Mendele: Yiddish literature and language ______________________________________________________ Contents of Vol. 09.038 October 26, 1999 1) klezfest st. petersburg 1999 (sheila fox) 2) Yiddish Press Bibliography (Hugh Denman) 3) recent history of Yiddish newspapers (Roger Harris) 4) Itzik Manger and Elieser Steinbarg (Alfred Schneider) 5) dos, di, or der and foygl-khale (Mikhl Herzog) 6) Mikhl Herzog's Extreme Thesis (Norman Buder) 7) man - mentsh (Feigl Glaser) 8) man - mentsh (Jack Berger) 9) man - mentsh (Mordkhe Schaechter) 1)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 20 Oct 1999 02:20:20 -0400 (EDT) From: Sjofox@aol.com Subject: klezfest st. petersburg 1999 i wrote this article recently and it appeared in the Jewish Transcript, the seattle jewish newspaper. maybe you would like to share some of it with mendele readers. mit a grus fun seattle, sheila fox St. Petersburg in June is the time called "white nights". This last summer it was also the third time that Klezfest- St. Petersburg occurred. I had the most incredible journey and look into Russian Jewish life. I found that Jewish communities are still very much alive and growing. The wonderful people of the former Soviet Union that I met are passionately learning or in some cases relearning about their Jewish roots. The 35-40 musicians and singers I performed and learned with for 12 days at Klezfest- St. Petersburg , came from all over Russia, the Ukraine, Moldova, Lithuania, Byelorussia, Estonia. There were 5 of us from the U.S (2 were teachers, 1, an interpreter, 2 students). Many Russian participants traveled for days and days by train or bus to get there. Russia is huge and taking planes is uncommon. They were young and old, very dedicated to their communities and families. Many of the singers and musicians were conservatory trained. Their warmth and sincerity made me feel so welcomed, almost at home (my great grandfather was a trombone player from St. Petersburg). We shared the same desire and enthusiasm for learning about our Jewish heritage. I felt such tremendous spirit there, in spite of (or now in retrospect) maybe because of the hard conditions under which they live. The Klezfest program included Yiddish classes, vocal coaching, instrument/ensemble class, chorus, lectures and a total of 4 performances, 2 in St. Petersburg, and the others in Pskov and Novgorod, smaller towns about 5 hours by bus from the city. Arkady Gendler, a 78 year old man from Zaporozhye, was my Yiddish teacher. It was tough being taught Yiddish in Russian with an English translator . He had lots of stories, about before and after the war. In a town of about 2,000 Jews, he was the only one who remembered or would come forth, with how to do a seder. In 1993, the Hebrew school helped him to organize one. So many people came they had to do another one the next night to accommodate everyone. My vocal coaches, were Zalmen Mlotek and Adrienne Cooper, both from New York, who I know from past Klezkamps. If it were not for them, I would not have come to Klezfest. Their rich knowledge and understanding of Yiddish folk and theater songs comes from their life experiences. Both were raised in families that come from music and theater backgrounds. I could listen and watch them both in class and on stage for hours and hours. Zalmen taught chorus as well. What an honor it was to sing with so many beautiful voices and work with such magnificent people. One lecture I will surely never forget was by Lithuanian, Yiddish writer Masha Rolnikayte, a Vilna ghetto survivor. She was strong and beautiful and 77 years old, I think. She spoke in Yiddish. She was 14 years old when the nazis occupied. She saw the tearing down and the rising back up of the Vilna ghetto theater. She sang in the Hebrew language choir in the torn up theater. Musicians and actors continued to put on shows throughout all the horrid actions. She said at first there was shock in the ghetto; how they could continue to perform like this? But then people saw how it gave strength and spirit and many started to come. Masha came to our repertoire class and Adrienne, our teacher, sang a song that Masha had written lyrics for. "Moyshe Halt Zikh" (Moyshe Be Strong). She was smiling