Mendele: Yiddish literature and language ____________________________________________________ Contents of Vol. 15.041 February 7, 2006 1) dreydl song origins (Lori Cahan-Simon) 2) farher (Leizer Gillig) 3) Saul Halpern and Birobidzhan (Nicole Taylor) 4) klal-shprakniks (Dan Goodridge) 5) khates (Arnold Abramovitz) 6) Jewish Snobbery in Literature (Lilian Falk) 7) Polish Anarchism (Martyn Everett) 8) Gezukht: Lider af yidish fun dorem-afrike (Shloyme-Khaim Cohen) 9) Yiddish Cultural Footage Requested (David Weintraub) 1)---------------------------------------------------- Date: December 19, 2005 Subject: dreydl song origins I just got a new piece in the puzzle in my never-ending search for the true origins of the dreydl song. To recap, for those who may have missed the "exciting" story thus far: Most people are familiar with the English "I Have a Little Dreidel," attributed to Grossman (lyrics) and Goldfarb (music). The earliest version I have found in print is from Coopersmith's 1950 volume, The Songs We Sing. Anecdotally, the earliest any of my sources remember having heard the song was around 1945. A descendant of Goldfarb said that Goldfarb wrote the song while a young man at the New York Jewish Bureau of Education (I may have the name of this institution incorrect and hope that someone can correct me, if so. If anyone knows where to find out what years he may have worked there, that would be a great help). One of Goldfarb's sons gave me a copy of the song in his own hand, unfortunately undated. He told me his father did not publish it in The Jewish Songster because he felt this children's song was not of consequence. The lyrics refer to a dreydl made of air-dried, unfired clay, which not only would not stand up to the rigors of play, and would probably not spin nicely if made by a child without the skills to create a symmetrically weighted product, but was also not traditionally a material used to make dreydls. My impression is that the word clay in the English version was used merely as an appropriate rhyme based on an approximate translation of the Yiddish. In my latest breakthrough, just yesterday I spoke with a woman in her early 90s who attended the New York Arbeter Ring shuln beginning in 1921. She remembers learning the song from Mikhl Gelbart himself, the author and composer of the Yiddish version, who had been the music teacher since the inception of the shuln in 1918. The earliest dated print version I have found of "Ikh bin a kleyner dreydl" is from 1945, and the earliest date I had ascertained previously was from a former student who remembered learning it in the early 1930s, while attending with her older brother. People who may remember its earliest date are getting hard to find. Another incident pointing to Gelbart as the original author and composer is that of a woman who worked in the NY Workmen's Circle offices who was told by another office worker, who was there in the 1950s, that Gelbart was angry at the time, and trying to figure out how to sue "the interloper" who stole his song, but as his small salary didn't afford him the means to afford a lawyer for the job. A factor that weighs in heavily, for me, is that in the Yiddish lyrics, as opposed to having been made from clay, the dreydl is made of lead, which is the material traditionally used for making dreydls. (From the evidence of another song, I believe the molten lead would have been poured into a four-piece wooden mold.) Problematic is the fact that Gelbart had the practice of borrowing songs, from both Yiddish and other languages, and adapting them for his uses. However, he would sometimes indicate that certain songs were from an English song in his published work, without being specific as to the name of the original. I assume he felt that the origins of those borrowed songs he published without attribution were obvious to those conversant with Yiddish culture. An example of this is his A yingele, a meydele, which is the same as the older folksong Der rebele, der gabele, but for a few words. Equally confounding is my finding that the Goldfarbs, in their book The Jewish Songster, attribute some songs to themselves or others that, I have been told, were not written by them or the composers indicated.= For those not familiar with one or the other version of this song, the melodies are identical and the lyrics almost identical: Yiddish: I am a little dreydl I am made out of lead Everyone come play Dreydl, one, two, three. Oh, dreydl, dreydl, dreydl Oh, spin around, dreydl, spin So, everyone come play Dreydl, one and two. English: I have a little dreidel I made it out of clay And when it's dry and ready Oh, dreidel I shall play Oh, dreidel, dreidel, dreidel, I made it out of clay And when it's dry and ready Oh, dreidel I shall play. Of course, in Yiddish it rhymes nicely. There are further verses with correspondences. So, I still don't have a confirmed conclusion, even though the evidence, to me, points to a Yiddish origin for the song. Why either of these men would plagiarize the other is beyond me, but to think that this was a coincidental accident, with an identical melody and similar lyrics, is unlikely. I hope that anyone with further clues or information for me will contact me. Mit frayndshaft, Leyele/Lori Cahan-Simon, 2)---------------------------------------------------- Date: December 19 Subject: farher A "farher" - fey, alef, RAYSH, hey, raysh - is an oral examination, usually of a boy's Torah learning. Farhern is also a verb, as in Der tate hot farhert zayn zun. When many people pronounce the word, the first raysh gets lost, so it does indeed sound like "faher." Leizer Gillig 