Mendele: Yiddish literature and language ______________________________________________________ Contents of Vol. 13.026 March 23, 2004 1) Binem Heller (Sema Chaimovitz Menora) 2) Judendeutsch (Enrique E. Gildemeister) 3) Judendeutsch (Hershl Glasser) 4) Peysekh lid (Marc J. LeClere) 5) oyf'n hekhn barg (Dara Horn Schulman) 6) oyf'n hekhn barg (Ruben Frankenstein) 7) shnorer (Michael and Lilian Falk) 8) matim (Israel Zamir) Visit Mendele on the Web: http://www.mendele.net 1)---------------------------------------------------- Date: March 23, 2004 From: Cybersavta@aol.com Subject: Binem Heller I am trying to locate the Yiddish poem by Binem Heller about khoydesh Nissen in the Warsaw Ghetto. Does anyone know of an anthology that contains this powerful poem in Yiddish. And would there, by any chance, be an English translation available? Are there other poems by Heller available, also with English translation? Sema Chaimovitz Menora Skokie, Il 2)---------------------------------------------------- Date: March 23, 2004 From: RGildem550@aol.com Subject: Re: Judendeutsch/Juedischdeutsch Heather Valencia asked about the meaning of "Judendeutsch" and whether this has anything to do with Yiddish. Let me say that although I have studied this subject as an avocation, I am neither a trained linguist nor a specialist in the history of the language or in Western Yiddish. I hope that Marion Aptroot, Mikhl Herzog, or one of the other scholars in this subfield can give a fuller explanation here. I recently read parts of _Zikhroynes mores Glikl Hamel_ in the original. I noticed that the language seemed very High German and that it was hard to read for someone whose German is rusty and whose exposure to Western Yiddish is limited to the dialect of Endingen-Lengnau, Switzerland. I put out a query on Mendele v.13.011 and Marion Aptroot gave me information on literature dealing with the language of the Zikhroynes in v.13.012. Right away I noticed that A. Landau in "Die Sprache der Memoiren Glueckels von Hameln" refers to the language as "Juedischdeutsch," not Yiddish. Here are my thoughts. There seems to have been a scholarly controversy about whether there can be any relationship between the formalized "Yiddish" of Eastern Europe and the language of the German Jews, which is referred to by some writers as Judendeutsch or Juedischdeutsch. Years ago I read a wonderful book, a dictionary, called _Die Reste des Juedischdeutschen_. Lots of peculiar stuff, but there was a lot of vocabulary that seems very consistent with "Western Yiddish". Same with Glikl's Zikhroynes. Anyway, from what I can gather, there are some scholars who deny the term Juedischdeutsch and insist that the language should be considered Yiddish. There is some discussion of this in Mendele v.07.064 and v.07.066 under heading "Judeo-Alsatian," where the difference in perspective is said to be ideological. To stir the pot further, Rachmiel Peltz, in an article on the internet that I can no longer locate, said that the literary Yiddish of Germany was always influenced by contemporary German -- this indeed goes some way to explaining the presence of so much German in the Zikhroynes, assuming that Glikl was writing in a literary dialect. Conclusion: my "instincts" tell me that Glikl's language is very consistent, in part, with the klal-shprakh but has forms reminiscent of High German that are likely to puzzle nonscholars. I definitely think of it as Yiddish, though. If anyone has written a good long article summarizing all the linguistic, political-sociological, and cultural issues, with a synopsis of the various controversies, with a scholarly chronology, it would help to learn of its existence. Anyone interested in hearing a sample of Alsatian Yiddish should go to www.dialekt.ch Enrique E. Gildemeister Brooklyn, NY 3)---------------------------------------------------- Date: March 23, 2004 From: pglasser@yivo.cjh.org Subject: re: Judendeutsch Thanks for Heather Valencia's comments. I'm very happy to read such high praise for the Niborski-Vaisbrot dictionary! An answer to her question about Amos Elon's book: when Elon writes "Judendeutsch, a raw medieval German dialect mixed with Hebrew," he betrays his ignorance of Yiddish in particular and of language in general. The language that Mendelssohn