Mendele: Yiddish literature and language ______________________________________________________ Contents of Vol. 10.034 September 26, 2000 1) Project Onkelos (Noyekh Miller, Leonard Prager) 2) Russian Yiddish Seminar (Gershon Winer) 3) Der LufTeater fun Strasbourg (Refoel Goldwaser) 4) Yiddish Dance (Helen Winkler) 5) Letste dermonung fun der fishman-fundatsiye (Joshua Fishman) 6) vos iz a _pusherke_? (Peter Gutmann) 7) raysn kvorim (Mikhoyel Basherives) 8) LCAAJ on the web (Kalman Weiser) 9) Manger's poem (Moshe Waldoks) 1)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon, 25 Sep 2000 16:11:28 -0400 From: N Miller Subject: Project Onkelos Project Onkelos, which aims at providing readers with modern and highly-readable Yiddish texts, announces the addition of Sholem Aleykhem's "Hodl", one of the stories in the Howe-Greenberg _A Treasury of Yiddish Stories_. It can be found at http://www2.trincoll.edu/~mendele/onkelos/hodl.pdf The next entry will be Dovid Bergelson's "Yoysef Shur". Our work could not go on without the devoted and expert help of Mirl Schonhaut-Hirshan and the technical wizardry of Refoyl Finkel. Belated thanks are also due Khayem Bochner whose bibliographic sleuthing enabled us to lay hands on the Yiddish originals of the stories that appear in the _Treasury_. Finally, we wish to acknowledge a generous gift from the International Association of Yiddish Clubs toward the purchase of high-quality OCR software. Noyekh Miller Leonard Prager 2)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 30 Aug 2000 05:35:05 -0400 (EDT) From: Winer Subject: Russian Yiddish Seminar Report on the Samuel A. Klurman Yiddish Seminar, Kiev, July 25--August 15, 2000 The summer Seminar on Yiddish and Yiddishkeit in Eastern Europe, under the auspices of the World Council for Yiddish Culture, was held in Kiev Ukraine, the third for the city in more than a decade of annual seminars. It was made possible by a grant and logistic assistance from the Joint in Israel and matching funds by the Samuel A. Klurman Foundation of Florida Of over 86 students enrolled, 75 completed a 21 day seminar of intensive studies and meaningful experiences in Yiddish and Yiddishkeit. They came from 48 cities and villages, mostly from Ukraine and others from Russia, Moldova and Belarus. The faculty was made up of eleven professors, rabbis, lecturers, music and drama directors from Israel, U.S. and of local origin The mandatory six and one half hour daily classroom schedule, Sunday through Friday, consisted of courses in Yiddish language, Soviet Yiddish writers, Holocaust literature, Jerusalem in Yiddish literature, selected texts from the Bible, Jewish tradition, Israel, folklore, folk and art songs. During the evenings and Sabbath afternoons, there were voluntary study groups in Kabbalah, Life in Israel, Synagogue skills, Psychodrama, Yiddish theater, folk dancing, methods of teaching Yiddish. In keeping with the goal of the seminar, Yiddish was the medium of instruction and communication. We installed a kosher kitchen (dairy), conducted Sabbath and Tisha B'av services, Oneg Shabbat and Havdala exercises, staged two major productions of the Yiddish theater repertoire -- "Shulamis" by Goldfaden, and Itzik Manger's "Megilah Lieder", -- three Yiddish concerts by soloists from among our students (all of the highest artistic quality), held an academic conference in commemoration of the August 12, 1952 massacre of the Yiddish writers, and toured Jewish sites in Kiev and environs including Babi Yar. The seminar was located in a sanitorium in Puscha Vodizha, the woods and lake resort area outside of Kiev, the spacious setting both indoors and rustic outdoors, offering conditions conducive to the learning and Jewish living experience we sought to maintain. Faculty and students were housed in the same building, shared the same dining room and intermixed in a total Yiddish environment. For half of the student body, it was the first exposure to Yiddish. The personal interviews revealed that the memory of a "zaide" or a "bobe", no longer alive, was an important factor in sparking the desire to learn Yiddish, even when one or even both of the parents were not Jewish. The level of Jewish knowledge -- except for the upper grade -- was among the lowest in years, but the motivation and intensity of interest, the highest in the history of the seminar. One could frequently see students studying their lessons while strolling on the campus, or returning to their classrooms in the evenings for individual study. Another indication of high motivation is the large attendance in the voluntary interest groups after hours, far beyond our expectations. The faculty responded in kind. Professors whose usual teaching assignment at home would be no more than six hours a week, readily adhered to a schedule three times as long in our seminar, in addition to leading the optional interest groups 3 or 4 evenings a week.Throughout the years, our teaching staff was imbued with a sense of mission rather than mere professional performance, as evidenced by their serving gratis or, as in the last three years, at a salary which is a mere fraction of what Jewish Agency "shlichim" or lecturers from abroad in other programs in Russia receive. The report should be understood in the light of the role