and nodding her head. Her eyes were beaming. An exceptional pianist I enjoyed working with, was 25 year old, conservatory trained, Marina Lebenson from Yekaterinburg, (a college town famous for the killing of the czar). We used sign and body language, facial expressions and of course the music, to communicate with each other. We really had fun performing together. One night after one of our concerts at The Actor's House in downtown St. Petersburg, we went on an enchanting boat excursion on the Neva River from 10 pm to 5 am. St. Petersburg is far north, only an hour from Finland and June is the time of "white nights" which provide this incredible pale pink light most of the night. I was actually quite impressed with what was provided for us, in light of the country 's economy. It was made possible through funding from The Jewish Community Development Fund, (JCDF) a project of American Jewish World Service. Most of the Russian participants were there on scholarship due to this fund. They had to compete amongst 80 or so applicants. The Jewish renewal and human rights programs that JCDF continues to fund and organize in the former Soviet Union are having a wonderful impact on peoples' lives there. Alik Frenkel, an extraordinary Jewish activist, administrator, and cultural worker heads the St. Petersburg Jewish Community Center. His coworker at Klezfest and wife, Lika was phenomenally effective at running the whole megilla , with help from Eugeny Khazdan, a talented composer and pianist. Some of the group continued on with our concert tour to Pskov, a small town about 5 hours by bumpy bus ride from St. Petersburg. The small towns we passed through along the way looked as if they could be shtetls from my great-grandfathers time. Little houses of wood, leaning one way or the other with folkart trim around the windows and doors. Little garden plots outside most houses. People working by hand in the fields. People afoot and by bicycle, harvesting berries and nuts from the trees. Pskov is one of the oldest cities in Russia. We visited the old monastery and kremlin and then met with the woman director of the Jewish community center. Across from the center I saw a Holocaust Memorial, an Eternal Flame burning. Eternal Flames burn in many cities all over Russia. The concert we gave was enthusiastically received by the under served Jewish community of Pskov. The mostly Jewish audience was all ages, and so beautiful. The younger people, high school and college age, danced in the aisles, eager to hear and learn anything Jewish. Little girls with long braids and little boys dressed in their best, brought flowers up after each singer and then curtsied and bowed amongst thunderous applause. The finale number we all sang was Ale Brider, (All Brothers) and neither the performers or the audience wanted the evening to be over. We were just locked in applause for each other. The second city on our concert tour was Novgorod. We barely had time to rest after arriving there, when it was time for our concert. We walked through the grounds of a kremlin to get to the concert site, a multicultural center. There was this huge bell, a monument with all the heroes and heroines of Russian history. The workmanship was astounding. During the war, the nazis dismantled the bell some how, and hid it in different places around Novgorod, planning to steal it and transport it back to Germany. The war ended before they could do this and all the pieces were found and put back together again. The audience response to our concert was again similar to what we had experienced in Pskov. The tradition of youngsters presenting us with flowers, loud and rhythmic applause. This time we joined the audience in dancing and brought them up on stage with us. There were unforgettable beaming faces and sparkling eyes. The moment felt timeless to me. This was to be our last night altogether. We took a lovely walk at about mid night , I think. You could never tell what time it was till about 4:00am when it was considerably darker but still this pale pink light prevailed. The next day we shared presents and songs. I recorded as much Russian, Romanian and whatever other songs people wanted to sing for my Russian friends at the