Mendele: Yiddish literature and language ______________________________________________________ Contents of Vol. 09.048 December 9, 1999 1) Yiddish Reports of the Yishuv (Bernard Katz) 2) "Af zain treyd" (Alla Sokolova) 3) shabbes / lobbis (Mikhl Herzog) 4) Index to Sholem Aleykhem stories (Itsik Goldenberg) 5) Introduction and Future of Yiddish (Alec Braizblatt) 6) German and Slavonic influences in Yiddish (Naomi Russell) 7) Translation of "Fargin zich" (Neil Sandow) 8) Words for a song "Friling" (Abe Chasid) 9) Words for a song "Nayn, Nayn Nayn" (George Katz) 1)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Sat, 20 Nov 1999 17:13:18 -0500 (EST) From: Bernard Katz Subject: Yiddish Reports of the Yishuv A shaynem dank tsu Yael Chaver in Berkeley far di informatsye vegen di tsvay bikher vos ikh hob geredt derfun in a foyerdik e-post. I very much appreciate Yael Chaver's enlightening information on the two Yiddish books about which I had posted an earlier message to the list. A few more points may be of interest regarding one of them. Reading the forward to "Vos Arbetorins Dertseylen" more carefully than I had done previously, as Chaver's comments were made without having a copy at hand, I found that most of the translation indeed had been done by the editor, Rakhel Katznelson-Rubashov, as Chaver had thought to be the case. But Katznelson-Rubashov also credits a significant amount of translation (two out of the seven sections of the book) as well as sharing throughout in the work of editing ("vos hot zikh oykh batayligt mit mir tsuzamen in der redaktsye funem bukh") to "Z. Rubashov" -- later known as Shneur Zalman Shazar, the third President of Israel and her husband. Nothing about his involvement appears on the recto or verso of the title page. My understanding of Zalman Shazar's connection to Yiddish is that it was significant, and included his having contributed some original work on Yiddish philology which was published by Yivo. Two others are also mentioned as having helped with the translations, in a much more minor way (only one or two specific pieces): Kh. Erem and Rakhel Faygenberg. Katznelson-Rubashov also says something interesting after she notes that there is a necessary link between what has been the cuture of the Jewish women workers and their present work and developing a culture in Eretz Yisroel which draws it's nourishment from Jewish and Arabic cultures. She goes on: And in a given sense as a symbol of continuity, the Yiddish translation itself already became a cultural binding together: just as one would return here a duty to someone to whom one is very obligated. ("Un in a gevisen zin, vi a simvol fun hemsheyk, fun kultureler tsuzamengebindkayt - iz geven shoyn di etsem iberzetsung oyf idish: azoy vi men volt do umgekert a khoyv aynem, vemen men iz a sakh shuldig.") As I'm not entirely happy with my translation of that sentence, I welcome both a better one and some clarification of her meaning. She *seems* to be saying that providing a Yiddish translation of the written experiences of these women in Eretz Yisroel helps to fulfil an obligation to link the past culture with the new one. Shavua tov, Bernard Katz 2)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Sun, 21 Nov 1999 17:36:05 +0300 From: "Alla Sokolova & Alexander Ivanov" Subject: "Af zain treyd" I am a researcher from Jewish University of St. Petersburg (Russia). I study different aspects of traditional shtetl culture in the Podolian region of Ukraine. During my last expedition to former shetls of Podolia I came across an interesting expression. One of my informants told me that after a tragic death of his father, his mother had blocked up the main door entrance of the house, for she did not want anyone "to walk over the father's footsteps". In this part of the story my informant started to speak Yiddish and used the expression: "Af zain treyd". I should be most grateful if somebody explain the meaning of this expression. With best wishes, Alla Sokolova 3)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Fri, 19 Nov 1999 01:11:54 -0500 (EST) From: "Mikhl Herzog" Subject: He should know better! Philologos writes (Forward, November 12): "We all know what _shabbes_ is, and _lobbis_ rhymes with it nicely." Does it really? Philologos fails to tell us that this can only be true where, as in