of Yiddish in the countries of the former Soviet empire. It is different from anywhere in the world, by serving as the link with the Jewish people, religion and Israel. There are two reasons for it. During the first two decades of communism, Yiddish was the only form of Jewishnes permitted and even encouraged by generous government support, while Hebrew, Jewish religion and Zionism were ruthlessly suppressed as counter-revolutionary. In the following years, a radical change of policy toward Yiddish conferred on it the same fate, culminating in the execution of Yiddish writers, educators and artists, many of them on August 12, 1952. As a result, Yiddish language and culture became identified in the minds of Jew and non-Jew alike, both in its short day of flourishing and long night of destruction, as the major and often sole expression of being Jewish. The number of Yiddish speakers in Eastern Europe today may be far less than in America or Israel, but its appeal to the grandchildren generation is unmatched. Yiddish retains its symbolic meaning despite the persistent and heavily subsidized efforts by the Zionist establishment, to have it replaced by Hebrew. (Hebrew does have its place in our Yiddish seminar, in Sabbath prayers, Z'mirot, Israel songs and the vocabulary of over 150 terms and concepts in the course on Jewish Holidays). The program, instituted on the initiative of Moscow Jewish students who turned to us in 1989 to lead the first such seminar in 50 years, remains the only channel for many a young person seeking his\her Jewish roots, in far-flung and remotely isolated Jewish communities in Eastern Europe today. In contrast to the plethora of Jewish educational programs sponsored by American and Israeli agencies, ours is independent of any particular denominational or political ties, retaining a Klal Israel commitment to the "trinity" of Yiddish, Jewish tradition and Israel, in all of their creative and pluralistic forms of expression. And again in contrast, for good or otherwise, our students seek us out, not we them. The seminar is conducted by a small group of volunteers registered in Israel and US as The Foundation for the Advancement of Yiddish Studies, supported by contributions, chief among them being the Samuel A. Klurman Foundation in Florida. Among the cherished personal recollections of of the highly stimulating and even inspirational encounter this summer, I have selected to record the following: 1) Many students having no Hebrew names, we set up a "naming committee". In some instances, the personal interview disclosed deep sentiments harbored for a no longer living relative, particularly a grandparent, whose memory was now to be perpetuated in the name adopted by the descendent.This was further given religious sanction at the following Sabbath services and recorded in the end season diploma. One student's emotional reaction -- for the first time, I now feel I am a Jew -- gave expression to many others. 2) In the course of a late evening stroll, my ear caught the words and melody of a Yiddish song emanating from a group of students gathered in one of the dormitory rooms. This was repeated on many a night, and there were students who were accomplished singers and musicians. 3) The Oneg Shabbat spirited Z'mirot and Yiddish singing, led by students, which would continue unceasingly beyond the dinner table into the night. 4) The 19 year old Moscow University student who in the class on Yiddish literature, gave me deeper insight into a poem of Itzik Manger by pointing out the total identification of the poet with the soil of Israel, to a degree I had not previously discerned, 5) The unannounced recitation by heart, of the Russian rendition of Yehudah Halevi's Ode to Zion, at the Tisha B'av service, after having it previously read in Yiddish. 6) The light in the eyes of the woman student at the Sabbath service when her husband recited the Torah blessings for the first time in his life, after having received instruction at the voluntary evening study group. 7) The moving unforgettable rendition of "Gott foon Avrohem" by a student from a dorf deep in the heart of Russia where she was the only Jewess, having lost her mother during the past year. gershon winer, Jerusalem. 3)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 30 Aug 2000 09:29:01 -0400 (EDT) From: "GOLDWASER Rafael" Subject: Der LufTeater fun Strasbourg Khosheve khaveyrim Ir kent arayngeyn in undzer nayem veb-zaytl vos prezentirt etlekhe fun undzere forshlagn in Yiddish. http://lufteater.free.fr Akhuts dem zukhn mir materyaln far dem kumendikn festival in Shtrasburg in 2001, gevidmet Yiddish in Argentine. Teater pyeses, muzik, konferentsn, oyshtelungen. S'kon zayn shoyn ekzistirndike materyaln ober oykh naye forshlagn tsu shraybn oder tsugreytn hayntike shafung. Zayt ale gezunt un shtark. Mir vartn oyf forshlagn. Refoel Goldwaser 4)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Sat, 2 Sep 2000 09:55:39 -0400 (EDT) From: "Helen Winkler" Subject: Yiddish Dance I am new to the Mendele list. I joined because over the past year or so I have become very interested in Eastern European Jewish dance and have been collecting information about the dances. All that I have found is on my web page (http://www.angelfire.com/ns/helenwinkler). Through searching