Kline Galland Home back in Seattle. It was a sad day of good-byes as we dropped people off at the bus stations along the way. Fima, Susanne and Anzhela would ride the bus 5 hours to Moscow. Then 36 hours on the train back to Kishiniev. Alina and Polina left the night before right after the concert. They had a long train ride back to Kazan. Polina Achkinazi is 1 year married and 5 months pregnant. She is a beautiful singer and musician. She has visited Israel and knows she could move there but she will stay in Kazan because it is where her family is. It is her home. The 15 or so that are left, see us off at the airport. Everyone comes to the very last check point with us. What a group! Today it is sad, it is joy, it is connecting. We feel strong and happy at what we created together. Will we ever see each other again? Next year, Klezfest 2000, we say. Sheila Fox is the vocalist for Seattle's Klezmer/Ladino quartet, The Kosher Red Hots. She recently performed in New York in the 26th Annual Yiddish Music and Theater Festival. For a video and pictoral presentation of Klezfest - St. Petersburg, you may contact her at SJOFOX@aol.com Sheila Fox 2)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon, 25 Oct 1999 09:54:30 -0400 (EDT) From: Hugh Denman Subject: Yiddish Press Bibliography with reference to Steve Jacobson's enquiry concerning the history of the Yiddish Press [09.036:3], I append a brief bibliography of some relevant items: Bikl, Yoysef (ed.), _Pinkes far der forshung fun der yidisher literatur un prese_, NY: Alveltlekher Yidisher Kultur-kongres, 1965. Doroshkin, Milton, 'Yiddish Socialist Press in New York, 1880s - 1920s', in: Dov-Ber Kerler (ed.), _Politics of Yiddish: Studies in Language, Literature, and Society_, 1996, 77-83. Feygelman, Noyekh & Dovid-Elyohu Fishman, 'Reshime yidishe peryodishe oysgabes in der unophengiker lite, 1919-1940', _YIVO-bleter_ NS 2 (1994), 349-74. Fuks, Marian, _Prasa zydowska w Warszawie 1823-1939_, Warzsawa, 1979. Hertzberg, Arthur, 'Speaking the Reader's Language: How a Yiddish Magazine Stayed Alive', _New York Times Book Review_, Dec. 20 1992, 12-16 [on _Di Tsukunft_] Hurliman, Ester, 'Der zhenever idisher arbayter', in: Dovid Katz (ed.) _Oksforder Yidish_ 3 (1995), cols. 649-56. Margoshes, Sh., 'Di role fun der yidisher prese', in: Yoysef Bikl (ed.), _Pinkes far der forshung fun der yidisher literatur un prese_, NY: Alveltlekher Yidisher Kultur-kongres, 1965, 194-203. Nadel, Binyomen, 'Di bundishe prese in yidish', in: Dovid Katz (ed.), _Oksforder Yidish_ 3 (1995), cols. 633-46. Prager, Leonard, 'A Bibliography of Yiddish Periodicals in Great Britain', _Studies in Bibliography and Booklore_ 9:1 (Spring 1969), 3-32. Prager, Leonard, _Yiddish Literary and Linguistic Periodicals and Miscellanies, A Selective Annotated Bibliography_, Darby, Penn.: Norwood, 1982 [with further reference biblio]. Prager, Leonard, 'The Yiddish Press', in: Glenda Jackson (ed.), _The Blackwell Companion to Jewish Culture from the Eighteenth Century to the Present Time_, Oxford: Blackwell, 1989, 604-06. Prager, Leonard, 'Alexander Cedarbaum', in: Glenda Jackson (ed.) _The Blackwell Companion to Jewish Culture from the Eighteenth Century to the Present Time_, Oxford: Blackwell, 1989, 763-64. Rich, Jacob C., _Sixty Years of the Jewish Daily Forward_, NY, 1957. Rogov, Hilel, _Der gayst fun "forverts": materyaln tsu der geshikhte fun der idisher prese in amerike_, NY, 1954, 283pp. Sheyntukh, Y., _Re=9Aimat hayomonim ukhtavei ha'et beyidi=9A..._, Jerusalem,= 1986. Shmeruk, Chone, 'Sovetish Heymland', Encyclopaedia Judaica, vol. 15, Jerusalem: Keter, 215-216. Shmeruk, Chone, 'The Yiddish Press in Eastern Europe', _Jewish Quarterly_ 33:1:121, (1986), 24-28. Shmeruk, Chone, 'Twenty Five Years of "Sovetish Heymland" - Impressions and Criticisms', in: Y. Ro'i & A. Baker (eds.), _Jewish Culture and Identity in the Soviet Union_, New York: NYU Press, 1991, 119-207 [appeared in Spanish version in: Rumbos 21 (1987), 65-80]. Shmeruk, Chone, 'Yiddish Press Had a Short Life', _Proceedings of the Symposium on the Jewish Press: Why? - Past, Present, Future (November 14th 1985 in Amsterdam), _Nieuw Isra=EBlitisch Weekblad_, 1986, 25-34. Smolyakov, Hirsh, 'Di letste yidishe