Mendele: Yiddish literature and language ______________________________________________________ Contents of Vol. 08.023 July 10, 1998 1) Stuffed kneydlekh (Howard I. Aronson) 2) Yidish-voch meldung (Rukhl Eissenstat) 3) Shnozzola--shtampt dos vort efsher fun Yidish? (Meyshe-yankl Sweet) 4) Looking for the source of a yiddish book (Ezra Gordon) 5) Forverts-plener (Sholem Berger) 6) vos heyst farplastern? (Tony Michels) 7) Yiddish Symposium in Germany (Erika Timm and Marion Aptroot) 8) Yiddish in Canada (Zachary M. Baker) 9) Sholem Aleichem Library, Translation Contest and International Conference ˙˙ (Debra Braverman) 1)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 30 Jun 1998 05:53:19 -0400 (EDT) From: "Howard I. Aronson" Subject: Stuffed kneydlekh In his column in the English Forward (6/26/98) discussing the name of the new synthetic polymer particle, the "knedel," Philologus notes that "Everyone knows that the [Yiddish] knaidel has no filling ..." Well, I'm not certain of this. My grandmother, from Vilne, always stuffed her kneydlekh with raspberry preserves and served them in chicken soup. I was wondering whether others on the list know of such a tradition of kneydlekh stuffed with something sweet. Howard I. Aronson 2)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 30 Jun 1998 05:53:20 -0400 (EDT) From: Eissenstat@aol.com Subject: Yidish-voch meldung In dem meldung fun Yidish-voch vakatsye hot der shrayber banutst "umkern" far "return" gelt. Mayn mishpokhe hot banutst "umkern" far kumen tsurik un "tsurikgebn" oder "tsuriktsolen" far "return" ven men redt vegn a "refund". Oych far "inspirirt", is es nit "bagaytsert"? A dank,˙ Rukhl Eissenstat 3)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 30 Jun 1998 06:59:49 -0400 (EDT) From: "Michael J. Sweet" Subject: Shnozzola--shtampt dos vort˙ efsher fun Yidish? I'm passing on a query from my friend Leonard Zwilling, an editor of the Dictionary of American Regional English, to Mikhl Herzog and other linguistic mumkhim among us.˙ He is currently writing the entry for "Schnoz(zola)" the jocular variant of nose made popular by Jimmy Durante, well-known to those of us of a certain age.˙ Theories derive it as influenced by German Schnauze, perhaps reinforced by Yiddish shnoyts or shnobl, or even directly by these Yiddish words.˙ The question is how current were words like shnoyts or shnobl in Yiddish, and particularly in American Yiddish? Were these words likely to be used by ordinary Yiddish speakers, and hence to pass into popular speech. A sheynem dank in foroys for any suggestions, which you can either post to the list or send directly to zwilling@facstaff.wisc.edu. ˙˙˙˙˙˙˙˙˙˙˙˙˙˙˙˙˙˙˙˙˙˙˙˙˙˙˙˙˙˙˙˙˙˙˙˙˙˙˙˙˙˙˙˙˙˙˙˙˙˙˙˙˙˙˙˙˙˙˙˙˙˙˙˙˙˙˙˙˙˙˙ Meyshe-yankl Sweet 4)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 30 Jun 1998 21:24:58 -0400 (EDT) From: EZRA Subject: Looking for the source of a yiddish book This weeks yiddish Forward made referenced to a book called: Ah Hundert Yiddiseh Stehtlach fun Ukraine-Ah historisheh vegvizer-heft. gesriben bi: Benyomin Lukin un Boris Chaimovich - ariosgegeb'n by Farlag 1997 - Jerusalem Seeking the source or the publisher where I can obtain a copy. Any help from the Mendelainer would be appreciated. Ezra Gordon 5)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 30 Jun 1998 21:58:09 -0400 (EDT) From: "Sholem Berger" Subject: Forverts-plener Ikh bin haynt ovnt geven bay a bagegenish fun Forverts-leyener un -shrayber, berosh mitn nayem redaktor Boris Sandler un farvalter fun Forverts-association Sam Norikh.