31 Aug 1999 08:03:16 -0400 (EDT) From: Anatole Beck Subject: Brumberg's article The excellent report by Abraham Brumberg gives a good overall insight into the struggle between Hebrew and the language which I had always called Jewish until the Zionists campaigned against that usage in the late 1940s. (It is still called Juif in France, e.g.) The venom which was heaped upon it and its culture by the Zionists has always offended me, but as an indicator of motivation, let me point out that they have always also poured their scorn upon Ashkenazic Hebrew. The pretense that the proponents of "modern Hebrew" were concerned to have a language which would encompass the Sephardim as well is clearly belied by the atrocious way in which the racist European majority in Israel have treated the Jews from the Magrebh, from Yemen, from India, and from Ethiopia. It is manifest from the practice of the chalitzim that the purpose of the new accent was to create psychological distance between themselves and their despised cousins who had not taken up the same Cause. As Chaver Brumberg notes, the slighting of Yiddish (as opoposed to e.g. Ladino) continues to this day. I have noted that we now have at least 2 generations of American Jews who feel closer to King David than to their own great-grandparents. The contempt for the Yiddish Laguage (which post-biblical Hebrew cannot match in literature and culture) and its people (on the part of the Israelis) is greater than the residue of antiSemitism we can still detect in the Western democracies. For those who hold me and mine in comtempt, but still demand my support in various ways, I have only short Saxon explitives. I should be above such petty annoyances. Perhaps I should have learned from an ancient Jewish carpenter of Nazareth to turn the other cheek, but I still find it difficult. As one of the few native speakers of my language left on the earth, I thank Chaver Brumberg on behalf of all the Jews of the Golos (not galot) and add my voice to his, with perhaps a touch more vitriol. Anatole Beck. 4)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 1 Sep 1999 18:36:17 -0400 (EDT) From: "Charles H Fuchsman" Subject: Brumberg on Yiddish/Hebrew 1. Does Brumberg overstate the Bund role in the flowering if Yiddish culture? The Bund was founded in 1897, by which time Mendele Mokher Sforim had published virtually all his Yiddish writings, and Sholem Aleikhem and I.L.Peretz were well-known authors. Of course, some Bund leaders, like Khaim Zhitlovski and Vladimir Medem, were champions of Yiddish, and were great exemplars in their writings and speeches. But the Bund appears to have used Yiddish opportunistically rather than to have provided an engine of cultural growth. 2. Does Brumberg underestimate the growth of Yiddish literature and culture in the Soviet Union? Most of the prominent Soviet Yiddish writers (except for Itzik Fefer) had achieved reputations as creative writers before 1917. (E.g. Peretz Markish and David Hofshtein). Some had left Russia during the Civil War years, for Germany and Poland, but soon returned to Russia. Their writing draw on authentic Jewish tradition. During the 1920's, there was a real efflorescence in Soviet Yiddish culture: secular Yiddish-language schools; journals, large editions of books by classic and contemporary Yiddish authors; Yiddish translations of works by Shakespeare, Tolstoi, Dickens, Hugo. With the antisemitism manifest in the 1930's this all came to an end, and many writers were subsequently imprisoned and killed. But to regard them as Communist toadies, of "unconditional fealty to the Third Rome" is gratuitous and undeserved. 3. Was the Ashkenazic pronunciation of Hebrew words used in Yiddish a factor in the Israeli proscription of Yiddish? With the arbitrary sanctification of Spanish (Sfardi) Yikhes for Jewish culture, even prayer in Ashkenazic Hebrew became objectionable. Charles Fuchsman 5)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Fri, 3 Sep 1999 22:41:39 -0400 (EDT) From: Mendy Fliegler Subject: Abraham Brumberg's article Es dakht zikh mir az Khaver Brumberg hot uns gegebn a sheyne geshikhte vegn Yidish, der Bund, un di Tsionistn, un hot fargesn di literaturishe oytsers. Nor er hot es geshribn in English! Farvos nisht in Yidish, du, oyf 'Mendele'? Un ikh denk az er hot gemakht a groysn toes. Mir hobn shoyn gezen sheyne maynses fun di vos viln bagrobn Yidish, mentshn vi Ruth Wisse, un andere, az Yidish geyt unter (un nokh amul)....Es kukt oys az Khaver Brumberg vil take fargesn fun di rizikeYidish shraybers, Sholem Aleykhem, Mendele, Y.L.Perets, Avum Rayzn, Leyvik, un andere? Un vos hot pasirt az men zol avekvarfn di khevre fun Rusland, oyf zeyr yortsayt, di vos Stalin hot zey oysgeharget? Vos iz der mer mit zeyere shafungen? Un efsher nokh a pur verter vegn : vi azoy Yidish leybt oyf? Efsher ken