Mendele: Yiddish literature and language ______________________________________________________ Contents of Vol. 12.009 October 28, 2002 1) new subscriber introduction (Bart Wallet) 2) Peruvian (Joseph Sherman) 3) call for papers: Conference on bimah and bine (Miriam Isaacs) 4) Bund exhibition at YIVO (Paul (Hershl) Glasser) 5) hoff in gloib (Chava Respitz) 6) Russian born, American artist - Samuel Rothbort (David Rosen) 7) Eyns, eyns, eyns (Larisa Pecherskaya) 8) alphabet song (Mirl Schonhaut Hirshan) 9) lid gezukht: zaftige karshn afn boym (Eve Jochnowitz) 1)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon, 9 Sep 2002 15:18:12 +0200 From: "Bart Wallet" Subject: new subscriber introduction I am a researcher at the Universiteit van Amsterdam, department for Jewish studies. I am actually writing my Ph.D. thesis on Yiddish chronicles written in the 17th and 18th century in Holland, like Menachem Man ben Shlomo Amelander's Sheyris Yisroel. Yours sincerely, Bart Wallet Amsterdam 2)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 8 Oct 2002 06:34:49 -0400 (EDT) From: "Joseph Sherman" Subject: Peruvian The recent enquiry from Veronica Belling about the origin of the term "Peruvian", widely used in South Africa as a pejorative to describe Yiddish-speaking immigrants from Eastern Europe, is timely and important. The organ of this word has long been a mystery, and all explanations offered to date are unsatisfactory. While I look forward to hearing from other correspondents on this subject, my own contribution here seeks to discredit some of the currently received explanations. Bradford's _Dictionary of South African English_ (OUP) has been responsible for putting into circulation the conception that the word "Peruvian" derives from an acronym for "Polish and Russian Union", supposedly a club that existed in Kimberley during the days of the diamond rush there. No convincing evidence is adduced for this assumption, either by Bradford or anyone else. Against accepting this fantasy, one should consider how unlikely it would have been for Yiddish-speaking immigrants, new to South Africa at the end of the nineteenth century, to have formed themselves into a "Union" of the kind envisaged, which would seem to be imagined as some kind of British Colonial Club for gentlemen of leisure. It seems also most unlikely that the word has any connection with South America in general, or Peru in particular, since there is no recorded historical connection whatever between South America and South Africa at the time of the diamond and gold rushes.There is no historical or linguistic evidence of any persuasive kind for these proposed etymologies, so the sooner they are both discredited, and a more reasonable basis for the origin of this unusual usage is proposed -- with hard evidence to support the assertion -- the more helpful it will be for those of us working on South African Yiddish. Joseph Sherman Oxford UK 3)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 8 Oct 2002 09:51:41 -0400 (EDT) From: Miriam Isaacs Subject: call for papers: Conference on bimah and bine. Title: Spirituality and Performance on and off the Stage: The Bimah and the Bine Date: Sunday May 4th 2003 Location: Meyerhoff Center for Jewish Studies at the University of Maryland, College Park. (outside Washington DC) Abstracts due by Nov. 15th There is an honorarium and travel expenses for presentors. contact Miriam Isaacs. Meyerhoff Center for Jewish Studies University of Maryland, College Park, 0113 Woods Hall, College Park, MD. 20742-7415 Tel. 301 405.0264 Fax. 301 405.8232 Call for papers for a scholarly conference on the relationship of the synagogue (and its bimah) and the Yiddish theater (bine) in the 19th and 20th centuries. Did the synagogue become more formal with the emergence of Jewish theater? What were the consequences for congregational intimacy? How did artistic expression reflect cultural preferences of the time? Did the roles of cantors change with the advent of stars and operatic performers? How have synagogue rituals shaped Jewish theater? What did the fact that many performers were cantors mean for the Yiddish stage? Were there shifts with respect to depictions of Jewish religious life? How was Jewish identity expressed? How did the preferences of congregants and audiences shape the action on stage? Miriam Isaacs 4)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Fri, 11 Oct 2002 13:05:14 -0400 (EDT) From: Paul Glasser Subject: Bund exhibition at YIVO YIVO to Open New Exhibition on the Jewish Labor Bund in Interwar Poland "Here and Now: The Vision of the Jewish Labor Bund in Interwar Poland" On October 28 the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research, home of the renowned Bund Archives, which constitutes one of the largest, richest and most important sources of documentation on the history of the Jewish socialist movement, will present a new exhibition on the occasion of the 105th anniversary of the Jewish Labor Bund. The Bund, a political party whose history on Polish soil begins in 1918, with the establishment of the Polish Republic, fought against the rise of anti-Semitism, and campaigned vigorously for fair employment practices for Jews and for decent working conditions. The Bund contributed to the flowering of the Yiddish language by encouraging the founding