Mendele: Yiddish literature and language ______________________________________________________ Contents of Vol. 07.133 January 15, 1998 1) shul/templ/avrom reysin (elye palevsky) 2) Levi Yitzhak (Susan Kray) 3) query for the linguists and onomastics specialists (Joshua Fogel) 4) Shakespeare in Yiddish (Al Grand) 5) "Mucho ojo" de Khevl Katz (Eliahu Toker) 6) Xmas in Yiddish -- nit'l vs. veinachten (Gilad J. Gevaryahu) 7) Rose Auslaender (Hugh Denman) 8) "Yiddish" on Bartoli Record (Leah Watson) 9) hekdesh (Sema Chaimovitz Menora) 1)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 25 Dec 1997 13:20:19 EST From: EPalevsky1 Subject: shul/templ/avrom reysin re shul/templ in [07.128]. zayt moykhl vos kh'ruf zikh op azoy shpetlekh. der kaver berl volt zikher hanoye gehat fun an avrom reisin maysele in velkhn a "shul yid" makht khorev a templ in -Long Island- tsum badoyern dermon ikh zikh nit vi es heyst. elye palevsky 2)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 25 Dec 1997 18:07:50 EST From: Abzu Subject: Levi Yitzhak Does anybody know about a law suit--a din toyreh--brought by one Levi Yitzhak, possibly a rabbi, possibly in Berditchev, possibly over a hundred years ago, against God for not protecting Jews from terrorism (pogroms)? I seem to remember mention of it and also lines of a Yiddish song sung by Jan Peerce years ago ("ich bin gekumen tsu aych mit a din toyreh fun dain folk Yisroel..."?) Does anybody happen to have more specific information about when, where, and whether? Susan Kray 3)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Fri, 26 Dec 1997 13:11:27 -0800 From: "Joshua Fogel" Subject: query for the linguists and onomastics specialists Can anyone knowledgeable in Yiddish linguistics and/or onomastics help explain how Yiddish apparently has two "reflexes" (I'm not sure if this is the correct word) for the Hebrew name Shelomo; namely, Zalmen and Shloyme? Is there any difference at any level between the two Yiddish names? Is there a linguistic term for this phenomenon? Joshua Fogel 4)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Fri, 26 Dec 1997 17:23:35 EST From: Savoyid Subject: Shakespeare in Yiddish The recent death of a close friend brought to mind these wonderful lines that Shakespeare put into Polonius's mouth as he spoke to his son Laertes about the value of holding on to tried and true friends: "Those friends thou hast and their adoption tried, / Grapple them to thy soul with hoops of steel." I was wondering how this would sound in Yiddish, so I turned to my 1918 edition of Israel J. Schwartz's Yiddish translation of Hamlet and found these lines: _Di fraynd vos du host oysgepruft getray, / Shmied tsu mit ayzn-rayfn tsu dayn hartsn_. The Yiddish lines, while lacking the majestic Shakespearian resonance, do have a certain tenderness that I find appealing. Thought I'd share them with you. One other sentence that I find rather amusing occurs in these opening lines of Julius Caesar: FLAVIUS - "Hence! Home, you idle creatures, get you home! Is this a holiday?" Schwartz renders this into Yiddish thusly: _Avek! Aheym ir leydigeyer, geyt aheym! Vos iz haynt far a yontif_? I'm refering to the last sentence - an expression which I'm SURE I heard my mother use on several occasions. For instance, if somebody seemed, in her eyes, to be somewhat overdressed for no special reason she might ask "_Vos iz haynt far a yontif_?" I post these random thoughts in hopes that others on this list might be encouraged to share moreYiddish lines from English (or indeed, French, Italian, etc.,) literature that they may find interesting or amusing. Al Grand 5)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 16 Sep 1997 16:52:54 ARG From: "Eliahu Toker" Subject: "Mucho ojo" de Khevl Katz Der khaver Zachary M. Baker hot gebetn dem tekst fun Khevl Katz's barimter "Mucho ojo". Ot shraib ikh im iber. Es zainen faran shpanishe (argentiner) verter un oisdrukn, efsher nit farshtendlikhe, ober es iz sai vi meglekh tsu farshtein dem iker un tzu derfiln dem humor un dem khein vos Khevl Katz hot farmogt. MUCHO OJO Jevel Katz In shtot vu ikh bin geboirn / a rebn hob ikh gehat hot er mir far main forn / gelernt ot dem pshat: Du forst in land in vaitn / vu vos ein zakh dort toig, kukn in ale zaitn / un hobn gut an oig. Hob ojo, hob mucho ojo, hob ojo, zai nisht fartrakht. Ver es hot ojo, hot mazl brokho un ver es hot nit, iz nit far mir gedakht. Ikh veis zikh vi tsu firn, / ikh drei zikh gut in rod, mir kon men nisht macanirn, / ikh bin kabtsanski zavod. Mit a heise mate / brit men mir mer nit op, ikh zog anda banate / fardrei mir nit kain kop. Ikh hob zikh nisht lib tsu shemen / far maine gute fraint velkhe hobn lib tsu nemen / un gebn hot men faint. Ikh gei of a remate / vi a iederer ikh shtaig, ikh makh zikh tamevate / un ikh koif a faig. Mit kain puste zakhn / fardreit men mir nisht kain moiaj, ikh ze alts vos men darf nor / un vos men darf nit oikh. Ikh bin mir muy galante / tsu a meidl ven zi redt un ikh nem mit a purgante / ven ikh es oif a banket. Un shpet bainakht in cine / a meidl