Mendele: Yiddish literature and language ______________________________________________________ Contents of Vol. 09.037 October 25, 1999 1) Chanan Levkovitz, z'l (Sylvia Schildt) 2) Meldoong foon Veltrat far Yiddisher Kooltoor (Gershon Winer) 3) The Golden Age of Yiddish-American Radio (Yair Reiner) 4) Brumberg on Yiddish/Hebrew (Charles Fuchsman) 5) The Yiddish of the "Hareidim" (Abraham Joshua Heschel) 1)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon, 25 Oct 1999 18:49:18 -0400 (EDT) From: Sylvia Schildt Subject: Chanan Levkovitz, z'l Mit Tifstn Troyer vil ikh lozn visn undzere khaverim az undzer balibter kultur mitfirer CHANAN LEVKOVITZ iz avek in der eybikeyt dem 22tn oktober in yisroyl. Chanan hot nit nor faryosemt zayn mishpokhe nor eykh zayne fraynt in yisroyl un amerike. er iz geven zeyer tetik do mit undz in yidish fun groys boltimor un hot geshafn an eygene muzikalishe kapelye. er eleyn hot geshpilt mandolin, banjo un fidl un hot gezungen far undz balibte yidishe un hebraishe lider. geboyrn iz er in trab, a shtetl vos gefint zikh itzt in belarus, nor er hot zikh batrakht far a vilner un hot geredt a raykhn vilner yidish. bees di melhome hot chanan gekemft als yunger partizaner in di naliboker pushtshes kegn di nazis un zeyere mithelfer. onkumendik in yisroyl nokh der melkhome hot er ongeheybn kemfn kegn di sonim fun medinat israel. Er hot nit lang tzurik geredt farn eylem do im boltimor, farn avekforn kin yisroyl af a kleyne rayze (di letzte) un geredt optimistish vegn hofnungen fun sholem, vi eykh far a kium in isroyl far der yidisher shprakh. Er felt undz sheyn. With Deepest Sorrow ... I wish to inform our friends that our beloved cultural co-leader CHANAN LEVKOVITZ passed into eternity on the 22nd of october, in Israel. Chanan has not only orphaned his family but also his friends in israel and america. he was very active with us in Yiddish of Greater Baltimore and created his own musical group. He himself played mandolin, banjo and fiddle and sang for us beloved yiddish and hebrew songs. He was born in Trab, a shtetl that is now in Belarus, but he always considered himself a a Vilner and spoke a rich Vilner Yiddish. During the war, Chanan fought as a young partisan in the Naliboki wilderness against the Nazis and their helpers. arriving in israel after the war, he began to fight against the enemies of Medinat Israel. Not long ago, he spoke here in Baltimore, before leaving for Israel for a small trip (the last one) and spoke optimistically about hopes for peace, as well as for a future in Israel for the Yiddish language. He s already sorely missed. Sylvia Schildt Yiddish of Greater Baltimore Baltimore, Maryland 2)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon, 18 Oct 1999 10:54:39 -0400 (EDT) From: Winer Subject: Velt-konferenz - Meldoong foon Veltrat far Yiddisher Kooltoor Der Veltrat far Yidisher Kooltoor, beshootfes mit der Natzyonaler Instantz far Yiddish (oofgeshtelt in ainklang mitn ongenumenem Knesset gezets) rooft tzoonoif an Internatzionale Yiddish Konferentz, vos vet opgehaltn veren in Beit Hatfutsot, Tel Aviv, Montig, Dinstig un Mitvoch, dem driten-ferten-feenftn Yanuar, 2000. Oifn shvel foon nayem yor-toizent, shteln mir arois als di tzentrale teme foon der konferenz: "Dee Shliches foon Yiddish in eere Natzyonale oon Ooniversale Vertn" Der tzeel iz tzunoiftzubreingn akademiker oon kooltoor forshtei-er, oich mechutz undzere aigene kraizen, zich araintzootrachtn in der role foon Yiddish in der oishtaltung foon yochid oon klal in di kumendige doires. Die kavoneh is nit klingendike frazeologie, nor oofrichtig un teefzeenik zich bami-en tzu entfern oif der frage: Tzu hot Yiddish epes mamoshesdik tzu geben die neie doires? Eez Yiddish der iker nastalgie