Mendele: Yiddish literature and language ______________________________________________________ Contents of Vol. 5.017 June 1, 1995 1) Introduction (Milt Eisner) 2) Mayn Geneydn (Saul J. Rosenberg) 3) Khapt un Nemt (Milt Eisner) 4) Multi Lingual Scholar (Ariane Zwiers) 5) Shviti (Paul Ritterband) 6) Charlotte Yiddish Institute (Bob Freedman) 7) Khas ve-sholem (Harvey Spiro) 1)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon, 29 May 1995 19:40:42 -0400 (EDT) From: eisner@delphi.com Subject: Introduction I, like more than a few other subscribers, apparently, am a mathematics professor. I teach at Mount Vernon College in Washington DC. I grew up in Brooklyn, in the Bay Ridge area, where there are few Jews. My parents understood Yiddish but didn't teach it to me. I'm fairly ignorant of Yiddish. What I know are mostly songs: I have long had _Great Songs of the Yiddish Theater_, which I enjoy very much, and I recently got the two song volumes from the Arbeter Ring. Last fall, I took a Yiddish class at the JCC of Northern Virginia with Lee Goldberg, who told me about Mendele and showed me some printouts. I also found Mendele in the Internet Yellow Pages. When I got on line, I subscribed. I particularly like when you publish parallel Yiddish and English texts so I can study them word by word. By the way, I don't think any of my ancestors belonged to an "Aysinerfareyn" (see Mendele 5.003.1), but perhaps they should have. Milt Eisner 2)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon, 29 May 1995 18:16:25 -0400 (EDT) From: saul@rosenberg.com Subject: Mayn Geneydn This poem was composed and translated by my mother, Clara Y. Rosenberg, during May 1995 Mayn Geneydn Ikh ken nisht shpatsirn, Di mosquitoes baysn mikh, Ikh ken gornisht rien, Di Kindr zuraysn mikh. Ikh fergin zikh nisht esn, Ikh ver braytr vi lengr, Ikh loz ales loyfn, Ikh miz vern shtrengr. Ikh ken wenig shlufn, Ikh khap nor a driml, Ikh ver nisht sunburnt. Nor Volkn bleibt in Himl. Far wus bin ich gekimn? Die Kindr viln shvimin? Or just to talk to women? Ikh bin shoyn du a pur Vokhn, A geneydn - Ikh darf nisht kokhen! - - - - - - - - - - (A loose translation of the above poem) I can't go a-walking, The mosquitoes bite me, I can't even rest, The children incite me. I can't afford to eat, Gained more width than length, Everything is neglected, 'til I gain my strength. I sleep very little, Snatch a wink bye and bye. I'm not getting sunburnt, Clouds occupy the sky! Was driven here by a simmin (clue) The children liked swimmin, Or my yen to talk to women? I'm here two weeks says my daily book, It's Paradise - I don't have to cook! Saul J. Rosenberg 3)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon, 29 May 1995 20:12:44 -0400 (EDT) From: eisner@delphi.com Subject: Khapt un Nemt The song referred to by Marsha Berman in Mendele 5.014 is "Khapt un Nemt." I have a recording on the album _Theodore Bikel on Tour_. Bikel provides the text and an English translation: Khapt un nemt un zekst im ayn Tomer vet er moyde zayn, Oy gevalt, a ganef Hot er mir baganvet Ales hot er tsigenemen Bay mir in der shtib. Ziben hemder vi di becher Dray mit lates, fir mit lecher Oy gevalt ... Un dos tishtukh finm tish Un dem koyletsh fin di fish Oy gevalt ... Stop thief! Arrest him! Put him in jail! Maybe he'll confess. A thief, alas, Has robbed my house. He took away everything, Everything in the house. Seven shirts, like goblets they were Three with spots, four with holes. The tablecloth from the table And the white bread from beside the fish. Milt Eisner 4)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 31 May 95 13:59:16 MET From: zwiersa@jet.let.vu.nl Subject: Multi Lingual Scholar program Is there anyone out there on Mendele who works with the MLS (Multi Lingual Scholar) program for Yiddish or Hebrew? I have been working with this program for quite a while but still have many problems with it. I was told that MLS is not convertible, which means I shall have to keep working with it. But I am unable to activate many of the functions which are theoretically available (according to the User Manual). Are there others with this problem? A sheynem dank un a grus fun Amsterdam. Ariane Zwiers 5)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 31 May 1995 15:22:53 EST From: uap@cunyvms1.gc.cuny.edu Subject: Shviti [re: Joseph Sherman's inquiry (5.016)] The source of "shviti" is Psalms 16:8. The verse is inscribed on paper or other medium and is placed before the shtende of the person leading services. It is a reminder of the obligation to focus the prayer on God. Paul Ritterband 6)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 31 May 1995 21:49:01 EST From: rfreedman@shrsys.hslc.org Subject: Charlotte Yiddish Institute Beila Pransky of the Charlotte Yiddish Institute has requested that the following be posted on Mendele: The Charlotte Yiddish Institute held at the Wildacres Retreat, Little Switzerland, North Carolina, will be celebrating its 17th season from August 17 - 20, 1995. The Charlotte Yiddish Institute is open to men and women dedicated to enhancing their use and knowledge of the Yiddish language and culture in a unique, heymish atmosphere of Yiddishkeyt. The Charlotte Yiddish Institute offers faculty lectures, Yiddish language classes, folksinging and dancing, daily and Shabos services, a well-stocked book and gift shop and outstanding southern gastfreyndlekhkeyt. For information and application forms please send name and address to: Charlotte Yiddish Institute/JCC, 50O7 Providence Road, Charlotte, North Carolina 28226. Bob Freedman 7)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu Jun 1 09:53:34 1995 From: hjs@nrc.gov Subject: Khas ve-sholem and similar wishful thinking Leybl Goldberg fregt a por etymologishe kashes. Ikh ken onhoybn mit a halbe tshuve oyf zayn ershte frage, ober zikher az s'do emese lingvistishe mevinim tsvishn uns vos kenen im beser entfern. >> Fun vanet shtamen di oysdrikn, "kholile," "khas ve-sholem" >> un azoy vayter un "halevay"? Un vos meynen zey take? All three words come from the Semitic element in Yidish. Kholile and khas ve-sholem are Hebrew. I believe that halevay derives from Aramaic, based on its alternate spelling, alevay (although I'm willing to stand corrected). All three are in common use in modern Hebrew, the first two more often among religiously observant Israelis. Both kholile and khas ve-sholem mean roughly "God forfend," or "it shouldn't happen to you/me/us." They are used as deflective terms when speaking of something undesirable (be it cancer, war, or bankruptcy), to ensure that even mentioning such topics does not bring down similar evil upon the speaker. Halevay has the opposite meaning, namely "if only," or "it should only happen to me/you/us." In terms of their origins, Jastrow's Dictionary of the Talmud cites both halevay (alevay) and khas ve-sholem as being used back in the rabbinic period: the former is cited in Targum Yonaton (circa 4th century CE), and the latter in both Mishneh (Eduyot) and Gemara (Baba Metzia). I couldn't find a pertinent reference to kholile there with the meaning used in Yiddish, but that may more reflect my lack of understanding of the format of Jastrow's book. Presumably, these expressions were part of the Talmudic or possibly even medieval Hebrew vocabulary that entered into Yidish at its earliest stages. I'll leave those conjectures to those more qualified than I am. For a wonderful study of similar Yidish wishful thinking, blessings and curses, I'll repeat a reference that I cited here over a year ago. The title is: "Blessings, curses, hopes and fears: Psycho-ostensive expressions in Yiddish," by James A. Matisoff, published in Philadelphia sometime after 1978 by the Institute for Study of Human Issues. Harvey Spiro Vienna, Virginia ______________________________________________________ End of Mendele Vol. 5.017 Mendele has 2 rules: 1. Provide a meaningful Subject: line 2. Sign your article (full name please) 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. To resume delivery: set mendele mail c. To subscribe: sub mendele first_name last_name d. To unsubscribe kholile: unsub mendele Other business: nmiller@mail.trincoll.edu ****Getting back issues**** 1. Anonymous ftp archives are available. ftp ftp.mendele.trincoll.edu in the directory pub/mendele/files A table of contents is also available, along with weekly updates. 2. Mendele archives can also be reached as follows: via WWW: http://sunsite.unc.edu/yiddish/mewais.html via gopher: gopher://sunsite.unc.edu/11/../.pub/academic/languages/yiddish/mendele via ftp: ftp://sunsite.unc.edu/pub/academic/languages/yiddish/mendele