knew was definitely Western Yiddish, not a mixture that "permitted only the simplest exchanges." It is absurd to imply that a grammar and morphology can be so primitive that communication is nearly impossible. It's odd that in the 21st century, a respected author would parrot the kind of anti-Jewish stereotype that was current in the late 18th century and that has since been completely discredited. Not to mention that characterizations like "raw ... dialect ... mixed ..." evince equal ignorance. Paul (Hershl) Glasser 4)---------------------------------------------------- Date: March 23, 2004 From: marc_leclere@yahoo.com Subject: Peysekh lid I am posting this email for my mother-in-law like the good eydem that I am. Please reply directly to marc_leclere@yahoo.com as well as the list server. Many thanks. At every seder my father would sing a song which I cannot find in the Haggadah. There is a line of Hebrew and then a line of Yiddish. It is a song describing the differences between idols and "undzer got: One of the lines is "eygn hobn zey en ken nisht zen, okh und vey is tsu zey, a blindyak for a got hobn zey, ober undzer got vos in himl ruht er, vos er vilt dos tut er." Then the song goes on to the other parts of the body. Does anyone know where I can find the Hebrew of this song? Marc J. LeClere 5)---------------------------------------------------- Date: March 23, 2004 From: horn@fas.harvard.edu Subject: Re: oyf'n hekhn barg This song appears in a longer version in Chapter 25 of Mendele's (that is, S.Y. Abramovitsh's) _Fishke der Krumer_, in which a pretty long and rather satirical discussion of it appears. The song itself, I think (particularly in light of the way Mendele frames it) is satirical in a way. The intent of the song, it seems, is to poke fun at Jews who do not see danger when it is standing right in front of them. The voice in the song presents the daytshn mit di baytshn as if they are simply handsome young men, and goes on to thank God for the whole scene in an absurdly happy-go-lucky way, foolishly ignorant of any danger from men bearing sticks and whips when there aren't any animals around. I don't know of a specific historical incident or source of this song (or even if it predates Mendele's book-- I'd guess it does), but I am reminded of another work by Mendele, a short story called "Shem un Yafes in a Vagon," which deals with the expulsion of Jews and Poles from German/Prussian territory. Dara Horn Schulman 6)---------------------------------------------------- Date: March 23, 2004 From: ruben.frankenstein@orient.uni-freiburg.de Subject: Re: oyf'n hekhn barg To Haviva Langenauer's query (Vol. 13.025): This song is given in full length in Y.L. Cahan's collection of "Yiddish Folksongs with Melodies" under Nr. 378. Ruth Rubin in "Voices of a People" (p. 56) has another version and explains, this children song contains taunts leveled against apikorsim (non-believers) and maskilim (freethinkers). The allusion to the "Germans" and their "short clothes" reveals the struggle between religious orthodoxy and the Maskilim, followers of the Enlightenment Movement (Haskala) and their founder, Moses Mendelssohn. Ruben Frankenstein Freiburg 7)---------------------------------------------------- Date: March 23, 2004 From: falk@ca.inter.net Subject: re: shnorer In connection with the recent discussion of the term 'shnorer', has Israel Zangwill's wonderful mini-classic "The King of Schnorrers" been mentioned? Published in London in 1894 and reprinted by Adama Books in 1987 with the original illustrations by Gerge Hutchinson, it is most pertinent to the ongoing discussion of the meaning of 'shnoring' and 'shnorers'. We especially recommend the hilarious 'mi-she-nodar' scene in Chapter 6. Michael and Lilian Falk 8)---------------------------------------------------- Date: March 23, 2004 From: iczamir@mefalsim.org.il Subject: Re: matim In yiddish, "mat-im" mit aksent oif mat: dos heist aksntirn , adaptirn oder tzu nutzn pinktlekh di zelbe melodie. Di asotziatsie: "taamim", dos zenen di melodishe simonim fun di Toyre. Israel Zamir ______________________________________________________ End of Mendele Vol. 13.026 Address for the postings to Mendele: mendele@lists.yale.edu Address for the list commands: listproc@lists.yale.edu