Mendele: Yiddish literature and language ______________________________________________________ Contents of Vol. 3.107 September 21, 1993 1) Yontef (Pe'rets Mett) 2) Vegn zikh (Marnen Laibow-Koser) 3) Shmues (Herbert Davidson) 4) Greetings (Moyshe Taube) 5) Vegn zikh (Vera Szabo) 6) Shas (Edward Portnoy) 1)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon Sep 20 12:35:36 1993 From: P.Mett@open.ac.uk (Percy Mett) Subject: Yontef >Date: Tue Sep 14 17:47:50 1993 >From: Amitai Halevi >Subject: Yontef on Rosh Hashono > >I am obliged to submit a corrective to my previous message on "yom >tov" for "holiday" in modern Hebrew usage. I said there that the >term has fallen into disuse. I based the statement on the fact that >because it has been superseded by "hag": The standard greeting here >on ordinary holidays (not the Days of Awe) is "Hag sameach", >literally "Happy holiday". > >However, this morning, in a one minute spot on Israel Radio devoted >to "proper Hebrew usage", we were told that the first and second >days of the New Year should not be referred to as "Aleph-" and "beth >d'Rosh Hashana" (anti-Aramaic bias ?) but as "Yom tov Rishon-" and >"Yom tov sheni shel Rosh Hashanah". Go figure!! Not surprising really. The mishna refers to "yom tov shel rosh hashono ..." > >Since saying "Gut yontev" on Rosh Hashono is kosher according to >modern Israeli doctrine: Gut yontev - everyone. > >Nevertheless, until the soi-disant "authorities" on Israel Radio >instruct me otherwise, I stand by my opinion that this greeting >would be inappropriate on Yom Kippur. > >Amitai Halevi > We have always used the greeting @gut yontef@ on yom kiper. By the way we also say @gut yontef@ on motze yom kiper (see Siddur of R. Yaacov Emden and others) tsvishn tsayt, a gmar khsime toyve alemn un a laykhtn tones. pe'rets mett 2)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon Sep 20 18:27:40 1993 From: laibow@brick.purchase.edu Subject: Vegn zikh I am currently finishing up my BFA in composition at SUNY Purchase, but have been fascinated by languages and linguistics for as long as I can remember. Unfortunately, my Yiddish is not as good as I'd like it to be (though I can usually read it -- I speak decent German), but I hope this will change...at any rate, I'm excited to be on this list, and, well, don't know what else to say for now... Lshana tova tikatevu Marnen Laibow-Koser 3)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon, 20 Sep 93 16:35 PDT From: "H. Davidson" Subject: Re: shmues When a conversation with friends a little while ago got around to shmuesn< schmusen, a dictionary of Viennese dialect was checked and it recognized not on ly shemuot (Heb)> shmusen (Yid)> Schmusen, but also connected the Viennese (!) term Shmonzes to the same development. Mishnah R.H. 4.1 (and another place that I forget at the moment) calls Rosh ha-Shanah a "yom tob." Herbert Davidson 4)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue Sep 21 07:22:54 1993 From: Taube Moshe Subject: greetings Since this is the season of greatings, let me add the following episode. In a recent personal letter a colleague of mine, Professor of English, wrote mazel tov, intending to wish me good luck (by its location in the letter the expression was certainly not meant to say `congratulations'. I recall having read the same mistaken usage, with the same spelling, in John Le Carre's `little drummer girl'. Ring a bell with anyone? a gut yor Moyshe Taube 5)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue Sep 21 21:44:53 1993 From: veszabo@theo.jtsa.edu Subject: vegn zikh A gut yar far alemen in mendele! Ikh bin a naye mitglid fun di dozike korrespondents-grupe mendele. Mayn nomen iz Vera Szabo - af ungerish, vos iz mayn mame-loshn, vet mayn nomen oysgeredt "sabo". Ikh bin gekumen fun Ungern keyn New York tsu lernen zikh yidish vos ikh hob shtark lib. Ikh bin a student in YIVO/JTS/Columbia - un itster bay MENDELEN! Far vos un vi azoy ikh hob zikh oysgelernt yidish iz a lange mayse - efsher vel ikh aykh dertseylen dos kumendike mol. Zayt mir moykh far mayne daytsmerizmen... Vera Szabo 6)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed Sep 22 08:48:27 1993 From: Edward Portnoy Subject: Shas? Tayere Mendelnikes: Recently, I was reading Bashevis and came across the acronym "Shas" (shin"samekh). I've seen this before and know that it refers to the Talmud, but I'd like to know what two words (or more) the acronym stands for. Neither Stutchkoff nor Weinreich give any clues. Any insightful info would be appreciated. Gut yontif, gut yor, tikhotaivu ukhasime toyve, E. Portnoy ______________________________________________________ End of Mendele Vol. 3.107