˙ Dort hot men arumgeredt, tsvishn andere, plener af lehabe un uftuen vos me firt shoyn adurkh, arayngerekhnt di vayterdike: 1. Oysbreytern di subsidye vos vert ibergegebn dem Forverts durkhn ˙˙ Association; 2. Grindn an Eyrope-byuro in Oksford; 3. Grindn a seminar in Eyrope (oykh in Oksford) af oystsushuln ˙˙ yidish-shprakhike zhurnalistn; 4. Fargresern dem tirazh fun der tsaytung mit etlekhe toyznter, vi oykh ˙˙ tsushikn ekzemplarn in medines-yisroel af farkoyfn in kioskn; vi oykh ˙˙ tsushteln mer ekzemplarn di leyener in mizrekh-eyrope; 5. Onheybn a naye baylage far onheyber-studentn, vos zol arumredn frages ˙˙ mit a bazundern shaykhes tsu yingere yidish-reders; 6. Shafn nokh naye shrayber (me tsolt take!); 7. Adurkhfirn an ankete fun der leyenershaft, kedey zikh tsu bakenen mitn ˙˙ "leyenershn ponem"; 8. Oysbesern farshpreytung, pirsem, u"a; 9. Un andere. Vi ir zet, me zitst dort nisht mit farleygte heynt -- me tut uf take nisem. Nokh a vunder, vos dort arbetn nisht keyn draysik mentshn, vi in Forward, nor a karge dray, af oystsufiln a gantse tsaytung vokh ayn vokh oys. Ikh bin nisht keyn ofitsyeler vortzoger funem blat -- kh'hob nor gevolt ibergebn a bisl funem "buzz," ir zolt khotsh khapn dem spri, dem shnit derfun, un im ibergebn ayere khaveyrim, baynand mitn dozikn ruf: Abonirt dem Forverts, shraybt farn Forverts, un hot hanoe funem nayem, lebedikn, oyfgeshtanenem tkhies-hameysim Forverts... Sholem Berger 6)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 2 Jul 1998 05:28:48 -0400 (EDT) From: Anthony Edward Michels Subject: vos heyst farplastern? Tayere Mendele leyners, Ken emetser gebn mir an eytse vi azoy tsu taytshn dos vort "farplastern?" Der "zeyde" Morris Vintshevski gebroykht es in ot dem zats:˙ "Zey interesirt zeyer shtark di alte yidishe frage.˙ Zey zeen, vos di partey zet nit un ken nit zeen, dehayne, yene tsvey toyzent-yorike ofene vund, vos vert rak *farplastert* un blaybt fundestvegn rak ofen un gist zikh kseyder op mit blut." Kh'hob a kuk gegebn bay Harkavyn, Weinreichn, un a daytshishn verterbukh, ober gornisht. A sheynem dank in foroys. Tony Michels Stanford, CA 7)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 2 Jul 1998 06:02:11 -0400 (EDT) From: Marion Aptroot Subject: Yiddish Symposium in Germany First Annual Symposium in Yiddish Studies in Germany, 7-8 October 1998 The interest in Yiddish in Germany has grown steadily in recent decades. There are courses in Yiddish at a number of universities, and at the University of Trier and the Heinrich Heine University in Duesseldorf Yiddish can be studied for a degree at the undergraduate and graduate levels. The Chairs of Yiddish Studies in Trier and Duesseldorf will be organizing a yearly symposium for students and scholars of Yiddish to create an opportunity to meet and to exchange ideas. These symposia will take place alternately in Duesseldorf and Trier. The first symposium will be held at the Heinrich Heine University in Duesseldorf on 7-8 October 1998. Students and scholars of Yiddish Studies are invited to attend and to take part in the symposium. Those who would like to present a paper (in Yiddish or German), are requested to submit an abstract to the organisers of the symposium. Regularly updated information on the symposium can be found in the internet (http://www.phil-fak.uni-duesseldorf.de/jiddisch/) or can be sent by e-mail on request (lethen@phil-fak.uni-duesseldorf.de or Bielawski@uni-trier.de). Erika Timm (Professor of Yiddish Studies, University of Trier) Marion Aptroot (Professor of Yiddish Studies, Heinrich Heine University Duesseldorf) 