Mendele: Yiddish literature and language ______________________________________________________ Contents of Vol. 11.023 December 15, 2001 1) The Proletpen Revisited (David Weintraub) 2) komets alef "oy"? (Yankev Lewis) 3) Seeking "farfel" etymology (Eli Langner) 4) yiddish flash cards (Eric Edelstein) 5) intermediate Yiddish textbook (Ele Hersh Gertl) 6) Tshernichowsky's song (Mikhl Herzog) 7) Vayizoso's seykhl (Mechl Asheri) 8) Vayzose (Alan Astro) 9) Daniel Kempin (Bret Werb) 1)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 28 Nov 2001 10:43:14 -0500 (EST) Subject: The Proletpen Revisited I must take issue with Leonard Prager's discussion of Proletpen in his recent posting challenging the wording of my request for assistance on the development of a volume of Proletpen poetry. The Dora Teitelboim Center for Yiddish Culture is determined to put a considerable number of unjustly ignored New York poets of the interwar years back on the map of Yiddish Literature, both in the original Yiddish and in English translation. We feel certain that the forthcoming volume will be the first of a number that will explore the magnificent creativity of so many Yiddish poets of America who continue to remain unknown to new generations of Yiddish students and enthusiasts, while ever more books and articles appear about the same few writers who now dominate the canon. This is not meant to be a comprehensive refutation of Dr. Prager's diatribe. The book itself will stand on its own to put back into Yiddish literary history what has been long excised for a variety of reasons. However it must be said at once that politics has always been a driving force in Yiddish culture. Sometimes this is expressed through commission and other times through omission. I am not challenging Howe and Greenberg's editorial motivations, nor for that matter, Ruth Wisse for hers. However the fact is that glaringly absent from all of their anthologies were some of the greatest poets of the 20th century, all of whom were, in one time or another, active participants in the Proletpen including Sarah Barkan, Louis Miller, Aaron Kurtz, Zishe Weinper, Yosl Kotler, Ber Green, Martin Birnbaum, Yuri Suhl, Menke Katz, not to mention Dora Teitelboim . . . (to name a few). Yiddishists will forgive me for using the popular English spellings of some poets names, where these are established. In fact, so striking was their absence that the great Yiddish translator, Aaron Kramer edited and published an entire book, A Century of Yiddish Poetry, dedicated to putting back into Yiddish literary history, in his words, "those who were utterly ignored or dismissed in a half-sentence." In the early 20th century there were two major worlds of Yiddish thought generally represented by the Forverts (Jewish Daily Forward), and the Morgn Frayhayt (Freiheit), whose readers rarely agreed on much until the Holocaust when left, right and center united for survival. It is indeed rather strange to dismiss nearly all who contributed to the Morgn Frayhayt as being "political" poets whose writings were dogmatic and lacked art or whose nign was "straitjacketed" to the Communist party. Its very much like saying that the editorial board and contributors to the Forverts were all police agents and therefore should be dismissed as real writers because the Forward's leadership turned over names to the government during the witch hunts of the 50s (a documented fact). The volume Proletpen will have as its foremost goal the revelation to today's readers of a whole universe of poetry that has been ignored. Much of that poetry had absolutely nothing to do with party politics! It will also become obvious that one common denominator in the quiet conspiracy to exclude them is the year in which they left (if they ever left!) the Left (no pun intended). Those who joined the ranks of the Yiddish right "in time" were forgiven and often became the first anthologists themselves to create the one-sided canon that then became "God's Honest Truth" for a new generation of professors. Professor Prager is certainly right to allude to the years of departure from the left as a relevant factor in how writers perceived others and were themselves perceived through political prisms. In the 21st century it is hoped that rather than reviving the sectarianism that too often has divided Yiddish culture by "revising history" through false notions of quality control and outdated political litmus tests, thereby throwing out a significant part of Yiddish cultural history, that we knock down the walls that have divided us to work for the revival of our beloved culture and the study of its many internal diversities. This is why a volume (the first of a number) of Proletpen poetry is so important. And that's why I cannot condone categorization through generalization and marginalization as seems to be the case here once again. It is time to finally learn the wisdom gained from the Holocaust and set aside our life-long political biases so that we can share another thousand years of Yiddish culture. David Weintraub 2)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 20 Nov 2001 17:49:09 -0500 (EST) Subject: komets alef "oy"? In a discussion about the pronunciation of the word which in YIVO transliteration is "sholem" (and in Israeli Hebrew, "shalom") I have been assured that many Yiddish speakers (possibly especially Yiddish speakers from Russia) pronounce it "shoylem". Is this true in Mendelyaners' experience? Does it carry over to other words with a komets? (I find that hard to imagine -- "boyrukh atoy Hashem..."