London, the prevailing pronunciation of _shabbes_ is [shobes] which, like London [khole] (= khale) suggests a Bessarabian/Podolian origin. Are you listening Phil? Mikhl Herzog 4)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Fri, 19 Nov 1999 23:16:08 -0500 (EST) From: robert goldenberg Subject: Index to Sholem Aleykhem stories Does anyone know whether there is a master list or index to all of Sholem Aleykhem's stories in the 28-volume Folksfond Oysgabe edition "Ale verk fun Sholem Aleykhem." (New York, 1927). Also, are there other stories of his that are missing in this edition? If so, where can they be found? A cross-index of English translations of all stories which have been translated would also be nice. It need not, for obvious reasons, list every translation in every anthology. Itsik Goldenberg 5)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon, 22 Nov 1999 15:18:17 -0500 (EST) From: "Alec Braizblatt" Subject: Future of Yiddish Hello to anyone out there. Let me introduce myself. My name is Alec Braizblatt, 62 years old, born in Melbourne, Australia, to parents who came out there from Poland in early 1937. Yiddish was the language spoken at home. I attended a teachers training institute and in 1959 graduated as a teacher - primary and junior secondary school. Married in 1960, and the next year made aliya with my wife Ann. For the first 12 years in Israel we lived on Kibbutz Yizreel, (we were both graduates of the Zionist youth movement Habonim) and then just before the Yom Kippur War we moved to Tel Aviv. I found work in the defence establishment where I still work. In the youth of my old age I have decided to go for a BA. This I am doing by distance learning with the University of Birmingham in the UK. So why have I told you all this? Here is the answer: I must present a thesis at the end of my course. I have chosen the subject of Yiddish, more specifically - the future of Yiddish as perceived by Yiddishists. I received your e-mail address from Catherine Hellerstein who is currently in Israel. She teaches Yiddish at Pennsylvania University, and told me that I should write to you. I am interested in corresponding with anyone about this subject and, hopefully, gain some insights which might help me with my thesis. That's all for now folks. Hope to receive something from someone - anything from anyone! Zait gezunt, Alec Braizblatt 6)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon, 22 Nov 1999 16:42:49 -0500 (EST) From: NaomiDR@aol.com Subject: German and Slavonic influences in Yiddish I am a student at Cambridge University, England, and am writing a dissertation on Yiddish. I am looking most specifically at the German and Slavonic influences, as well as dialectal variations. If you have any information that may be of help, I would love to receive it! Thanks for your time, Naomi Russell. 7)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Sun, 28 Nov 1999 05:27:19 -0500 (EST) From: Neil Sandow Subject: Translation of "Fargin zich" I went to a klezmer concert last night and in the program the phrase "Fargin zich" was used and translated as "enjoy yourself". This phrase is not familiar to me and I was wondering whether that was because of my meagre yiddish or whether it was a misspelling. Cordially, Neil Sandow 8)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Sun, 28 Nov 1999 12:13:43 -0500 (EST) From: Abe Chasid Subject: Words for a song "Friling" Does anyone know the lyrics of the song "Friling" by S. Katcherginski?? I heard it on on the CD "margaritkelekh" that was put out by Hava Alberstein, and I couldn't find it in MLOTEK and in the VINKOVETSKY collections. zait azoi gut zu skiken mir di verter. Thanks for any and all help. A groiser dank und a freilikher Hanuka. Abe Chasid 9)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 1 Dec 1999 01:31:55 -0500 (EST) From: ".George G. Katz" Subject: Words for a song "Nayn, Nayn Nayn" Dear Mendele Readers: Is there anyone out there who knows the words to the song Nayn, Nayn Nayn ( svet unser fulk nisht untergayn. It was a song my Dad and his two brothers learned at the Farband's Unser Camp and their five sons want to learn these wonderful words. Many thanks George Katz ______________________________________________________ End of Mendele Vol. 09.048 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