Mendele: Yiddish literature and language ______________________________________________________ Contents of Vol. 10.022 June 20, 2000 1) Rokhl Boymvol (Gershon Winer) 2) Israel Independence Proclamation (Gershon Winer) 3) "oyb men vil fleysh.." (Yankel Kane) 4) Yiddish in the camps (Barry Goldstein) 5) lovitch (Aubrey Jacobus) 6) Help with some idioms (Aubrey Jacobus) 7) "shikt arayn a boyer" (Elye Palevsky) 8) "shikt arayn a boyer" (Feygl Infeld Glezer) 9) shmir dir oys di shikh (Bob Berk) 1)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon, 19 Jun 2000 11:25:00 -0400 (EDT) From: Winer Subject: Rochel Boimvol Rochel Boimvol, well knownYiddish poetess, passed away at the age of 86 in Jerusalem, on Friday June 16. Burial services took place on the following Sunday with appropriate memorial tributes in Yiddish, and readings from her poems, rendered by Profs Gershon Winer, Dov Noy, Dr. Heszel Klepfisz and Eli Baider. Boimvol was among the first of the Soviet Yiddish writers allowed to leave Russia, arriving in Israel in 1971, together with her husband, the Yiddish poet Zjame Telesin who passed away a few years ago at the age of 89. She was among the last survivors of the distinguished group of Yiddish writers from the Soviet Union -- about two dozen of them-- who came to Israel in the 1970's, which led to a revival of Yiddish literary creativity in Israel. Her literary harvest is gathered in about twenty collections of verse and children's literature, equally divided between the Soviet period in her life and Israel. Her poems are characterized by their comprehensibility, playfulness and delightful poignancy. Everything within sight and experience, be it ever so ordinary and common -- tree, bird, weather, neighbor, child, mother, son, -- is seen and felt through the poetic perspective, evoking a refreshing and often thoughtful response in the reader. The fate of the martyred Russian Yiddish writers, 0the message of Yiddish in Israel, the pangs and above all, the joys of adaptation to and adoption in the new homeland, are impressively conveyed in her verse produced in Israel. During her Russian period, Boimwol also attained wide recognition as an author in Russian--largely of children's literature, with some of her books published in the tens of thousands. gershon winer Jerusalem 2)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon, 19 Jun 2000 11:24:58 -0400 (EDT) From: Winer Subject: Israel Independence Proclamation The Foundation for the Advancement of Yiddish Studies, which is conducting its eleventh annual summer Seminar for Yiddish and Yiddishkeit in Eastern Europe, would appreciate assistance in locating an authentic Yiddish translation of Megillat Atzmaut -- the Israel Independence Proclamation -- of 1948. A Yiddish rendition of the historic document is not available at the Jewish Agency nor at the Zionist Archives in Jerusalem. The Proclamation is urgently needed for a course on Israel and Zionism to be given at our Kiev Seminar beginning July 25. Appropriate credit will be recorded in our textbook. A hartzikn dank Fundatzie far Yidishe Limudim Gerson Winer 3)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon, 19 Jun 2000 09:11:33 -0400 (EDT) From: Gerald Kane Subject: "oyb men vil fleysh.." For me, when the teacher said "a ku git nor milkh; oby men vil fleysh muz men es derhargenen..." quite simply says to his students..."English is treyf...don't ask me to express myself in a treyf manner." Our tradition is you don't mix meat and milk. To push the analogy a bit more... we call Yiddish "Mamme Loshn"...the first nurture we get is mother's milk....and the first words of love we hear are in Yiddish. Yiddish comes with mother's milk. "Oyb men vil fleysh" changes the total nature of the exercise because we have slaughtered the essense...the "source" goodness of what the cow gives. Mixing meat and milk is unkosher. So why should a teacher of Yiddish do something "unkosher?" Yankel Kane 4)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon, 19 Jun 2000 12:33:54 -0400 (EDT) From: Barry Goldstein Subject: Yiddish in the camps Miriam Isaacs wrote (Mendele 