?) Or is it an anomaly? Puzzled, Yankev Lewis 3)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 21 Nov 2001 11:19:10 -0500 (EST) Subject: Seeking "farfel" etymology Does anyone here know the derivation of the word "farfel"? I've heard the word used to describe crumbled matzo flakes, flake-like noodles, and noodles in general. It is my understanding (though I'm no scholar of Yiddish) that "farfoylt" means "destroyed", and "farfalen" means "thwarted"; I was wondering if this could have anything to do with the crumbling of the matzos into little flakes. Another possibility I was pondering has to do with the Italian word "farfalle" ("butterflies") for another kind of noodle (i.e.-"bow ties" or "varnishkes"). Could it be that "farfalle" crossed over from Italian into Yiddish as a catch-all term for any kind of noodle? Or perhaps, only the type of short noodle one might mix with another solid food (as in kasha varnishkes/farfalle)? This is all speculation on my part. However, I would appreciate any information on the true derivation. Thanks, Eli Langner 4)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 22 Nov 2001 11:32:34 -0500 (EST) Subject: yiddish flash cards Hey all, I was wondering if any of you have explored yiddish flash cards. I'm talking about serious words, though, not the silly stuff you tend to see. I particular, I'm reading these stories by Bergelson and for every word that I don't know, I'm putting it in yiddish on one side and english on the other. It struck me that if I happened to put them into an Access database, then I could print them out onto flash cards later. Further, if I did that, they'd be sharable. So, I guess I'm wondering if any of you have ever considered the notion of an email group creatable set of flash cards. If it were possible to buy a serious set (like with the contents of Weinreich's College yiddish, etc), then there might not be any need. Grateful for any information or suggestions. Eric Edelstein 5)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon, 26 Nov 2001 23:23:56 -0500 (EST) Subject: intermediate Yiddish textbook Anna Shternshis hot gefregt vegn a lernbukh [11.021]. Kh'volt genitst Dr. Mordkhe Shekhters _Yidish tsvey_: Schaechter, Mordkhe. Yidish tsvey: a lernbukh far mitndike un vaythalters. <6. aroyskum> Nyu-York: Yidish-shprakhiker resursn-tsenter, Yidish-lige, 1995. Mit di beste grusn, Ele Hersh Gertl (Elliot Hersch Gertel) En Arbor, Mishigen (Ann Arbor, Michigan) 6)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 27 Nov 2001 11:31:11 -0500 (EST) From: "marvin herzog" Subject: song I think that Motl Fisher confuses the Hebrew poet Tshernichowsky with Adam Cherniakow of the Lodzh Ghetto. The poem (and song) in question, (by Tshernichowsky), is: sakhki, sakhki al hakhalomot, zu ani hakholem sakh, sakhki ki beadam aamin, ki odeni maamin bakh, sakhki ki beadam aamin, ki odeni maamin bakh. As I recall (imperfectly), from early memories, this is usually rendered in English as: Laugh at all my dreams my dearest, Laugh and I recall anew, That I still believe in mankind (=adam), That I still be in you, That I still believe in mankind, That I still be in you. If you were nearby, I could still sing it for you. Mikhl Herzog 7)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 28 Nov 2001 14:30:37 -0500 (EST) Subject: Vayizoso's seykhl Vayizoso's seykhl is accurately defined (the commonly heard explanations seem, to me at least, debatable) by Mendelistn Mett, Beinfeld and Jacobs and it is assumed that Mendele's laudable anti-nibl pe policy precludes mention of a widely disseminated anatomical usage of the the name of Homon's mezinnik. There is, in addition a sheyne vort regarding Vayizoso's seykhl to be found in Yud Ches Rawnitski's "Yidishe Vitsn". It is short and worth quoting in its entirety. Dalfon un Vayizoso Di aseres bney Homon, Homon's tsen bonim, zeynen oifgehangen gevorn, vi in a medresh vert dertseylt, derfar vos zey hobn es dem foter zeyern gegebn di eytse, eyntsutsoln dem kenig Ahashverois tsen toiznt shtik zilber kdey di yidn umtsubrengn, un zey aleyn take hobn es tsugeshtelt, yeder fun zey tsu toiznt. Fregt zikh ober a shayle: fun vanen a shteyger, hot Vayizoso, der gevisser tipesh, plutsim bakumen khokhme oif eytses tsu gebn, un Dalfon, der gevisser kabtsn, gekrigt azoi fil gelt? Der teyrets iz: ven es handlt zikh vegn umbrengn yidn, demolt vert afilo a Vayizoso a khokhem un a Dalfon afilu krigt oikh groise geltn. Mechl Asheri 8)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 28 Nov 2001 15:42:27 -0500 (EST) Subject: Vayzose Vayzose iz nar un oykh dos menershe glid, azoy vi pots un shmok. (Putz and schmuck in the popular Germanizing orthography, leading to all kinds of faux savant etymologies. What would the posthistorical world of Yiddish be without deutsche Besserwisserei and other such misprisions?) Alan Astro San Antonio, TX 9)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 28 Nov 2001 17:04:25 -0500 (EST) Subject: Info on Daniel Kempin In his note of November 16 Martin Jacobs writes that Daniel Kempin (cited as a source for information about "vayzoso") is unknown to him. Mr. Kempin is a performer and scholar of Yiddish music who lives near Wiesbaden, Germany. Although not well known to audiences in the US, he does have several CDs in distribution, including an album of Gebirtig songs recorded at the Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington DC. Bret Werb Washington DC ______________________________________________________ End of Mendele Vol. 11.023 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