Mendele: Yiddish literature and language ______________________________________________________ Contents of Vol. 5.040 July 6, 1995 1) Hebrew-Yiddish prayerbook (Larry Rosenwald) 2) Fardreyen di yoitsres (Eliyahu Juni) 3) Lakhn mit yashtsherkes (Bob Rothstein) 4) Vayte kroyvim (Bob Rothstein) 5) Vinkl (Daniella HarPaz) 6) Teaching Yiddish to children (Morrie Feller) 1)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 05 Jul 1995 16:59:27 -0500 (EST) From: lrosenwald@wellesley.edu Subject: A query about a Hebrew-Yiddish prayerbook An acquaintance of mine gave me this interlinear Hebrew-Yiddish prayer-book; it's copyrighted "Washington, Feb., 1904, by Joseph Magil," but the full title is (please forgive or correct transliteration errors), Yosef Magilnitskis ferlag lvatey sefer vlaam, Folshtendiger linien-sidur . . . . ale tfilot [Hebrew spelling, with nekudot - in fact, everything, even the straight Yiddish, has nekudot] kseder fir a gants yohr. There's an introduction in Yiddish (without nekudot, finally), and then the book begins - phrase by phrase, so you get: modeh ani ikh dank lfanekha far dir melekh kenig Hai lebender And so on. So I was wondering - is this a common sort of book, and what tradition does it come out of, and who would have used it, and so on? A sheynem dank, Larry Rosenwald 2)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 5 Jul 1995 22:28:03 -0400 (EDT) From: ejuni@acs.ryerson.ca Subject: Fardreyen di yoitsres Mottel Lakin wrote, regarding 'fardreyen di yoitsres': > The second, >which I don't believe was unique to them, but I haven't heard of others >using, involves mixing somebody up so that he/she doesn't know one yetzer >(impulse) from another. As I recall it was frequently used in arguments >when one got fed up with the assertions or the demands of the other. I don't know what the plural of yetser is, but I'm quite sure that it isn't 'yoitsres'. Yoitsres (sing. yoitser) are the piyutim inserted into khazoras ha-sha"tz (the repetition of shmonesre by the khazn) on yontif and other important days, such as shabes shire, shabes zokhor, purim, and shabes hagodel. These piyutim are usually about the special occasions on which they are said, and most are written in a very difficult poetic style. Since almost noone understands them, they're usually mumbled quickly, or skipped over altogether. (The Vilna Gaon was a strong opponent of their use, and actively campaigned to have them removed. Outside the khsidishe world, he was mostly successful; the exceptions are Rosheshone, Yom Kipur, the first musef of Pesach and musef of Shmini Atzeres, when almost all Orthodox shuls say them, though many skip some parts.) In those shuls where yoitsres are said, since the khazn usually doesn't understand them, it's easy for him to make a mistake and say the wrong one, embarassing himself publicly (if anybody notices :-); hence the phrase 'fardreyen di yoitsres'. I have heard it used, but I can't remember if denotes making a fool out of oneself in public, or making an understandable mistake, one that anyone could make. The usage which Mottel mentioned (in arguments, when one got fed up with the demands and assertions of the other,) sounds strange to me. Maybe this is another one of those expressions which is used differently by different people; anyone else familiar with it? To go into etymology: There are piyutim for birkhes kriyas shma [the brokhes before and after the shma] for both mayriv and shakhris, as well as for khazoras hasha"tz of shakhris and musef. The piyutim for birkhes kriyas shma are said in even fewer shuls than the piyutim for khazoras ha-sha"tz, and can only be found in some makhzoyrim. The first brokhe before kriyas shma in mayriv is called 'ha-ma'ariv arovim'; the piyutim for mayriv are called "ma'aroviyoys" (which technically means 'Western ones') after the brokhe. The first brokhe before kriyas shma in shakhris is called 'yoytser ha-m'oyroys'; the piyutim for shakhris, and by extension, for khazoras ha-sha"tz, are called "yoitsres" after the brokhe. The piyut for khazoras ha-sha"tz of Purim (the only piyut for a weekday) is called "Kroyvets L'Purim". "Kroyvtes" is spelled kuf-reish- vov-beis-endetsadik, and is a corruption of the Hebrew word 'kroyvoys' (close ones); I was once told why Purim's piyut has a separate name, but I have since forgotten the explanation. Does anyone out there know? (I don't know if "ma'aroviyoys" and "kroyvets" can be considered Yiddish words; they're used by Ashkenazim only, but unlike "yoitsres", they haven't parts of Yiddish idioms. Has anyone prescribed some way of deciding?) Eliyahu Juni 3)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 05 Jul 1995 23:06:01 -0400 (EDT) From: rar@slavic.umass.edu Subject: Lakhn mit yashtsherkes For Norman Savitt: In vol. 1, no. 208 (April 6, 1992) of Mendele I posted a comment on the Yiddish expression _lakhn mit yashtsherkes_, suggesting a possible connection with a Belorussian folktale about a peasant and a lizard. That issue should be retrievable from the Mendele archive. Bob Rothstein 4)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 06 Jul 1995 09:39:09 -0400 (EDT) From: rar@slavic.umass.edu Subject: Vayte kroyvim What Chane Honig remembers as "vi a ferd's fus putkevas eynikl" (5.038) is given by Nahum Stutchkoff (in his _Oytser fun der yidisher shprakh_) as "ferds fus podkeves eynikl," i.e., "horse's foot horseshoe's grandchild" (cf. Russian _podkova_, Polish _podkowa_ 'horseshoe'). Stutchkoff lists several other expressions for distant relatives: 1. ferds baytshs shtekele(s podkeve) horse's whip's stick('s horseshoe) 2. kus baytshs ferds shtekele cow's whip's horse's stick 3. ferds fus podkeves eynikls nogl/tshvekl horse's foot horseshoe's grandchild's nail 4. ferds fus podkeves tshvekls kepl horse's foot horseshoe's nail's head 5. Mayn zeydns hon hot in zayn bobns hoyf arayngekrey(e)t. My grandfather's rooster crowed into his grandfather's yard. 6. Mayn ferds baytshs shtekele iz geven bay zayn zeydns vogn a flekele. My horse's whip's stick was a peg in his grand- father's wagon. 7. Mayn bobe un zayn zeyde lign in dr'erd ale beyde. My grandmother and his grandfather are both dead and buried. 8. Er meynt, az shmelke iz zayn feter, un ikh meyn, az shmelke iz mayn feter. He thinks that Shmelke is his uncle, and I think that Shmelke is my uncle. 9. Es blaybt in der mishpokhe. It remains in the family. Bob Rothstein 5)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 06 Jul 1995 12:53:40 -0500 (EST) From: harpaz@binah.cc.brandeis.edu Subject: The word "vinkl" A student asked me about the usage of the word "vinkl" to connote a group of people meeting together (ie., a club). He is interested in how/when/why this usage became acceptable, if it has been accepted for a long time, if it is slang-ish, etc....I answered him as best I could but am certain that many of you are more equiped to answer him well. I would appreciate any useful information. a dank in faroys, Daniella HarPaz 6)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 6 Jul 1995 11:58:00 -0700 (MST) From: feller@indirect.com Subject: Teaching Yiddish to children Many long years ago when I was a pupil in the Hebrew school of our synagogue, the handsome young man who was our teacher said: "Since you already know how to read Hebrew, I will teach you how to read Yiddish." And he did. I recently experimented with teaching my 10-year old grandson to read Yiddish, since he already could read Hebrew. This worked so well that I am considering the possibility of teaching a small group of pupils in our temple's school to read Yiddish if they already know how to read Hebrew. Has anyone in Mendele-land had any experience along this line? Also, I am looking for suitable reading materials. I believe there is a publisher by the name of "Kinderbukhs", or something like that. If anyone has an address for this publisher, I would like to make contact. A sheynem dank in foroys. Morrie Feller Phoenix ______________________________________________________ End of Mendele Vol. 5.040 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. 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