Khaver Brumberg uns dertseln vifil universitetn in der velt hobn programen far profesorn, di vos lernen zayere lerers in Yidishe inyonim? Un efsher a bisl mer vegn generale Yidishe inyonim vos khapn zikh oyf?? Er muz dokh visn, az du in Vashington,DC iz di greste 'Tog Shule', Charles E. Smith, di greste in land,vos lernt di kinder Yidish, zey zoln kenen redn mit Yidn in Poyln un Rusland, ven zey forn oyf zeyr yorlekher rayze kayn Eyrope.....Un azoy vayter.... Ot iz a poeme vos ikh hob geshribn farayorn: 'Kapn, Kapn, Kapn' Herts oys-- Amol nokh a gutn regn, Ven s'hot zikh gereynikt-- Afile di luft? Un es blaybt dokh tropn-- Vos kapn, kapn, kapn. Azoy iz dos lebn, Mit krankhayt, gezunt Mit a shturm, pamelekh- Mit freyd un mit troyer-- Es loyft, un az nisht-- Vi tropn-- Kapn, kapn, kapn Oykh iz dos Yidish, Mit pintelekh vekn... Grine likhtelekh tropn: Kapn, kapn, kapn Ober herts oys, es vakst hekher! //Kapn, KAPN, KAPN// Es shvebt a khvalye mit oytsers fun oysyes, Mit vetlakh un vitsn, Iber der velt! Es roysht naye doyres-- Vos vekn oyf Yidish... Nisht mer, kapn, kapn, kapn Un ir veyst vos? Zey khapn zikh oyf!! Hey, derekh erets--di Khevre... Mendele, Sholem Aleykhem, un YLPeretz... H.Leyvik, Anski, Yosl Mlotek... un mer... Zey khapn zikh oyf, un SHRAYEN: "Hert oys, ratevet Yidish! Muzt khapn di tropn fun zilber un gold-- Diamantkelekh Yidish! Dem Loshn fun Folg" (Un mir hern zey) Naye vortslen kumen, Un es vert mikoyim, Naye pintelekh Yidish-- In Bikher- In Lider- Un Yidishe klangen hern zikh... Un men hert nisht-- Kapn, kapn, kapn. Mendy Fliegler 6)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon, 30 Aug 1999 14:37:34 -0400 (EDT) From: jason payne Subject: translation help Dear Mendelniks-- I've come across a couple of things from a Sholem Aleichem text that I cannot figure out. Can you help? 1. When describing a desk, Rabinovitsh mentions the "shmoktelyakes" on the desk. Anyone know what they are? 2. Is there an idiomatic Yiddish expression/folksaying that deals with having the "naynyerike kadokhes"? 3. I'm working on the assumption that "dult mir a spodek" is to nudge or pester, probably a lot like "hakn mayn tssaynik." Anyone know the origin of "dulen a spodek"? Any help appreciated. Thanks, Jason Payne 7)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Fri, 3 Sep 1999 13:01:27 -0400 (EDT) From: "Michael Steinlauf" Subject: Query: Dybbuk stars In the original production of the Dybbuk, which opened in Warsaw in December 1920, the lovers were played by Miriam Orleska (1900?-1942) and Alyosha (Eliohu) Shtayn (189?-194?). The dates are according to Zilbertsvayg's Leksikon. Can any khosheve Mendelyaner do any better? A sheynem dank foroys, Michael Steinlauf Philadelphia, Pa. 8)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 7 Sep 1999 12:18:44 -0400 (EDT) From: Marjorie Hirshan Subject: From Haiku to Khaiku or what would Sholem Aleichem say? A Contest for Mendele The Forward (in FastForward August 13) reviewed David Bader's new book _Haikus for Jews_. Remaining true to haiku form - 3 lines and 17 syllables - Mr. Bader mocks Jewish stereotypes, documents fantasies, is irritable with Jewish kvetching, which 'gives rise to an irreverent and relentlessly secular Jewish-American sensibility.' I found myself wondering what Sholem Aleichem would say. It mirrors our khutzpa, and makes us laugh at ourselves, iz es shoyn mstame gut far yidn... Some examples: Cherry blossoms bloom. Sure it's beautiful, but is it good for the Jews? No fins, no flippers, the gefilte fish swims with some difficulty. In the ice sculpture reflected bar mitzvah guests nosh on chopped liver. Heimlich. Is that a Jewish name? I wonder, as a diner turns blue. Is one Nobel Prize so much to ask from a child after all I've done? Five thousand years a wandering people -- then we found the cabanas. Looking for pink buds to prune back, the mohel tends his flower garden. Monarch butterfly I know your name used to be Catterpillarstein. How about some Mendele Khaikus in mameloshn? A contest? Oysielekh vern verter makhn zatsn - mendele neshome A life-time free subscription to Mendele to all entrants. Marjorie/Mirl Schonhaut Hirshan Boynton Beach, Florida 9)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 8 Sep 1999 15:18:15 -0400 (EDT) From: Bolitar@aol.com Subject: Yiddish proverb Perhaps you can help me. My name is Harlan Coben. I'm a novelist and I'm trying to track down the origins of a Yiddish proverb I once heard. In English: "When a father gives to his son, they both laugh. When a son gives to his father, they both cry." Do you by any chance know who originally said this or is it merely credited as a Yiddish proverb? Thank you very much for your time. Best, Harlan Coben ______________________________________________________ End of Mendele Vol. 09.027 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