of Yiddish schools and cultural organizations and by promoting Yiddish literature and theater. By the eve of the war, the Bund had become one of the most popular Jewish parties, winning a large portion of the Jewish vote in local elections. During the Holocaust the Bund went underground, fought in the resistance against the Nazis and participated heroically in the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising. The new exhibition highlights the unique contributions of the Bund in interwar Poland to Jewish educational and cultural life and showcases its support of the Jewish working class and its struggle against the rise of violent and government endorsed anti-Semitism in the years before the outbreak of World War II. The new exhibition will display documents, posters, photographs, newspapers and books from the YIVO collections. and will be open for viewing in the YIVO Exhibition Gallery, Monday through Thursday, 9:30 to 5:00, in the Center for Jewish History, 15 West 16th Street in Manhattan. It will run for two months from October 29 until December 31. For questions about "Here and Now: The Vision of the Jewish Labor Bund in Interwar Poland" please contact YIVO at 212-294-6143. Paul (Hershl) Glasser 5)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Sun, 29 Sep 2002 19:42:58 -0400 (EDT) From: "Respitz Family" Subject: hoff in gloib Can someone send me the words to the song "hoff un gloib?" I would appreciate it no end. Thanks in advance, Chava Respitz Montreal 6)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 1 Oct 2002 20:10:43 EDT From: Aertist@aol.com Subject: Russian born, American artist - Samuel Rothbort (1882-1971) Our family is delighted to welcome you the opportunity to view a magnificent non commercial on-line museum based on the life and accomplishments of Russian born - American Artist, Samuel Rothbort (1882 - 1971). Samuel Rothbort was a self taught Impressionist who worked in oil, watercolor, pen & ink, as well as sculpture out of wood and stone. In the 1930's and 1940's he had painted from memory hundreds of works based on his childhood experiences of late 19th century shtetl life in Eastern Europe. His work served as research material for the original production of Jerome Robbins, Fiddler on The Roof. The web site address is: www.samuelrothbort.com (Go to the page titled, "Memory Paintings") We welcome your comments and suggestions. Sincerely, David Rosen 7)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 8 Oct 2002 21:04:39 -0400 (EDT) From: "Larisa Pecherskaya" Subject: Eyns, eyns, eyns The song "Eyns, eyns eyns" that Mitya Farber probably heard [12.005] is a wedding song addressed to the Klezmers because after every two verses there is a refreyn: zing zhe unter Berl, tantz zhe unter, Smerl, shpil zhe unter, Khaim ale balalaykes, tra la la la, tra la la la...... bekhol makom she hu... The song itself refers to God as the one who mezaveg, mezaveg zivugim bekhol makom she hu, which better comes along with the song's content. eyns, eyns, eyns, ver veyst vos is eyns? eyn is der koydesh borukh hu, vos er mezaveg, mezaveg zivugim bekhol makom she hu x2 Tsvey..... tsvey zaynen khosn-kale tsulib zey tantzn ale, eyn.... Dray...... Dray zaynen di klezmorim vos mesameyakh zkeynim un orem..... Fir..... Fir zaynen di mekhutonim vos zey hobm di muzmonim..... The melody could be found on the CD "Mazl un Shlimazl" by German singer Daniel Kempin and violinist Dmitry Reznik (who is originally from Russia). Larisa Pecherskaya. 8)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Sat, 12 Oct 2002 14:48:27 -0400 (EDT) From: Marjorie Hirshan Subject: alphabet song Adam Levitin on July 11 in Mendele #12.0005 asked about an alphabet song and presented two raggedy quotes. He is right on the point when he said he suspects it stems from the Arbeter Ring. It is a lovely, lively song to the tune of Do a Deer, a Female Deer; it has proved very functional for teaching the aleph-beys for young and old, and was written by Nat Zumoff of Philadelphia, a master Yiddish teacher and talented writer of parodies, satiric songs, and motivational lyrics to make a shenere un a besere velt a la the Arbeter Ring. Back in the 40's he was a group leader at Kinder Ring, the Arbeter Ring Camp, and led many a successful program with his original wonderful lyrics. Today he is a Florida Yiddish troubador who who has boom-box and will travel to share his worthy wares with many a condo or Yiddish organizational group. My Yiddish Club always asks me to rehire him, and calls him the Yidisher Maurice Chevalier. der iker iz: Nat's kid brother, Barney Zumoff, is a Mendelist, and a writer, translator, and word lover as well, and perhaps he can give us all his brother's words to the Alphabet Song. Mirl Schonhaut Hirshan Boynton Beach, Fl. 9)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 8 Oct 2002 10:39:21 -0400 (EDT) From: "Eve Jochnowitz" Subject: lid gezukht: zaftige karshn afn boym I am trying bto find a poem I remember reading many years ago in which the speaker addresses juicy cherries on a tree just out of his reach. Each verse begins: [adjective] karshn afn boym. baym sof, boygn zikh di tsvaygn tsu zayne lipn. Eve Jochnowitz ______________________________________________________ End of Mendele Vol. 12.009 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