tsaytung in vilne', _YIVO-bleter_ NS 2 (1994), Kultur-historishe shtudyes vegn yidn in lite, 375-86. Shulman, Elyohu, 'Di tsaytshrift "di yudishe velt"', in: Yoysef Bikl (ed.), _Pinkes far der forshung fun der yidisher literatur un prese_, NY: Alveltlekher Yidisher Kultur-kongres, 1965, 122-70. Szajkowski, Z., _Catalogue of the Exhibition: One Hundred Years of the Yiddish Press in America, 1870-1970_, NY: YIVO, 1970, 20pp. Solomon, Vera, 'La presse yiddish en Europe jusqu'=E0 la Seconde Guerre mondiale', in: Jean Baumgarten, Rachel Ertel, Itzhok Niborski & Annette Wievorka (eds.), _Mille ans de cultures ashk=E9nazes_, Paris: Liana Levi, 1994, 468-77. Soltes, Mordecai, _The Yiddish Press, an Americanizing Agency_, Philadelphia, 1925. Tsitron, Sh. L., _Di geshikhte fun der yidisher prese_, vol. 1, 'Fun yor 1863 biz 1889, Warsaw: Akhiseyfer, n.d. Hugh Denman London 3)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon, 25 Oct 1999 18:00:50 -0400 (EDT) From: "Roger Harris" Subject: recent history of Yiddish newspapers In response to Steve Jacobson [09.036]: The 'Jewish Tribune,' newspaper is published weekly in Stamford Hill, London N16, England. Its readership is Jewish Orthodox and it always contains at least one page of news written in Yiddish and expressed in Hebrew characters. The format of the newspaper is tabloid (page size: 29.5cm wide x 43cm high) and it usually contains sixteen pages. The non-Yiddish pages are written in English. The serial number of the current issue (21st October) is 1503. The founding date appears on the masthead as 1962. Roger Harris. 4)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Sun, 17 Oct 1999 00:36:57 -0400 (EDT) From: ALFRED SCHNEIDER Subject: Itzik Manger and Elieser Steinbarg A friend of mine recently chanced upon an exhibit "Jiddische Dichter aus der Bukowina" (Yiddish Poets from Bukovina) at the university library of Tuebingen, Germany. The exhibit showed manuscripts, books (many in translation), articles by or about the two poets, as well as many photos and woodcuts (most by Arthur Kolnik). An interesting exhibit catalogue entitled "My dear Roisele" (taken from a letter of Manger to Rose Auslaender) was also available and my friend lent it to me. This booklet is written in German, but has extensive quotations in Yiddish (Latin letters). Sincerely, Alfred Schneider Dunwoody, Georgia [Moderator's note: Full reference for the book: Zimmer-Winkel, Rainer and Braun, Helmut. My dear Roisele: Itzig Manger, Elieser Steinbarg: jiddische Dichter aus der Bukowina. Uxheim: Rose Auslander-Dokumentationszentrum, 1996. 174 p.: ill.; 23 cm. (Series: Schriftenreihe der Rose-Auslander-Gesellschaft e.V.; Bd. 6; ISBN 3931826074). -i.v.] 5)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Sun, 24 Oct 1999 11:42:22 -0400 (EDT) From: "Mikhl Herzog" Subject: 1. dos, di, or der 2. foygl-khale 1. Feygl Glaser's "essay" (09:304) on Yiddish dialects leaves much to be desired--too much for off the cuff comment. Suffice it to say that her assertion that in Lodz, it was "mit DER piter arop" iz way off the mark--in the category of "Noyekh mit zibn grayzn" (try that one!). "Mit DER piter/puter" implies that "puter" is a feminine noun: "di puter" --dative: "mit der puter". Is it? Actually, "di puter" may occur BUT, NEVER in Lodz, ONLY in the Northeast Yiddish area (Lithuania-Belorussia, more or less). Furthermore, because of a rather unusual feature of the grammar in much of this area, the dative form there would be "MITN puter"(sic!) .[i.e., "di puter--mitn puter"]. What about Lodz? "puter" [piter] was surely a neuter noun: DUS piter --dative MITN piter. IF it had been feminine "DI piter", the dative in Lodz would have been "mit DI piter". But, then again, vi zogt men? _Ven di bobe volt gehat reder volt zi geven a "street-car". Dative "DER" of feminine nouns generally occurs ONLY in parts of Southeastern Yiddish [the Ukraine, more or less], AND in Standard Yiddish. However, in Southeastern Yiddish, "puter" is generally a neuter noun; i.e., "dus piter--mitn piter". Got it? 2. Gilad Gevaryahu (0:9304) suggests that a _foygl-khale_ is so named because it resembles the letter "fey". Hundreds of our informants report that _foygl-khale_ is one of