8)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Fri, 3 Jul 1998 10:53:39 -0400 (EDT) From: Zachary Baker Subject: Yiddish in Canada The June 18, 1998 issue of The Canadian Jewish News contains a very interesting article by Prof. Leo Davids, "Yiddish in Canada:˙ An Update." Prof. Davids (York University, Toronto) is a specialist on the demography of Canadian Jews, and I thought that Mendelyaner might appreciate this lengthy summary of his conclusions regarding the present status of Yiddish in Canada, based on the 1996 Canadian census. [Table]˙ Numbers of Yiddish Speakers in Canada, 1996 ˙˙˙˙˙˙˙˙ (Rounded to the nearest 50) ˙˙˙˙˙˙˙˙˙˙˙˙˙˙˙˙˙˙˙˙ Totals˙˙˙˙˙ Children (0-14 yrs.)˙ Seniors (60 yrs.+) Able to speak Yiddish ˙˙ All Canada˙˙˙˙˙˙˙ 46,650˙˙˙˙˙˙˙˙ 8%˙˙˙˙˙˙˙˙˙˙˙˙˙˙˙˙˙˙˙ 60% ˙˙ Toronto˙˙˙˙˙˙˙˙˙˙ 18,500˙˙˙˙˙˙˙˙ 4%˙˙˙˙˙˙˙˙˙˙˙˙˙˙˙˙˙˙˙ 64% ˙˙ Montreal˙˙˙˙˙˙˙˙˙ 21,150˙˙˙˙˙˙˙ 15%˙˙˙˙˙˙˙˙˙˙˙˙˙˙˙˙˙˙˙ 53% Yiddish Home Language (excludes multiple responses, such as, "We speak both Yiddish and English equally") ˙˙ All Canada˙˙˙˙˙˙˙˙ 6,700˙˙˙˙˙˙˙ 31%˙˙˙˙˙˙˙˙˙˙˙˙˙˙˙˙˙˙˙ 45% ˙˙ Toronto˙˙˙˙˙˙˙˙˙˙˙ 1,600˙˙˙˙˙˙˙˙ 9%˙˙˙˙˙˙˙˙˙˙˙˙˙˙˙˙˙˙˙ 84% ˙˙ Montreal˙˙˙˙˙˙˙˙˙˙ 4,750˙˙˙˙˙˙˙ 39%˙˙˙˙˙˙˙˙˙˙˙˙˙˙˙˙˙˙˙ 29% Here are excerpts from Prof. Davids's conclusions regarding these statistics: "Based on the language questions identified earlier, the census shows us that ability to speak Hebrew is now more widespread in Canada than ability to speak Yiddish, although there are still enough older Yiddish speakers to make the Yiddish mother tongue population larger than the Hebrew language population.... "The idea of 'projecting into the future' is based on a quite simple thought:˙ Any language whose speakers are elderly, let us say age 60 and up, has a very limited future.˙ On the other hand, wherever we find a significant number of children who speak a language, we can assume that that language will continue to appear on our cultural scene for some decades to come.... "If we look at the answers to the question on ability to converse in Yiddish, the total for all of Canada is almost 47,000 people.˙ However, it is important to note that only eight percent of those people are children under age 15, as compared with 60 percent age 60 and up. "When we review ability to speak Yiddish in Toronto and Montreal, we see a very large contrast.˙ In the Greater Toronto Area, children make up only four percent of all those who are able to speak Yiddish; whereas 15 percent of all those in greater Montreal who can converse in that language are children.˙ This means that there are approximately four times as many young Yiddish speakers in Montreal as there are in Toronto, despite the fact that there were many more Jews in Toronto than in Montreal in 1996... "When we look at Yiddish as a home language, which is how most children learn to speak it, the picture is very similar.˙ There are 6,700 Canadians who reported that, as of 1996, their usual tongue at home was Yiddish.˙ Of those, 45 percent were seniors, while 31 percent were children under 15. However, the Toronto versus Montreal comparison gives us results similar to what we saw with regard to ability to speak. "In Toronto, only nine percent of all the people who reported Yiddish as their home language were children under the age of 15, compared with 84 percent who are 60 years old and over.˙ Clearly, Yiddish is a home language in the Greater Toronto area mostly for seniors, with a very small child population learning Yiddish at home.˙ Secular 'Yiddishism' has faded away.