Mendele: Yiddish literature and language ______________________________________________________ Contents of Vol. 2 no. 153 February 14, 1993 1) Don, daniel (David Braun) 2) Dem nomen Don (Michael Shimshoni) 3) A finstere nakht (Seymour Axelrod) 4) Ershte shures (Noyekh Miller) 1)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 10 Feb 1993 13:53:41 EST From: David Braun Subject: don, daniel meylekh, _don_ is der don fun sheyvet don, un daniel iz der daniel fun seyfer daniel. der ershter iz nit ken tsunomen farn tsveytn. ************ TO ALL YIDDISH SUMMER PROGRAM CO-ORDINATORS, TEACHERS, etc. Students in Beginners and Advanced Yiddish at the University of Pennsylvania are interested in Yiddish summer programs around the world. Kindly send the brochure/registration form of your summer program to me at the following address (if nothing is printed up yet, please let me know thru e-mail if a summer program will be taking place): David Braun Univ of Pennsylvania Department of Germanic Languages and Literatures 748 Williams Hall Philadelphia, PA 19104-6305 I know of programs at: Columbia/YIVO, Bar-Ilan, Oxford, another London institution, and possibly Hebrew U (Jerusalem). Please send me your literature! Thanks in advance. 2)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 11 Feb 93 10:35:45 +0200 From: Michael Shimshoni Subject: Dem Nomen 'Don' Meylekh Viswanath wrote: >vegn dem nomen "daniel," ikh hob a plimenik vos heyst don >gedalye, un der 'don' in zayn nomen redt men aroys vi a >komets; ikh hob shtendik gemeynt az der 'don' in zayn nomen >komt fun Daniel. It could be that "don" is simply after the name of Don (mit a Kometz), the son of Ya'aqov our beloved father. In Israeli Hebrew he is called Dan. Michael Shimshoni 3)---------------------------------------------------- Date: 12 Feb 1993 15:28:34 -0500 (EST) From: Seymour Axelrod Subject: a finstere nakht Many years ago, when I was a kid in Brooklyn, the sentence " 'siz geven a finstere nakht in branzvil" [It was a dark night in Brownsville (at that time a largely Jewish neighborhood of Bklyn)] was considered funny. Does anyone know why? I suppose it might have been just the opening line a la Bulwer-Lytton of a mock-serious story, but I don't remember ever hearing anything except the one line. (It occurs to me that the full story might have been considered at the time too raunchy for a 9-year old, and that it was therefore withheld by the big kids.) --sa 4)---------------------------------------------------- Date: 14 Feb 1993 From: nmiller@trincc.bitnet Subject: Ershte shures [Some time ago David Neal Miller made the brilliant suggestion of submitting the opening lines of one's favorite Yiddish texts for others to guess at and maybe discuss. Here is my candidate. nm] Reb Borukhl un Blumele's kinder lebn in Argentine. Zeyere fotografies hengen oyf der vant in a halben krayz, un unter zey hengt dos bild fun Kheyfetz-Khayim, vi a shtern in a serp fun der levone. Der tsadik fun Radun iz a kleyn Yidele mit groyse oygen ful mit tsar un gutskeyt, ongeton in a hoyekher vinterdikn hitl. Ven beyde altitchke kukn oyf do fotografies fun zeyere zin un zeyer blik falt oyfn tsadik fun Radun, farrikht Blumele dos tikhl oyfn kop, ire hor zoln zikh nit aroyszen, un Reb Borukhlen dakht zikh az er hert dem Kheyfetz-Khaim ziftsn: "Ay, kinderlekh, kinderlekh, haynt-morgen kumt Meshiakh un ir zayt nokh nit greyt." Bay Reb Borukhlen tsitert di ash-groye bord, er kukt oyf di fotografies fun zayne zin un murmelt: --Ver veys tsi zey hitn dort Yidishkayt, ver veys tsi zey hitn op Shabes. Reb Borukhl iz alle zayne yorn a khevra-man in khevra- poyelim, vu es dovnen di frume baalei-melokhes. Zint er iz gekumen af der elter un di kinder holtn im oys, hot er oyfgehert arbetn. Eyn mol in yor vert er tsurik a baal- melokhe. Dos iz oyf morgen nokh Yom-Kiper ven er helft boyen di sukke. Emess, er aleyn klopt nit di breter un legt nit aroyf dem skhakh, ober er derlangt di ayzerne farroste negl, vos er hit op fun yor tsu yor in a blekhener kley. Ven di shkheynim barekhenen vifil di sukke hot opgekost un vifil yeder shokhn darf geben tsushtayer, fargest men an dem kheylik vos hot arayngetrogn Reb Borukhl. Fardrist es im un er dermont: --Un mayne negl? Di shkheynim lakhn un vintshn im er zol iberayor derlebn tsu derlangen zayne farroste negl. ______________________________________________________ End of Mendele Vol 2.153