several special types of khale, baked especially for Rosh Hashana, so-named because it has a decorative peak on top, in the form of a bird's beak, not because it is round. However, the _foygl-khale_ generally IS round. There are a number of symbolic "dough" decorations reserved for Rosh Hashana _khales_-- birds, ladders, and hands--all intended to facilitate the ascent of prayer to heaven. One other familiar _khale_ is decorated with a _kitke_ (Polish _kitka_ 'aigrette', 'ornamental plume'--a strip of dough that runs across the top. As I recall, in this case, the entire _khale_ was often called a _kitke_. OK? Mikhl Herzog 6)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Sun, 24 Oct 1999 18:30:56 -0400 (EDT) From: "NormanB" Subject: Mikhl Herzog's Extreme Thesis This is my first posting. I am a European native Yiddish speaker who came to the US at the age of almost 13. Though Mikhl Herzog is right in defending Kathryn Hellerstein, he presents a very extreme thesis that is in no way needed for her defense. He is simply wrong to claim that "except in America, Yiddish _man_ is inevitably 'husband', and English _man_ is rendered by Yiddish _mentsh_. A European native Yiddish speaker would say: "A man mit a froy zaynen gegangen shpatzirn," NOT "A mentsh mit a froy zaynen gegangen shpatzirn." On rest rooms the signs might read "mener" and "froyen," NOT "mentshn" and "froyen." Again, how would one translate the proverb in Ignacy Bernstein's "Yidishe Shprikhverter," page 122: "Ven an alter man nemt a bsule, hobn beyde nit keyn groyse gedule." Would one start with, "When an old husband marries a virgin" or "When an old man marries a virgin"? It seems to me that one shouldn't do it the first way, because the old man is not a husband prior to marrying the virgin. If he were already a husband, he would be committing bigamy. Norman Buder 7)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Sun, 24 Oct 1999 19:03:51 -0400 (EDT) From: Feigl I Glaser Subject: MAN = HUSBAND and MAN = MAN Ikh bin nit Maskim mit undzer fraynd Hertzog. MAN meynt HUSBAND oder MAN. Yo, vi er hot ongevizn, iz di Englishe iberzetsung funem Yidishn vort "MAN" in Harkavi's verterbukh: (1) "man" (in mertsol mener); (2) husband" (mertsol mener oder manen). Bay Uriel Vaynraykhn is oykh ongegebn di iberzetsun vi HUSBAND, MAN, nor nokhn letstn vort a dik kleyn redele vos es maynt az es iz faran a bamerkung "a sofik tsi derlozbar in klal-Yidish". In Aarn Bergmanens "Verterbukh Far shul un Heym", iz MAN, ibergezetst oyf "man"; "husband", un di mertsol in beyde faln is "mener". Mayn ershte, oykh gelernte in shul, shprakh in Poyln iz geven Yidish. Un ikh halt, az der letster, a Yidisher lerer fun Poyln iz gerekht... Tsum bayshpil: "Dos meydl iz avek shpatsirn oyf der gas mit a hoykhn, shaynem man"; "Es zaynen dortn geshtanen dray mener un tsvey froyen." (Ven me zogt dray mentshn un tsvey froyen, iz dos a baleydikung far froyen, vayl dos heyst az der redner halt nit froyen far "mentshn". A MENTSH is "a human being", "a person" (male and/or female). Feigl Glaser 8)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon, 25 Oct 1999 10:12:25 -0400 (EDT) From: Jack Berger Subject: man - mentsh As an American raised in a Yiddish-speaking immigrant household, I would agree that 'mann' is husband and not the seemingly more obvious 'man.' I agree that the English 'man' would more likely be rendered as 'mensch.' Regards Jack Berger 9)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Sun, 24 Oct 1999 20:39:39 -0400 (EDT) From: MSchaecht@aol.com Subject: man - mentsh Vegn man akegn mentsh. Yo, inem doyresdikn yidish iz man geven 'husband' (rabim -- manen/mener). Er/der zokher iz geven a mansbil/mantsbil (rabim - mansbiln, mantsbiln, mit a klor aroysgeredtn /i/), oder mantsbl (rabim - mantsblen), oder mansparshoyn/ mantspeshoyn (rabim -- manslayt). Ot di sinonimen un varyantn hobn gehat a klorn geografishn un/oder stilistishn farshpreyt. 'Human being', vider, iz mentsh. Odem-(h)orishn iz geven i der ershter mentsh, i der ershter (Der Muter Khaves) man (husband). Ayer Mordkhe Schaechter ______________________________________________________ End of Mendele Vol. 09.038 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