un humor, nor take eedei-en oon verten? Tzu hobn die verk fun undsere groise shefer epes tzu zogn, tzu lernen un tzu eenspeereern dem nayem eed, voo er zol nit zain? Die untershte shure -- in derech foon Y.L.Peretz's oofoderung tzu der moderner Iddisher kooltoor: "neet genoog Yiddish reden, men darf oich epes oif Yiddish zogn." Gleichtzeitig veln meer opmerken dem siyum foon dem literarish-historishn proyekt foon Arye Aharoni een eeberzetzn oon aroisgebn een Hebre-ish dee foole zamlung foon Sholem Aleichem's ale verk, vos bizn heintign tog eez es affeele nit farveerklecht gevorn in Yiddishn moker. Dos vet kumen tzum oisdruk in sessyes geveedmet dee idei-en oon vertn in zaine shafoongn. Es veln oich zain sesies tzoo batrachtn dem matzev oon dee problemn foon Yiddish in Yisroel oon dee tfootzes. Akademiker vern farbetn ooftzootretn mit a referat oif a teme een shaiches mit Sholem Aleichem oder andere shefer oon shafoongn een Yidddisher leeteratoor, shprach, te-ater oon folklor, een gaist foon oibndermontn tzeel. Yeder oiftreet meg gedoi-ern beez 30 meenootn. Hotel oon shpaizn oifn cheshbn foon Veltrat. Bashteloongn darfn gemacht vern neet shpeter vee dem ershtn detzember. Avrom Karpinovitz, Prof. Wolf Moskowitz, Prof. Gershon Winer Ko-forzeetzer fax 972 3 6203530 tel 972 53 515539 Gershon Winer 3)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 20 Oct 1999 16:57:51 -0400 (EDT) From: Yair Reiner <75024.1176@compuserve.com> Subject: The Golden Age of Yiddish-American Radio Sound Portraits Production is in the midst of producing a NPR documentary series about the "golden age" of Yiddish-American Radio (1925-1955). As part of the series, we are searching for individuals who participated -- as announcers, performers, producers, sound engineers -- in this largely overlooked chapter in Jewish American history. We are also looking for individuals who have vivid memories of the great shows, like "The Forward Hour," "Bei Tate-Mames Tish," "The Yiddisher Filosof," "The Grammeister." Email Yair Reiner, 75024.1176@compuserve.com (718.399.1667). For more info. visit www.soundportraits.org. Yair Reiner 4)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Sat, 23 Oct 1999 18:55:08 -0400 (EDT) From: "Charles H Fuchsman" Subject: Brumberg on Yiddish/Hebrew Regarding my remark, associating Khaim Zhitlovsky with the Bund, Brumberg notes that Zhitlovsky was never a Bundist. In popular perception, however, he was closely identified with the organization, which published a number of his articles in the late 1890s (Leksikon fun der nayer yiddisher literatur 3:693, NY, 1960). Of particular interest was his 1899 article in the Bund's "Der yiddisher arbeter", where his strong anti-Zionist stand provoked considerable controversy (H.J. Tobias, "The Jewish Bund in Russia", Stanford, 1972, p.106). As late as 1904, Theodore Herzl, in the belief that Zhitlovsky was a Bundist leader, transmitted to him a Russian government proposal for a cessation of Bundist revolutionary activity (Tobias, op. cit., p.248) Brumberg's dark portrait of a "castrated" Yiddish literature in the Soviet period appears to blur the distinction between the earlier period (1919-1933) and the subsequent years of sharp repression and physical destruction of the Yiddish literary establishment. The Evsektsiya and "grotesque orthography" notwithstanding, many high-quality works of Soviet Yiddish writers were published, including works written but not published in the pre-Soviet period. Censorship and heavy=handed editing did have a chilling effect, especially in the later years. But we know of works that were criticized as "nationalist", "individualist", "symbolist", or "sympathetic to disappearing classes", precisely because they were published. Some