Mendele archives, I have found that dance/klezmer music comes up in your discussions every so often and this information is valuble to me. I am interested in any dance related information--everything from memories of certain dances, to anecdotes to research articles. An ongoing project right now is a volunteer effort to translate Isaac Rivind's book "Klezmorim" which is a social history of klezmer published in 1960. The book is mostly in Hebrew but also contains some Yiddish sprinkled through the text. I am happy to share our progress to date on this with anyone who would like to read it. I can e-mail it out. Helen Winkler 5)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon, 4 Sep 2000 17:44:24 -0400 (EDT) From: Joshua Fishman Subject: Letste dermonung fun der fishman-fundatsiye farn yor 2000 Der termin af ontsugebn aplikatsiyes tsu der "arn un sonye fishman fundatsiye far yidisher kultur", in shaykhes mit proyektn af tsu shtarkn yidish tsvishn kinder un yugnt, is oktober der 31ster. Aplikatsiyes darfn azyn af yidish, nit lenger vi finf zaytlekh, mit a genoyem arbetplan (d"h, nit nor plener un tsiln, nor genoy vifn tsayt vet ver opgebn af vos, un vos iz zayn/ir tsugreytung un derfarung in shaykhes mit ot der arbet), un lesof: a genoyem budzhet. Yeder aplikant darf ongebn dem nomen un adres fun der fun-shtayern-bafrayter organizatsiye vos vet ufpasn af ale hoytsoes un vet tsushikn a letst-giltikn finantsyeln barikht biz sof 2001. S'rov subventsn zenen af eyn yor un bavilikn $1500 biz $2000, khotsh a bisl lengere proyektn un gresere subventsn veln oykh batrakht vern. Aplikatsiyes (finf ekzemplyarn) darf men bizn termin araynshikn tsu "Aaron and Sonia Foundation for Yiddish Culture, 3616 Henry Hudson Parkway, Apt. 7B-N, Bronx, NY 10463. Men ken zikh oykh vendn tsu bakumen a kontrolirke ("check-list") fun di ale foderungen fun der fundatsiye baym durkhkukn aplikatsiyes. Joshua Fishman 6)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 6 Sep 2000 05:43:39 -0400 (EDT) From: Peter Gutmann Subject: vos iz a _pusherke_? Tayere mendeleyaners, ikh shrayb an oyfzats vegn tsway bikher fun Mordecai Richler, The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz un St. Urbain's Horseman. Ikh bin far alem interesirt in Richlers bashraybung fun yidishe kehiles in Montreal. ikh ver azoy hobn etlekhe kashes vos mendele efsher ken entfern. mayn dosikes posting iz vegn der ershter frage, vos iz a _pusherke_? Richler zogt in roman: "you're a _pusherke_. A little Jew-boy on the make. Guys like you make me sick and ashamed" (DK, Toronto 1974, p. 284). khotsh dos iz nisht keyn ekhte definitsye, nemen ale (englishe) shraybers ez ariber in seyere tekstn. ikh volt zayn zeyer gliklekh mit a besere definitsye. iz _pusherke_ efsher a yidish vort fun english 'to push'? I am currently working on a thesis on two novels by Mordecai Richler, The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz and St. Urbain's Horseman. What I am most interested in is Richler's depiction of Montreal Yiddish communities. Thus, every now and then, I might encounter a problem which mendele could help me to solve. And _pusherke_ is the first one. Richler gives a definition of _pusherke_ in the text: "you're a _pusherke_. A little Jew-boy on the make. Guys like you make me sick and ashamed" (DK, Toronto 1974, p. 284). This is not really a satisfactory definition. However, all the criticism that I have had access to so far simply adopts it. I would be very grateful for a more precise definition of _pusherke_. Is it based on English 'to push'? a sheynem dank. Zayd gezunt! Peter Gutmann Neunkirchen 7)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 20 Sep 2000 17:44:32 -0400 (EDT) From: Mikhoyel Basherives Subject: raysn kvorim In translating an article from a book titled "Yidn in Ukraine" about the era of the cantonists I came across a phrase whose meaning I can easily guess but I would like to hear its meaning explained by someone who knows for sure. It is in reference to Jewish communities being in such anguish & terror at having to give up their young men & even children for the obligatory 25 year military service by the tsar's orders that the prayer houses were packed with people wailing & praying for help & that among other things they "hobn gerisn kvorim". I am guessing they were pleading at the graves of their deceased loved ones for God's intervention but I would like to be sure. Thanks. Mikhoyel Basherives 8)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 20 Sep 2000 19:00:47 -0400 (EDT) From: "K I Weiser" Subject: LCAAJ on the web For those interested in the progress of a German-led team to make the Atlas data available to all via the internet, I refer you to this address: http://www.cyberspider.de/eydes/index1.htm Kalman Weiser New York 9)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 21 Sep 2000 07:02:40 -0400 (EDT) From: Moshe Waldoks Subject: Manger's poem Tayre khevre, a shayle: Does anyone know the date of the composition of Itzik Manger's "ikh vel oyston di shikh" which was arranged and musicalized by Chava Alberstein on the Klezmatics "Di krenetze" (#9) a shaynem dank tsu alamen Moshe Waldoks ______________________________________________________ End of Mendele Vol. 10.034 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