Mendele: Yiddish literature and language _____________________________________________________ Contents of Vol. 13.011 February 1, 2004 1) Aleksandr Belousov (1948-2004) (Ester-Basya Vaisman) 2) Glatshteyn in English (Marvin Friedman) 3) Glikl Haml's language (Enrique E. Gildemeister ) 4) Jonathan Fast and Sholem Aleichem (Aaron Rubinstein) 5) Yiddish in Italy (Claudia Rosenzweig) 1)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Fri, 30 Jan 2004 17:33:05 EST From: Ester-Basya Vaisman Subject: Aleksandr Belousov (1948-2004) "Vayl Shver iz a Dikhter bay Yidn tsu Zayn" Fun Yisroel iz ongekumen di troyerike yedie az der barimter yidisher poet Aleksandr Belousov iz avek in eybikayt . A rusisher mentsh, on keyn shum batsiung tsu yidishkeyt, Aleksandr Belousov iz geboyrn gevorn in 1948 in Samare. Ven er iz geven gor a yunger bokher, hot er geviklt a groysn interes in Yidishkeyt, Loshn-Koydesh, and Yidish, vos iz geven zeyer umgeveyntlekh far a Sovetish kind in di 1960 yorn. Der rov funem dortikn shul hot forgeshtelt dem yungn Aleksandr tsu einer fun di shul -geyers, ver hot ongebotn tsu lernen im Loshn-Koydesh. Belousov hot ongehoybn tsu kumen tsu gast tsu dem mentshn yedn tog, un er hot oysgelernt Yidish in zayn heym. Er iz geven inspirirt tsu shraybn lider af Yidish bay Smuel Halkins bukh ferzn, "Mayn Oytser". Er hot gevizn zayne lider Nekhama LIfshitzn ven zi iz gekumen tsu Samare mit a kontsert, un bald hot men ongehoybn tsu hern in Yidishe krayzn vegn dem yungn Rusishn man vos shraybt af Yidish. Ven Belousov iz geven a student in der Kuibyshev Pedagogish Institut, zayne Yidishe lider zaynen geven tsu ersht gedrukt in Sovetish Heymland in 1969. Zayn poezie iz Yidishlekh nisht nor in shprakh, nor oykh in gayst: mit a merkverdike oyfrikhtikayt, hot er aroysgezogt a tifn troyer farn velt fun yidishe shtetlekh vos iz mer nishto, far di korbones fun khurbn, vemen er ruft zayne brider un shvester, far der "kholem fun vayte amolike teg". Zayn verk iz geven onerkent un shtark bagrist fun a sakh poetn un kritikers in Sovetn Farband un in oysland. Zayne lider zaynen geven ibergezetst af Rusish, English, un Hebraish. In di 1980e yorn iz Belousov geven eyner fun di grinders fun der gezelshaft far Yidishn Kultur in Samare. Er hot zikh ibergetsoygn keyn Yisroel in 1990, vu er hot gelern imigrantn Hebraish un hot gearbet far der Yidisher un Rusisher prese. Er hot bakumen der Dovid Hofshteyn literarishe premie far zayne Yidishe lider. Bizn sof, iz Belousov geblibn optimistish vegn der tsukunft fun Yidisher kultur; er hot gegleybt in ir tokhik feikeyt ibertsukumen. In eyner fun zayne lider, shraybt Belousov vegn di Yidish-reders vos zaynen geshtorbn in di kataklizmen fun der 20ster yorhundert: "Un glust zikh zey shrayen - nito mer keyn kol!" Aleksandr Belousov hot gevidmet zayn lebn tsu gebn zey a kol. Koved zayn ondenk! Alexander Belousov, a prominent Yiddish poet and essayist, passed away on January 27, 2004 at his home in Maale Adumim in Israel. An ethnic Russian with no Jewish background whatsoever, Alexander Belousov was born in 1948 in Kuibyshev (Samara). In his early teens, he developed a keen interest in Judaism, Hebrew, and Yiddish, a very unusual avocation for a Soviet child in the Russian heartland in the 1960s. The Rabbi of the local synagogue introduced young Alexander to one of the congregants, who volunteered to teach him Hebrew. Belousov started visiting the man on a daily basis and learned Yiddish at his home. He was inspired to write poetry in Yiddish by Shmuel Halkin's book of verse, "Mayn Oytser". He showed his poetry to Nekhama Lifshitz when she was visiting Samara on a concert tour, and word about the young Russian man writing in Yiddish spread quickly in Yiddish circles. While Belousov was a student at the Kuibyshev Pedagogical Institute, his Yiddish poetry was first published in Sovetish Heymland in 1969. His poetry was Jewish not only in language but also in spirit: with a remarkable sincerity, he expressed deep sorrow for the world of Jewish shtetls that is no more, for the victims of the Holocaust whom he calls his brothers and sisters, for the "dreams of the far-off days of yore". His work was recognized and highly acclaimed by many poets and critics in the Soviet Union and abroad. His poetry was translated into Russian, English, and Hebrew. In the late 1980s, Belousov was one of the founders of the Society for Jewish Culture in Samara. He moved to Israel in 1990, where he taught Hebrew to immigrants and worked for the Yiddish and Russian press. He received the