Mendele: Yiddish literature and language ______________________________________________________ Contents of Vol. 4.398 April 25, 1995 1) Ex-Lax (Rick Turkel) 2) On visiting (Fishl Kutner) 3) Value of chutzpah (Gaston L. Schmir) 4) NYU in Cracow (Barbara Kirshenblatt-Gimblett) 5) Ale yidishe oysyes zaynen vikhtik (Zellig Bach) 6) Tikn to'es (Noyekh Miller) 1)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon, 24 Apr 95 11:47:35 EDT From: rturkel@cas.org Subject: Ex-Lax Bob Werman asked (4.393) about an old Yiddish jingle advertising Ex_Lax. The only one I remember, from the radio (WEVD) in New York, is: nemt a bisl, makht a shisl. In the same vein, when Winston cigarettes were saying "Winston tastes good, like a cigarette should," was: Vinston is fayn, vi a sigaret darf zayn. My favorite from this period, however, may be apocryphal, and went something like this: S'kratzt zikh? Koyft Keshi-Meshi. Keshi-Meshi iz di beste cockroach powder in gantzen velt. S'iz zeyr poshut tzu benutzn dem Keshi-Meshi: nemt dem cockroach in eyn hand; nemt dem Keshi-Meshi in anderen hand. Shit arayn a bisl Keshi-Meshi afn cockroach - es vet im gantz gut hargenen. Un az der Keshi-Meshi harget dem cockroach nit, nem dem cockroach, shtelt im in an anvelop, un shikt im tzu undz, di Keshi-Meshi kompani, un mir veln makhn a soyf fum im. Rick Turkel 2)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon, 24 Apr 1995 06:51:01 -0700 From: fishl@well.sf.ca.us Subject: On visiting One of the beautiful parts of networking is the surprise visit. Yesterday, while speaking to Judy Blair, Dr. Allan Blair's lovely wife, I mentioned 4 Yiddish contacts in France. They will be visiting there. One of the names is Michael Rosenbush a native of Toronto and a member of the Friends of Yiddish. Twenty minutes later I received a call from Michael saying that he is in San Francisco on a business trip. We'll be getting together later today. When you travel, be sure to call/write others interested in Yiddish. You both will truly enjoy the experience. Philip "Fishl" Kutner 3)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon, 24 Apr 1995 16:35:53 -0400 (EDT) From: glschm@minerva.cis.yale.edu Subject: Value of chutzpah The following article appears in the May-June 1995 issue of Harvard Magazine. It may be of interest to members of the list. The Joys (and Rewards) of Yiddish In "The University: an owner's manual" (W.w. norton, 1990), Geyser University Professor Henry Rosovsky cites a productive meeting with John Loeb '24 as evidence oft the value of chutzpah* in fundraising. As dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences during the $ 358 million Harvard Campaign, Rosovsky was seeking $ 10 million to endow junior faculty positions. He approached Loeb and in February 1981 had lunch with him at a New york restaurant, accompanied by Harvard president Derek Bok. Writes Rosovsky: As the conversation gently evolved towards specific dollar amounts, our host inquired: "Are you asking me for five million?" I replied: "Not quite, sir. My hope is that you will agree to give ten million so that others will be inspired to give five million". John Loeb frowned, his face darkened. "Henry," he said, "that comes close to chutzpah", and then he added rather unexpectedly: "By the way, do you know how to spell that word?" I indicated my ability to do so by grabbing a napkin and reaching for my pen. Suddenly the president of Harvard University snatched the napkin from my hands and printed CHUTZPAH in large block letters on the paper and gave it to Mr. Loeb.... After carefully folding the napkin into a small square, Mr. Loeb placed it into one of his vest pockets. The meal came quickly to an end and we shuttled back to Boston. A few days later there arrived the most welcome news that the Loeb gift would ba around $ 9 million. We had established that the value of chutzpah is approximately $ 4 million. * Defined in a Rosovskian footnote as "Yiddish for supreme self- confidence, nerve, gall". Gaston L Schmir 4)---------------------------------------------------- From Date: Mon, 24 Apr 1995 16:53:32 -0400 (EDT) From: krshnbtt Subject: NYU in Cracow NYU in Cracow Application deadline extended to May 15 NYU in Cracow is a 5 week summer program on The Modern History and Experience of Jews in Eastern Europe, organized in conjunction with the Jagiellonian University (founded in 1364). Both undergraduate and graduate students can choose from a selection of courses that include Introduction to Yiddish Folklore and Ethnography (taught by Barbara Kirshenblatt-Gimblett), East European Government and Politics (Jan Gross), Modern History of East European Jewry (David Engel and Stephen Zipperstein), The Holocaust:Destruction of European Jewry (Christopher Browning), Yiddish Literary Landscapes (David Roskies), History of Jews in Poland (Piotr Wrobel), and language courses in Yiddish and Polish, The program runs from July 3 to August 4, 1995. Four weeks are spent in Cracow and there is a one week