˙ In Toronto, Hebrew is 'big' -- there are over 30,000 people able to speak Hebrew here. "However, Yiddish has some real life in Montreal, in that children are learning the language at home and will therefore be carrying it forward into the next century.˙ Looking at the Montreal figures, we see that 4,750 people in the greater Montreal area report Yiddish as their major language at home.˙ Thirty-nine percent of that number are childre under the age of 15, whereas seniors make up only 29 percent of those reporting Yiddish as the home language.˙ Here, it is obvious that the child speakers substantially outnumber the seniors, in terms of Yiddish home language population. "How do we explain these vast differences between Toronto and Montreal? Why is it just Montreal that has a significant population of children who have learned Yiddish by hearing it at home (and at school)?˙ The answer is that greater Montreal has some significant and strong ultra-Orthodox 'pockets' of population, where Yiddish is the predominant language in Jewish circles, and English and French are essentially kept out by non-use of public schools, television and other vehicles by which the larger culture is brought into people's homes.˙ Chassidic children hear Yiddish, not just at home, but in the cheder, yeshivah and beit midrash (adult study hall) too.... "The chassidic strategy of being separate in dress, language and other things has kept Yiddish going in their own 'distinct society,' and no doubt they will keep on faithfully speaking the mameloshen as long as there are chassidic neighborhoods in Canada." To Prof. Davids's analysis I would add the following comment, which is not reflected in the census statistics regarding Yiddish as mother tongue or as home language in Canada:˙ Students in a small number of secular Jewish day schools in both Montreal and Toronto are taught Yiddish, and some have shown a real aptitude for mameloshn even though, technically, it may not be their mother tongue.˙ It is from their ranks, for example, that younger performers in the Yiddish Drama Group of Montreal (formerly headed by Dora Wasserman and now led by her daughter Bryna Wasserman) tend to be drawn. Some young alumni of these day schools are also taking advantage of their knowledge of Yiddish to pursue research in the field of Yiddish studies. A small number are even "living their lives" in Yiddish.˙ Secular Yiddishism may have "faded away" in Canada (relative to what it once was) but it still shows undeniable signs of life. Zachary M. Baker 9)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Sun, 5 Jul 1998 13:34:29 -0400 (EDT) From: Debra Braverman Subject: Sholem Aleichem Library, Translation Contest and Conference The Sholom Aleichem Memorial Foundation (Bel Kaufman, Honorary Chair, and Sydney J. Gluck, President) are pleased to announce that the following international team of scholars shall constitute the Editorial Board of the Sholem Aleichem Library in English Translation: Janet Hadda (UCLA) Mikhail Krutikov (University of London) Anita Norich (University of Michigan) Abraham Novershtern (The Hebrew University) Lawrence Rosenwald (Wellesley College) David G. Roskies (Jewish Theological Seminary); Editor-in-Chief Jeffrey Shandler (New York University) Joseph Sherman (University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg) Seth Wolitz (University of Texas, Austin) Ruth Wisse (Harvard University) Their task will be twofold: (1) To select, edit, and publish the first representative English-language edition of Sholem Aleichem's mighty corpus; and (2) to advance the study of Sholem Aleichem's life and work. ˙˙˙˙˙˙˙˙ We envision a Sholem Aleichem Library comprising 25 volumes.