Dovid Hofshteyn literary prize for his Yiddish poetry. Until the end, Belousov remained optimistic about the future of Yiddish culture; he believed in its inherent ability to survive. In one of his poems, Belousov writes about the Yiddish speakers who perished in the cataclysms of the 20th century: "And they want to scream - they no longer have a voice!" Alexander Belousov dedicated his life to giving them voice. Koved zayn ondenk! Ester-Basya (Asya) Vaisman 2)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Jan 19, 2004 From: Marvin Friedman Subject: Glatshteyn in English Glatshteyn's novel Ven Yash is Gekumen was translated into English as Homecoming at Twilight by Norbert Guterman (1962, Thomas Yoseloff). His other novel, Ven Yash is Geforen, was translated into English by Abraham Goldstein under the title Homeward Bound (l969, Thomas Yoseloff). Although these are out of print, they might be available through Judaica booksellers or libraries. Hope this helps. Marvin Friedman San Francisco 3)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Jan 21, 2004 From: Enrique E. Gildemeister Subject: Glikl Haml's language Last summer I made a project of reading Glikl's Zikhroynes in the original. I bought a nice copy that had belonged to a rabbi in Baden. Anyway, I found it rough going, because there were so many pure loshn-koydesh passages, which I can't read. I also couldn't help noticing, though, that the Germanic component seemed, on the surface, to be very New High German, but I don't feel qualified to make that a firm conclusion. Can anyone recommend a good book or article(s) that would explain/explore this? I'd of course be interested in the opinions of any Mendelyaner who have knowledge they'd care to share. I have read some of the literature in/on Southwestern Yiddish of the 20th century (I assume Glikl would have spoken Northwestern Yiddish). The SWY dialect of Endingen and Lengnau seems definitely to be Yiddish in the ense that most Mendelyaner would understand. It has a lot of correspondences with the klal-shprakh, and not just in the Semitic component, i.e. you don't feel like you're just reading a German dialect with Hebrew words mixed in. Things in Glikl's language which did look "Yiddish" were "Mir zenen" "un" and "aakh" (oykh), among others. Robert Rosen, who wrote the 1977 introduction to the Schocken English edition, on the other hand, refers to the language as "Judeo-German" and gives a list of Romance words "used by Glueckel and typical of the German of her century". He also says that the original 1896 edition by Kaufmann has "footnotes rendering some of Glueckel's words, which betray the Hamburg dialect, into modern German ..." Was the 17th century Yiddish of Hamburg really in such a dynamic relationship with NHG? What bugs me about Rosen's statement is that my (Gentile) family is from that area, and we were always told that our ancestors had spoken Low German. Any comments or help? Enrique E. Gildemeister Brooklyn, NY 4)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Jan 21, 2004 From: "Aaron Rubinstein" Subject: Jonathan Fast-Sholem Aleichem First, I would like to introduce myself. I work at the National Yiddish Book Center and am just starting to learn Yiddish and explore Yiddish literature. Second, I have a question I'd like to put out there. I recently heard a rumor that author Jonathan Fast (son of Howard Fast and former husband of Erica Jong) was related to Sholem Aleichem. Is there a Sholem Aleichem scholar who can give me an idea whether there might be a shred of truth to this rumor? Any information would be very helpful! If you think your answer to this question is not of general interest, please feel free to email me directly at arubinstein@bikher.org. A dank, Aaron Rubinstein 5)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Jan 25, 2004 From: Claudia Rosenzweig Subject: Yiddish in Italy A book about Yiddish in Italy just came out: Turniansky, Chava - Timm, Erika, Yiddish in Italia. Manoscritti e libri a stampa in yiddish dei secoli XV-XVII / Yiddish in Italye. Yiddish Manuscripts and Printed Books from the 15th to the 17th Century, with the Collaboration of Claudia Rosenzweig, Contributors: Israel Adler, Roberto Bonfil, Giorgio Pressburger, Chone Shmeruk, Chava Turniansky, Associazione Italiana degli Amici dell'Universite di Gerusalemme, Milano 2003. The text is in English and Italian. Claudia Rosenzweig ______________________________________________________ End of Mendele Vol. 13.011 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