study tour of Jewish Galicia. Students take two courses for 8 points of undergraduate or graduate credit. They will be housed in the modern dormitories provided by the Jagiellonian University, Classes will be held in a beautifully renovated nineteenth-century prayer house in the old Jewish quarter of Cracow. Special excursions to the ancient Wieliczka salt mine (a UNESCO designated cultural treasure) and Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp have been arranged. An open house for prospective students will be held on Monday May 8, 1995 at 6 Washington Square North, Room 101, New York University, New York, NY 10003 at 5:00 pm. To request a brochure or RSVP for the Open house call 212 998-8175. For further information, please contact: Jonathan Lipman, 6 Washington Square North, New York University, New York, NY 10003 Tel: 212-998-8018 Fax: 212-995-4375 lipmanj@acfcluster.nyu.edu Barbara Kirshenblatt-Gimblett 5)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon, 24 Apr 1995 20:21:58 -0400 From: zellig@aol.com Subject: Ale yidishe oysyes zaynen vikhtik The Coalition for the Advancement of Jewish Education in Silver Spring, MD, issues once or twice a year a newsletter called "Hert Zikh Tsu! Hert Zikh Tsu! (Hear Ye! Hear Ye!) with items and announcements about Jewish education and Yiddish. The factual publishers are Moyshe and Marcia Gruss-Levinsohn, and the principal contributor and writer is Marcia, known in _Mendele_ by her E-mail moniker Mashinke. [In a post in our Bulletin I inquired if the accent is on the first syllable (MAshinke, the diminutive and endearing name of Masha) or on the second syllable (MaSHINke, small machine, possibly a reference to her computer). Her answer: My first guess was right, it is her name.] The contents of "Hert Zikh Tsu!" are mostly in English with some notices in Yiddish. In The January 1995 issue of HZT there was a brief announcement in Yiddish: "Di kumendike numern fun unzere Naysbleter veln hobn kurtse oysdrukn mit vikhtike yidishe oysyes" (the next issues of our Newsletter will have short expressions in _important_ Yiddish letters). Well, _all_ characters of the Hebrew-Yiddish alefbeys (alphabet) are important. There is a mystique about each letter, lending it enhanced power and value beyond its sound. Herewith some of the legends: When God was about to create the world, all letters of the alefbeys rushed before His throne, each priding himself with some unique attribute. God decided to start the creation of the world, as described in the first book of the Bible, with the letter beys /b/ -- Bereyshis (in the beginning), because the word _brokhe_ (blessing) starts with a beys. When alef, the first letter in the alefbeys, complained claiming priority on the basis of his position in the alphabetical order, God promised him that He will start the _aseres ha'dibres_ (the Ten Commandments) with an alef -- Onoy'khi, starting with a komets alef. (The legend treats pasekh alef, komets alef, and the silent (shtumer) alef as equal.) Another legend has it the other way: Alef did _not_ push himself forward, like all the other letters demanding a special position of privilege, and God therefore gave him the position of first letter in the alefbeys, as well as the position of first letter of the Ten Commandments. Every letter of the alefbeys has a numerical value, thus khes-yud (18), Khay [as in "am yisroel khay," the people of Israel live], lamed-vov (36) [lamedvovniks], tof-reysh-yud-giml (tar"yag) (613) mitsves [commandments], and so on. Kabalists read into the numerical value a single letter, and, especially, in the sum of a word's component letters many mysteries and divinations. The kabalists call it "begimatri'e," an Aramaic-Hebrew word, seeking to foretell, by the numerical sum total of the letters in a word or word combinations, future events or discover hidden knowledge and meanings. In sum, all Yiddish-Hebrew letters of the alefbeys are vikhtik (important), all major, none minor. Zellig Bach 6)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 25 Apr 1995 From: nmiller@trincoll.edu Subject: Tikn to'es A number of sharp-eyed Mendelniks have pointed out that there is no Vol. 4.394 but two issues numbered Vol. 4.395. The first of these, dated April 20 (Zellig Bach's story), should be renumbered Vol 4.394. Appropriate changes have been made to archived files. Noyekh Miller ______________________________________________________ End of Mendele Vol. 4.398 Mendele has 2 rules: 1. Provide a meaningful Subject: line 2. Sign your article (full name please) A Table of Contents is now available via anonymous ftp, along with weekly updates. Anonymous ftp archives available on: ftp.mendele.trincoll.edu in the directory pub/mendele/files Archives available via gopher on: gopher.cic.net Send articles to: mendele@yalevm.ycc.yale.edu Send change-of-status messages to: listserv@yalevm.ycc.yale.edu a. For a temporary stop: set mendele nomail b. 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