˙ To launch the Library, we shall begin with those of Sholem Aleichem's works that have never appeared in English before, that appeared so long ago as to have been forgotten, or appeared in random, arbitrary fashion: 1-2.˙˙ Menakhem-Mendl 3. Motl the Cantor's Son 4-5.˙ The Complete Tales of Kasrilevke 6. The Complete Holiday Stories 7.˙˙ The Complete Childrens' Stories 8-9. The Complete Plays 10.˙ Wandering Stars 11. The Selected Letters 12.˙˙ Essays on Jewish Literature & Culture 13.˙˙ Sender Blank and his Family 14.˙ The Early Satires and Epistolary Novels 15-16. The Collected Short Stories 17.˙ The Complete Monologues 18. Stempenyu. Yosele Nightingale 19.˙ Marienbad, In the Storm, 20.˙ From the Fair 21. The Bloody Hoax 22. Political Writings 23.˙˙ My Father, Sholom Aleichem & Other Memoirs 24.˙˙˙ Sholem Aleichem in the Twentieth Century: A Critical Reader 25.˙ A Complete Bibliography of Sholem Aleichem's Oeuvre All volumes will appear in a standard format, comprising a critical introduction, a carefully edited translation, and explanatory notes.˙ Some of the volumes, such as The Selected Letters, which requires an intimate knowledge of Yiddish, Hebrew, and Russian, will be collaborative efforts. Sholem Aleichem Translation Contest In order to publicize the project and to increase the pool of available translators, the Sholom Aleichem Memorial Foundation is sponsoring a contest for the best translation of Sholem Aleichem.˙ The winner will be awarded $1000 and a book contract.˙ The winner, in other words, will be invited to collaborate on one or more volumes of the Library.˙ The winning entry will also be published in the PAKN TREGER.˙ The judges will be:˙ Lawrence Rosenwald, Jeffrey Shandler, and Bel Kaufman. Contestants are asked to submit an original translation of chapters 3 and 4 of the novel STEMPENYU (in vol. 11 of the Folksfond Edition: YIDISHE ROMANEN).˙ Submissions should be made in duplicate and postmarked no later than September 30, 1998.˙˙ Please mail to: Translation Contest Sholom Aleichem Memorial Foundation, Inc. 1020 Park Avenue New York, NY 10028˙ International Conference on the Life and Work of Sholem Aleichem; Call for Papers The success of these translations depends in large measure not only on the talents of the individual translators, but also on the state of our knowledge about Sholem Aleichem's life and work.˙ Without ongoing critical debate, without the most advanced level of scholarship, we will be right back where we started from: patronizing and partial translations that paraphrase, bowdlerize, and distort the original. Part of the Editorial Board's mandate, therefore, will be to generate new scholarship and to disseminate the best of what is available.˙ To this end, the Sholom Aleichem Memorial Foundation is sponsoring an International Conference on the Life and Work of Sholem Aleichem.˙ The conference will be held on 9-11 April, 1999, at the National Yiddish Book Center.˙ The conference is open to scholars, translators, interpreters, and students of Sholem Aleichem's work, in all media. Abstracts of paper topics or presentations should be submitted to Dr. Jeffrey Shandler (JAShandler@aol.com) by 1 September, 1998.˙ Travel stipends will be available.˙ Please address all other queries to the Conference Coordinator, Ms. Debra Braverman (debraverman@jtsa.edu). Debra Braverman ______________________________________________________ End of Mendele Vol. 08.023 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