10.021) To Miriam Weinstein's question (Mendele 10.20), yes, Yiddish was the Jewish lingua franca and because German is so close there was a whole lingo and use of the Semitic component so that the enemy would not understand. There is a lexicon of these code words that was published. The lexicon mentioned is: Isroel Kaplan dos folksmoyl in nazi klem (Jewish Folk Expressions Under the Nazi Yoke) Tel Aviv 1982 The other dictionary of the time is: Nachman Blumental verter un vertlekh fun der khurbn tkufe But the first one concentrates on the use of loshn-koydesh as "code", unintelligible to the Germans. Barry Goldstein 5)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon, 19 Jun 2000 13:06:20 -0400 (EDT) From: "Aubrey Jacobus" aubrey@jacobus.org Subject: lovitch My father from Skierniewice (Lodz/Warsaw) used the expression. I am sure that the reference is to the cemetery at Lowicz nearby which was established before the local one. Aubrey Jacobus 6)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon, 19 Jun 2000 13:06:21 -0400 (EDT) From: "Aubrey Jacobus" aubrey@jacobus.org Subject: Help with some idioms My father was fond of two idioms: 1. so klug vi Roch's perd - He is'nt as smart as he thinks he is. 2. Toitele's business - a dead loss deal. Were these references to real or mytical persons Roch and Toitele? And were they of purely local (Lodz/Warsaw ) or general use? Some were not so nice: eg oysgerisen from khazer a hur - plucking a hair from a pig. It does little good but at least he is discomforted. Aubrey Jacobus 7)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon, 19 Jun 2000 13:45:46 -0400 (EDT) From: EPalevsky1@aol.com Subject: "shikt arayn a boyer" The version I've heard begins < shikt der her a poyer in vald arayn er zol di epl raysn... der poyer vil nit epl raysn un di epl viln nit faln, di epl viln nit faln> The lord sends (his) peasant into the woods to pick apples, the peasant doesn't want to pick and the apples don't want to fall. The song continues pretty much as in khad gadyo: a dog is sent to bight the peasant, a stick is sent to beat the dog, a fire to burn the stick etc. until the (L)lord (?) (H)himself goes to the woods and all falls into place. Also sung at end of seder. Now, since my Jewish roots are from Vilna and those of the singers from Warsaw, I may have gotten it all wrong. elye palevsky St Agustine, Fl 8)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon, 19 Jun 2000 22:08:21 -0400 (EDT) From: Fela Glaser Subject: "shikt arayn a boyer" vi ikh derman zikh: Der porets hot geshikt a poyer in vald arayn, a poyer in vald arayn - er zol di epl raysn, er zol d epl raysn; Poyer vil nit epl raysn, epl viln nit faln, epl viln nit faln. Der porets hot geshikt a hintl in vald arayn, a hintl in vald arayn - es zol dem poyer baysn, es zol dem poyer baysn; S'hintl vil nit poyer baysn, poyer vil nit epl raysn. epl viln nit faln, epl viln nit faln... Der porets hot geshikt a shtekele in vald arayn, a shtekele in vald arayn - es zol dos hintl shlogn... s'shtekele vil nit hintele shlogn, hintele vil nit poyer baysn, poyer vil nit epl baysn, epl viln nit faln... Der porets hot geshikt a fayerl in vald arayn, a fayerl in vald arayn - es zol dos shtekele brenen... s'fayerl vil nit s'shtekele brenen, s'shtekele vil nit hinterle shlogn, hintele vil nit poyer bays, poyer vil nit epl raysn, epl viln nit faln... Der porets hot geshikt a vaserl in vald arayn...s'zol dos fayerl leshn, s'zol dos fayerl leshn; ... Beste grusn, Feygl Infeld Glezer 9)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon, 19 Jun 2000 20:31:44 -0400 (EDT) From: "RCI" Subject: shmir dir oys di shikh i recently heard, in reply to "a sheynem dank", an expression that sounded something like "shmir dir oys di shikh". my informant could not give the exact wording of the expression, but explained that it was a mildly deprecating reply - similar to "it's nothing" . perhaps someone can give further information about the expression? bob berk ______________________________________________________ End of Mendele Vol. 10.022 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