ven ikh nem veis ikh in argentine / vi ir opfirn aheim: ikh loz ir gein afrier / un ikh gei bai der vant tomer vart der tate in toier / mit a bezim in der hant. Der malakh hadoime iz umtsufridn / aroifguekumen tsu got mit a taine tsu di idn / vos tsores er fun zei hot: men zindikt vi di goim / mit aveires fil un es kumt der iom noroim / shoklt men zikh in shil. Ikh hob ojo / zogt got him ojo ikj bin got kh'veis / ver s'firt zikh fain. Zei betn brokhes / vet men zei in... oy oy vet men shmaisn / vifl es vet arain. Ikh hob ojo / ikh hob mucho ojo zei betn tsetlaj bai mir mit glik ver es hot kain cuente / corriente ienems tsetele vet kumen mir tsurik. Ot o der iz der fuler tekst loit Katz's papirn. A ekstre grus far Zachary Baker Eliahu Toker Buenos Aires - ARGENTINA 6)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Sun, 28 Dec 1997 09:55:28 EST From: Gevaryahu Subject: Xmas in Yiddish -- nit'l vs. veinachten Xmas is rendered in Yiddish as either "nit'l" (Weinreich) or "der yom-tov lichvod christos geburstag" (Harkavy, 1891 edition). However, on the Yiddish side Harkavy gives Xmas as the English for both nit'l and veinachten. Abelson renders Xmas as veinachten and in parenthesis he copies the "yom-tov" explanation from Harkavy. "veinachten" comes from German Weinachten where the prefix Weih-e stands for consecrate or dedicate. Hence it is clear why Weinreich did not include the word - it is German. One might wonder if Jewish usage of the word was more than copy a German word. Was the prefix expanded to double meaning such as "veinen" cry or weep or the Oy vey nacht? [Excuse my non-YIVO spelling] What is the etymology of "nit'l"? "Natal" means in English: of or pertaining to a person's birth (Random House 2nd Ed, p. 1279) thus it is probably relating to J's birth; cf. neonatal, prenatal, etc. Is it also a double meaning form "nit" [or nicht/nisht] meaning "absence" to represent that it did not mean a thing to the Jews? Or that it was prohibited to study Torah that night? ("mitor nit lernen Torah") Or maybe from the Aramaic "leil neturei" for the Hebrew leil shimurim (See Onkelos to Ex 12:42) to mean "a night of guarding/a night of watching"? Gilad J. Gevaryahu 7)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 31 Dec 1997 14:41:24 +0100 From: Hugh Denman Subject: Rose Auslaender With reference to our shames's remarks about Rose Auslaender [07.131:8] I might note that I also tried to follow up the references to her given in Joseph Kruse's _Von Franzos zu Canetti..._. In particular I was interested to see her book _My Dear Roisele: Itzig Manger, Elieser Steinbarg: jiddische Dichter aus der Bukowina, [Schriftenreihe der Rose Auslaender- Dokumentationszentrum 6], Uxheim: Rose Auslaender-Dokumentationszentrum, 1996, 174pp. [ISBN: 3-93182607-4] which prima facie seemed to be the item of greatest Yiddish interest. Having failed to obtain it through the normal channels of the German book trade, I wrote to the Dokumentationszentrum in Uxheim, only to have my letter returned by the Post Office with a note to the effect that the centre no longer existed. Does anyone know for certain whether the book was published or only announced and, if published, where it could be obtained? Hugh Denman 8)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 31 Dec 1997 09:19:19 -0500 (EST) From: Leah Watson Subject: "Yiddish" on Bartoli Record Recently someone recommended the Bartoli recording of Ravel's Chants Amour. Indeed it is wonderful. However, the so called Yiddish is most peculiar. Germanized both as to vocabulary and structure, capitalization, spelling,etc. Does anyone know the history of this? Is it what Ravel had access to or what?! Leah Zazulyer 9)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 1 Jan 1998 00:17:12 EST From: Lights4607 Subject: hekdesh In the discussion of the origins of the Yiddish/Hebrew word Hekdesh, Arnie Kuzmack questions the validity of my explanation of the derivation of kadesh from "Kad esh" (burning by fire) by saying that 3-letter words do not work that way. I would like to point out that, prior to the 12th century, grammarians maintained that Hebrew words may consist of one or two letters also (Veyach-and he hit). The need for three-letter words, according to grammarian Joseph Kimchi, came about in around the 12th century. Dr. Abraham Lipshitz, a Chicago area grammarian, points out that early grammarians David Kimchi and Samuel David Luzzato firmly maintained that kadesh/holy means the designation of separateness resulting from the separation of the sacrificial animals from the other animals. Consequently, anything designated as separate for a purpose (even a profane purpose) is termed kadesh. And Hekdesh was a designated (holy) place for the poor. Sema Chaimovitz Menora Chicago, Il ______________________________________________________ End of Mendele Vol. 07.133 Address for the postings to Mendele: mendele@lists.yale.edu Address for the list commands: listproc@lists.yale.edu Mendele on the Web: http://www2.trincoll.edu/~mendele http://sunsite.unc.edu/yiddish/mendele.html