evidence of the status of Yiddish writers can be found in the attendance statistics and curriculum contents of Yiddish-language schools in the USSR. According to N. Levin, "The Jews in the Soviet Union since 1917", the proportion of Jewish school-age children attending Yiddish-language schools in Belorussia rose from 22% in 1922 to 64% in 1932 (in absolute numbers from 10,745 to 33,398) while comparable increases apparently occurred in the Ukraine. The literature contents of grades V, VI, and VII are listed in R.Robin's "L'Amour du Yiddish", Paris 1984, pp.183-184. Grade V readings include Hofshteyn. Raboy, Ignatov, Mendele Mokher Sforim, Kharik, Peretz, Ash, Markish, Vinchevsky, Shvartsman, Broderzon. Corresponding readings for Grade VI include Mendele Mokher Sforim, Sholem Aleikhem, Peretz, Vaisenberg, Ash, Kharik Hofshteyn, Leivik. It would be interesting to compare both the Yiddish school attendance and curricular offerings of the Soviet Union with those of Poland where Bund influence was strong. Perhaps, at its best Soviet Yiddish schooling and literature wasn't so bad. The tragedy of Soviet destruction of Yiddish culture lies largely in its greatness and promise in the 1920s. Charles Fuchsman 5)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Fri, 22 Oct 1999 13:34:32 -0400 (EDT) From: binmoses@juno.com Subject: The Yiddish of the "Hareidim" In response to Abraham Brumberg [09.033]: As a proud Yiddish speaking and reading, Ultra-Orthodox "Hareidi", and yes "Hassidic" Jew, I was astounded by your recent comments in the "Mendele." You state "But the ultra-orthodox by and large deny that Yiddish has any form or specific grammar. They teach Yiddish exclusively as a spoken language, and will have nothing to do with anything that smacks of secular Yiddish, be it literature, scholarship, folklore, ethnography, and the like" It is true that we have no need or purpose for "secular literature", for our "literature" and "culture" and its spirituality and warmth, that has been the key to the miraculous of the Jewish Nation fulfills all our needs. Yet, this culture, though of course built on the Holy Books which are written in "Loshon Hakodesh", spawned a rich and great "Yiddish culture". We are fully aware of the "rules" of Yiddish, after all we are nearly the only youth that speak and write this language. Enter any Jewish bookstore in new York or Jerusalem and you will find scores of novels for young adults written in a perfect proper Yiddish. The circulation of our Yiddish papers is in the tens of thousands. My Dear Mr. Brumberg, indeed we have no need for Peretz, Mendele, Sholem Aleichem, An-sky, di vilner trupe, etc. For our Yiddish is the Yiddish of yesterday and tomorrow. Our Yiddish is the Yiddish of the Schuls and Shtiblach, of the Cheder and the Tisch, the Yiddish of the essence of the Jewish people, the Yiddish that has a future. Our culture is the laws revealed to us at Mt. Sinai, and for hundreds of years we have expressed those thoughts by speaking Yiddish. It is time for the "secular" "Yiddishests" to recognize that the Yiddish of the Chareidi is a living growing culture. Perhaps this recognition will allow us to work together to ensure the survival of Yiddish even outside the orthodox community. I invite you, to come for a Shabbos to Boro Park, see and hear the Yiddish in the streets and in the homes, see our culture, feel its warmth and power, and you will be amazed. Respectfully Yours Abraham Joshua Heschel P.S. I wrote this letter in english simply since my e-mail does not support Hebrew fonts, which is necessary for real Yiddish. ______________________________________________________ End of Mendele Vol. 09.037 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