3)---------------------------------------------------- Date: December 19 Subject: Saul Halpern and Birobidzhan I am a London-based film-maker and Yiddishist, working on an adaptation of the memoirs of a woman connected with American Jewish Communists in Los Angeles during the thirties. I have come across some letters from a Los Angeles journalist called Saul Halpern, with whom I'd very much like to be in touch, but so far, Google searching and calling information hasn't yielded any contact details. I would be very grateful to anyone who could put me in touch with Mr. Halpern. More generally, I am very keen to be in touch with anyone with a personal connection to Birobidzhan; ICOR; migrs to the region etc. Many thanks in advance. Nicole Taylor 4)---------------------------------------------------- Date: December 19 Subject: Klal-shprakniks Having read and thoroughly enjoyed Michael Wex's "Born to kvetch," I must reject his characterization of klal-shprakhniks as "humorless strident nudniks" (Allan Nadler). I learnt my yidish at the ripe old age of 72 in a university setting from a lecturer who also acquired yidish at a university. Hence I could be described as a second generation klal-shprakhnik,(or as close as one get there starting from a Russian mameloshn) but, although I regret that klal yidish was not more generally accepted, I have no quarrel with those who say "vaab" instead of "vayb," as long as the orthography is standardized. The clever Chinese have solved that problem years ago - a multitude of diverse dialects which are incomprehensible to people outside their domains, but (on the mainland) a single set of characters, so that the written language is standardized. Yiddish has followed suit (more or less) with the takones fun der klal yidisher shprakh (YIVO). So all is well, and long may it prosper. Dan Goodridge 5)---------------------------------------------------- Date: December 21 Subject: khates My tentative little article got well and truly mangled in vol.15 no.37 of Mendele. In case you'd like to reprint it, here it is as I originally sent it: There are many terms of opprobrium for gentiles: goy, yok, sheygetz, poyer are some which I believe are known internationally. There is one, however, that seems to be peculiar to South African Yiddish. Or, to put it more carefully, I have not yet heard of its being used by non-South African Yiddish speakers. The word is khattess. In this country it is used as a pejorative term applied to a working class Afrikaner. The nearest Hebrew is khattat, which I think was a biblical term used to describe the sin to be "transferred" to a scapegoat, after which the beast would somehow "contain" sin loaded into it by human sinners, and hence would itself be (in a sense) an innocent or unknowing or ignorant sinner. Arnold Abramovitz 6)---------------------------------------------------- Date: December 21 Subject: Jewish Snobbery in Literature A delightful satire on Jewish snobbery was written by Israel Zangwill and published in the IDLER in 1893 and re-published many times since. It is a short book of six chapters titled "The King of Schnorrers". Originally written in English, it was also translated into Yiddish. There have been several adaptations for the stage. It is set in London in late eighteenth century and concerns a brazen Sephardi Schnorrer named DaCosta who repeatedly takes advantage of the snobbishness of a rich Ashkenazi Jew named Grobstock. The original version was richly illustrated by the artist George Hutchinson. Lilian Falk 7)---------------------------------------------------- Date: January 6, 2006 Subject: Polish Anarchism I have a long-standing interest in the history of Polish anarchism, and I have a copy of pamphlet about the Polish anarchist movement in World War II which is in Yiddish. I am trying to find someone who speaks Yiddish who might have the time to translate the pamphlet into English. Martyn Everett 8)---------------------------------------------------- Date: January 6 Subject: Gezukht: Lider af yidish fun dorem-afrike Mayn khor, Sharim v'Sharot, zukht lider af yidish fun dorem-afrike, spetsyel aranzhirt far khor (SATB), ober di melodye un tekst voltn geven genug oykh. Ken emetser mir zogn oyb s'gefinen zikh azelkhe lider, un vu? My choir, Sharim v'Sharot, seeks songs in Yiddish from South Africa, especially those arranged for choir (SATB), but the melody and text would also be enough. Is there someone who can tell me if such songs exist, and where? A dank/Thanks, Shloyme-Khayim (Steve) Cohen 9)---------------------------------------------------- Date: January 6 Subject: Yiddish cultural footage requested The Dora Teitelboim Center for Yiddish Culture is in the process of completing a documentary film on Yiddish culture in America, specifically focusing on the Yiddish legacy in Miami Beach, what happened to it, and efforts to preserve and promote the continuity of Yiddish culture in America. The Center is currently seeking contemporary as well as older footage of children singing Yiddish songs, participating in holiday events, reading poetry, etc. as well as contemporary and archival musical performance by adults and children, footage of Yiddish education, etc. (None of this needs to have occurred in Miami.) If you have access to any of this or have information about who to contact, please contact David Weintraub at info@yiddishculture.org or call him at (305) 774-9244. Thank you. ---------------------------------------------------- End of Mendele Vol. 15.041 Please do not use the "reply" key when writing to Mendele. Instead, choose one of these two: Messages for posting on Mendele Personal and other messages to the shamosim