Mendele: Yiddish literature and language ______________________________________________________ Contents of Vol. 13.024 March 18, 2004 1) Introduction (Marina Koroviev) 2) Sutzkevers a lid (Sheva Zucker) 3) shnorer (Hershl Bershady) 4) shnodern (Philip Muzlish) 5) meshulekh (Ida Selavan Schwarcz) 6) Moyshe Kulbak, Vilne (Nekhame Miller-Tureck) 7) mat'im zayn (Norman Buder) 8) News about Yiddish (Noyekh Miller) Visit Mendele on the Web: http://www.mendele.net 1)---------------------------------------------------- Date: March 16, 2004 marina61589@yahoo.com Subject: Introduction I recently joined Mendele list. I currently work at a museum, have background in Hebrew and Russian, doctorate in history and various graduate degrees in history and library science, and am a fabric artist and singer. I decided to learn Yiddish because I feel that I need to know the language to sing the songs, although it is very much an uphill battle after a certain age. I found your list when I was looking for the difference between various handguns used by resistance fighters (I needed to know that for a song program), and found a post that dealt with precisely that subject. And I was hooked. Marina Koroviev 2)---------------------------------------------------- Date: March 17, 2004 From: sczucker@aol.com Subject: Sutzkevers a lid Ikh zukh dem yidishn tekst fun Sutzkevers a lid vos heyst af English "On the Subject of Roses." Di iberzetsung gefint zikh af zaytl 47 in Burnt Pearls: Ghetto Poems Abraham Sutzkever, Tr. Seymour Mayne. Di ershte por shures zaynen, "All wrapped up in clouds, the powerful Demon/ plants a kiss on his frozen sword and speaks:/Lord, give the word and without a tremor" Ikh hob Lider fun Yam-hamoves un Sutkevers Poetishe Verk un ken es nit gefinen. Efsher hot es an ander nomen. A sheynem dank. Ayer Sheva Tsuker 3)---------------------------------------------------- Date: March 17, 2004 From: hbershad@sas.upenn.edu Subject: Re: shnorer I want to thank all who have clarified the meaning of shnorer and suggested English equivalents. I feel I've shnored quite a bit of information, which suggests yet another twist to the term. Hershl Bershady 4)---------------------------------------------------- Date: March 18, 2004 From: zumlif@netscape.net Subject: re: shnodern As has been mentioned "shnoder" is a corruption of Hebrew "shenodar". The practise was rife in shuls in the UK up to and post WW2 especially in the smaller more orthodox communities. It now seems to have died out to avoid ostentation by wealthy congregants although some smaller congregations continue. I can remember about 45 years ago attending a small shul on Shabbat and the only Levi was a barmitzah boy who had no money to donate, which caused a lot of discussion on the bima to his embarrassment. The practise ceased soon afterwards. It always irritated me to see the smug self-satisfied looks bestowed on the congregation by the more affluent after being called up. Philip Muzlish 5)---------------------------------------------------- Date: March 17, 2004 From: idayosef@barak-online.net Subject: Re: meshulekh The Habad movement calls its emissaries "sheluhim" [see Mendele 13.022], not "shelihim"--the word used by the Zionist movement. The first actor to play the meshulekh in Ansky's Dybbuk was the late Noah Nachbush. For many years he personally recorded and packaged and mailed his records to people who ordered them. Not long before his death his recordings were purchased by CBS and produced as a three record album. Ida Selavan Schwarcz Arad, Israel 6)---------------------------------------------------- Date: March 18, 2004 From: ptureck@rogers.com Subject: Moyshe Kulbak, Vilne I am seeking material on Moyshe Kulbak's poem "Vilne". It can be found in Yiddish, and in translation in "The Penguin Book of Modern Yiddish Verse", edited by Khome Shmeruk, Irving Howe, and Ruth Wisse. Has anybody written an analysis of this poem, penned by Kulbak? I want to understand the poem, and its description of Vilne. I also would like to know if there is a university course in North America on "Jewish Vilne", Yerushalayim D'Lite, or a university course on "The Multi-Ethnic Make-Up of Wilno/Vilnius". Nekhame (Naomi) Miller-Tureck Toronto, Ontario 7)---------------------------------------------------- Date: March 18, 2004 From: norman.buder@verizon.net Subject: Re: mat'im zayn Sholem Beinfeld's and Moshe Taube's answers [Mendele 13.023] to Martin Green's question about the meaning of "iz mat'im yeder svore" in Peretz's "Monish" seem conclusive, since they not only fit the context but have the authority of Yitskhok Niborski's dictionaries behind them. These answers are also supported by two entries in Nahum Stutchkoff's "Oytser fun der yidisher shprakh." On page 328, right-hand column, among verbs with the general meaning "to express," he lists "batonen, mat'im zayn, mamtik zayn; aroysheybn, untershtraykhn." On page 399, right-hand column, among verbs with the general meaning "to indicate importance," he lists: "untershtraykhn, mat'im zayn, aktsentirn, aroysheybn." In both lists, "mat'im zayn" is surrounded by verbs meaning to stress or emphasize. Evidently as a guide to pronunciation, Stutchkoff has a pasekh under the initial mem and includes a yud between the ayin and the final mem. The answers pointing to the association of the word with "ta'am" (taste or savor) and "te'amim" (cantillation signs) seem to enrich the poet's meaning. Norman Buder 8)---------------------------------------------------- Date: March 18, 2004 From: nmiller@trincoll.edu Subject: News about Yiddish Some Mendele readers may not yet know that it is now possible to keep effortlessly in daily touch with Yiddish in the news. Here's how: open Google in your browser, click "News", then click "News Alerts" which you'll find in the left margin. Enter Yiddish and your email address and you're set. That takes care of news items in English. You can also have mailed to you items in French, German, Italian and Spanish. Here are two items from a recent mailing. http://www.jta.org/page_view_story.asp?intarticleid=13893&intcategoryid=5 http://www.jta.org/page_view_story.asp?intarticleid=12351&intcategoryid=5 Noyekh Miller ______________________________________________________ End of Mendele Vol. 13.024 Address for the postings to Mendele: mendele@lists.yale.edu Address for the list commands: listproc@lists.yale.edu