Mendele: Yiddish literature and language ______________________________________________________ Contents of Vol. 1 no. 99 November 14, 1991 1) Sissel bread (Tom Wasow) 2) Various (Mikhl Herzog) 3) Sissel/shissel (Fayvel Miller) 1)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 13 Nov 91 8:48:13 PST From: Tom Wasow Subject: RE: Mendele Vol 1.98 Growing up in Hollywood, California (yes, people do grow up there), I recall my mother buying a bread called sissel at the local deli. It was a light rye with caraway seeds, and the same bread without the seeds was NOT called sissel. Tom 2)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 13 Nov 91 18:54 EST From: ZOGUR@CUVMB.BITNET Subject: RE: Mendele Vol 1.96 Synonyms for "binde": shnips, shlips, kravat. As for the pronunciation "khally" and even the spelling "holly bread", there's an area in northeastern Poland, around the towns Lomza and Grajewo (local Yiddish "Womzi, Grayvi") where all words like "khale, kale", etc. are pronounce d "khali, kali". Could that account for the "holly bread"? Are "nigrella seeds" what we call "cherneshkes" in Yiddish? Are they black sesame? Please enlighten. [Zogt Mendele: Cherneshkes! Of course there's a Yiddish word for them!] Having just returned from a long stay abroad (about which, more anon), I'm reading and replying to accumulated messages--backwards, so to speak. So, back to the boughs of holly: the tushi, bubi phenomenon may well reflect the mummy, daddy one. No? A recipe for the gogl-mogl is to be found in a collection of NYTimes favorite recipes. Yasher koyekh, Noyekh. Great summary on the shisl/sisl story. It's good to be back. Volume 1 of the Yiddish Atlas now reposes with the publisher. Publication date-mid 1992. Mikhl. 3)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 14 Nov 91 05:10:08 PST From:"Philip Miller, Dr." Thanks for the summary on the question of sissel. Never having heard of "shissel broyt" I cannot say whether or not it is/was sissel broyt. Was "shissel broyt" a heavy rye? Dos iz der iker bay mir! A further note on Providence, RI B.N. (Before Neusner). Other than the Taytche Yehudim who came in the mid- late-nineteenth century, the Yidn who settled in Providence came from two areas: Podolia and Bessarabia, and the Ukraine around Kiev. Litvaks and Galitsianers came after World War I. Korb's Bakery billed itself for years as a "Polish bakery," which may have been loshon sagi-nahor for "Jewish." (After all, "polaco" is a common way to avoid saying "judio" or "ebreo" in a number of Spanish dialects.) Perhaps the Polish part of Korbs was Lithuanian, and hence "sissel broyt." As for me, I'll stick to my grandmother's version, "bubbe-maanse" or not! Fayvel Miller (BM.H2h@RLG) ______________________________________________________ End of Mendele Vol 1.99