Mendele: Yiddish literature and language ______________________________________________________ Contents of Vol. 11.004 June 8, 2001 1) The God of My Unbelief (Allan Nadler) 2) papirnik (Larry Rosenwald) 3) tsores (Mel Poretz) 4) Gender-neutral names (Michoel Ronn) 5) Gender-Neutral Names (Paul Pascal) 6) name Frimet (Shlomo Gliksman) 7) Shnoderer (Yankev Berger) 8) a finstere nakht in bronsvill (Rena Maymudes) 9) a finstere nakht (Harold Penn) 1)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 2 May 2001 13:03:00 -0400 (EDT) From: Allan Nadler Subject: The God of My Unbelief In case there has not yet been a response to the April 14th query [10.055] about the quote: "great is the God of my disbelief", the source is the powerful Yiddish poem, "Mayn Vog'l Bruder", by Yankev Glatstein. The fourth stanza of the poem begins: "der Got fun mayn umgloybn is prekhtik Vee leeb is mir mayn fashlafter Got" which I would render as follows in English "The God of my unbelief is magnifient How nice is my weekened God" This astonishing poem contains many more varieties on that same theme, such as: "Mayn tayerer Got, vifil tfiles tsu im hob ikh farshveht" ("My beloved God How many prayers I have descrated unto him") and, "Mayn Got Shloft un ikh vakh iber im" ("My God slumbers and I watch over him") All of these, and more, are part of Glatshtayn's radical transformation of the biblical and rabbinic doctrines of Divine Providence, largely as a response to the Holocaust. Glatshtayn's transvaluation of traditional Jewish theology renders the Psalmist's "Guardian of Israel who neither slumbers nor sleeps" into the powerless, somnolent divinity who must be watched over by Israel, now the guardian of an effectively dead God. Long before the writings of professional "Holocaust Theologians", such as Richard Rubenstein, Arthur Cohen, Emil Fackenheim, etc., Glatshtayn advanced in his poetry the most daring Jewish response to the problem of faith after the Khurbn. Allan Nadler 2)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Fri, 4 May 2001 10:56:35 -0400 (EDT) From: "Lawrence A. Rosenwald" Subject: papirnik? Hi - a colleague asked me about the word papirnik - he writes, "'Papirnik' is the title of a collection of stories by a Jewish writer from Vienna, and his French colleague Moses has a novel 'Papernik'--any clarification on the etymology of this term would be very much appreciated." Which query I'm hereby sending on to Mendele for him - any ideas? Best, Larry Rosenwald 3)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Sat, 28 Apr 2001 20:44:18 -0400 (EDT) From: EMPE@aol.com Subject: "tsores" I believe I know how to use the word "tsores" in its encompassing meaning of overall misery, woe, trouble, as when someone is beset by multiple (or single or general) miseries, woes, troubles. In sympathizing with someone who has only one problem, I would say that I am sorry for his "tsora." If someone has, specifically, two miseries, woes, troubles that are besetting him simultaneously (such as his business is failing and his wife has left him), how do I apply "tsores" to reflect two such miseries, etc.? Two Israeli friends have suggested "tsorot" but this sounds to my untrained ear more Hebrew than Yiddish, although I'd be unsurprised if the derivation of "tsores" makes their Hebrew solution the one and proper way for me to say that "I am sorry for your "two" miseries, woes, troubles, etc." Mel Poretz 4)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Fri, 27 Apr 2001 09:48:49 -0400 (EDT) From: "M. Ronn" Subject: Gender-neutral names "Zisl" can be used by a male or a female. A famous rosh-yeshive bore the name "Simkhe-Zisl." Yours truly, Michoel Ronn Brooklyn, NY 5)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Sun, 29 Apr 2001 02:06:44 -0400 (EDT) From: "Rohn/Pascal" Subject: Gender-Neutral Names I've wondered about the Yiddish name "Mikhle", a girl's name, at least in my mother's part of Vays-Rusland. I've speculated on it's being a female counterpart of Mikhl or Mikhele, or is it, perhaps, a Yiddish form of the Hebrew Mikhal (Michal, King David's first wife)? I'd like to be enlightened on this. I'd also like to know its correct Yiddish spelling. Paul Pascal Toronto 6)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Fri, 27 Apr 2001 10:02:34 -0400 (EDT) From: "Shlomo Gliksman" Subject: name Frimet My late mother's given name was Khana-Frimet (Frumet). Could anybody tell me what is the origin of Frimet? Was it originally Fruma? Shlomo Gliksman 7)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon, 7 May 2001 10:33:10 -0400 (EDT) From: Jack Berger Subject: Shnoderer In response to khaver Tein [10.056]: I believe it is a "Shnoderer," from the Hebrew, SheNadar, meaning 'who has pledged.' A Shnoderer would also make door-to-door collections as well. Mit a hartzign gruss Yankev Berger 8)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon, 7 May 2001 01:42:32 -0400 (EDT) From: "Rena Maymudes" Subject: a finstere nakht in bronsvill "A finstere nacht in bronsvill" was a oft heard saying in my family, but not as a tagline for a joke. Rather as a descriptive piece comparable to "as the sun sinks slowly in the west" used as a colorful descriptive bit for a real happening. Rena Maymudes 9)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Fri, 11 May 2001 16:51:51 -0400 (EDT) From: HLPEN@aol.com Subject: S'iz geven a finstere nakht.... I put subject line to a group of 20 "mature" people who get together weekly to resurrect our long-ago learned Yiddish. Immediately 4 of them broke into smiles. They agreed that the unspoken lines dealt with common human anatomy that should not be spoken of in public. The words are: Der vint hot gebloysn --- of-tselokhas, Es hot ibergekert mayn kleyder, Un ikh hob gehat a kalten tukhas. Harold Penn ______________________________________________________ End of Mendele Vol. 11.004 Address for the postings to Mendele: mendele@lists.yale.edu Address for the list commands: listproc@lists.yale.edu Mendele on the Web: http://www.mendele.net http://ibiblio.org/yiddish/mendele.html