Mendele: Yiddish literature and language
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Contents of Vol. 5.088
August 20, 1995

1) Tribute to Louis Lenkinski (Sheine Mankovsky)
2) Help with translations (Daniel Soyer)

1)----------------------------------------------------
Date: Thu, 17 Aug 95 17:05:21 EST
From: sheine_mankovsky@cclink.metrodesk.metrotor.on.ca
Subject: Tribute to Louis Lenkinski

The following article was written by A. Alan Borovoy as a tribute to
Louis Lenkinsky.  Alan is the general counsel of the Canadian Civil
Liberties Association, and a long-time libhober of Yiddish.  The
article summarizes the principles of the Jewish Labour Bund.  I thought
it would be of interest.

Sheine Mankovsky


Vital Strength is Ebbing from the Labor Movement
                              By A. Alan Borovoy

Toronto Daily Star, Wednesday, August 2, 1995

There was somthing deeply moving about watching an Ontario premier--then
Bob Rae--deliver a tearful eulogy at the funeral of a self-deprecating
holocaust survivor. But the deceased, Louis Lenkinsky, who began his
Canadian life as an upholsterer (having immigrated from his native Poland
after World War II) also became a staff member of the upholsterer's
Union, an official with the Ontario Federation of Labor, and a member of
the Ontario Human Rights Commission.  Small wonder that his lifetime
contribution drew tributes from the premier of the province.

But, amid the many tributes triggered by the recent death of Lenkinsky,
there was little mentioned of the remarkable organization which he had
served and personified for more than 50 years--the Jewish Labor Bund.
The Bund has not completely vanished but, with the passing of Lenkinsky,
it has lost a vital organ. It's strength, however, has long been ebbing,
as it's membership has aged.

It's timely, therefore, to acknowledge this unique organization.  Born in
Eastern Europe during the late 19th century, the Bund, an organization of
Jews, promoted the Yiddish language and culture. It was also dedicated to
protecting the Jewish people from the virulent anti-Semitism that then
plagued their lives.

Although deeply Jewish, the Bund was also vigorously universalist.  The
best hope for the liberation of the Jews, according to the Bund, was the
liberation of the entire human race. Anti-Semitism, in the Bund's view,
would diminish only when all forms of racism significantly abated. Not
surprisingly, for an organization conceived in the last century,
universalism expressed itself in a commitment to socialism.  Accordingly,
the Bund became a vital part of the labor and social democratic
movements.

While their socialism set Bundists at odds with the authoritarian regimes
of Eastern Europe, their universalism provoked comflicts with the growing
nationalism among thier fellow Jews. Thus, the Bund long opposed Zionism
and the whole idea of building a Jewish state in Palestine.  The Bund
believed that the quest for such statehood would divert the Jews from the
struggle for social justice in every country.

Despite its support for socialism, the Bund became an early foe of
communism.  Years before the Russian revolution, this band of Jewish
socialists declared there was no worthwhile socialism without democracy.
While so many "progressives" for so long praised the Bolshevik revolution
of Lenin and Stalin, the Bund, with admirable foresight, declared it's
enmity to all manifestations of dictatorship, including, and perhaps
especially, those that professed socialist ideals.

As increased numbers of Bundists arrived in North America they played a
comparable role in the political life of the United States and Canada.
In addition to it's work in building labor unionns and democratic let
parties, this orginization turned to fighting racism in North America.In
Canada,it helped to spark the race relations program of the Canadian
Labor Congress, which was for many years the only full-time effort
against all forms of racism in this counry. It was inspring to witness
these Yiddish-speaking Jews fighting for the rights of so many others:
Blacks, Asians, aboriginals.

Significantly, most Bundists were realistic enough to make thier peace
with Zionism once the State of Israel was created. Despite their
discomfort with nationalism, these Bundists believed in the need to
defend Israel, a functioning democracy and the existing Jewish community
against the threats to its very survival waged by dictatorial regimes in
the Arab and communist worlds.  In the curren era of nationalism and
xenophobia, it's a shame that an organization like the Bund is rapidly
fading.  The world could use an organization like the Bund's distinctive
combination of particularism and universalism, of commitment to
humanitarian goals and insistence on democratic means.

2)----------------------------------------------------
Date: 18 Aug 95 10:09:06 EDT
From: 74212.2700@compuserve.com
Subject: Help with translations

I wonder if anyone can help me with some words and phrases with which I
am having some difficulty. I am translating some family letters the '20s
and '30s mostly from the towns of Mielnica and Luboml in Volhynia. The
letters are handwritten, the orthography is nonstandard to say the least,
and there is no punctuation at all, so some passages are difficult to
decipher. Nevertheless, meanings are usually clear, with the exception of
the following:

1. There is a letter addressed to Zlate di zafilierin (or zapilierin).
Does anyone know what a zafilierin is? Could it be a matchmaker (that is,
one who makes shvebelekh not shidukhim)?

2. There is a word that is repeated a number of times. It is something
that a family member brought with her to America when she migrated. It
looks like "gribis" or "grubes" (or sometimes "gribiz" or "gribim"). It
appears in phrases like, "tsi du host, khas vesholem, nit gehat keyn
eysek mit dem bagazh un vi azoy di gribiz zenen adurkh," or, "ikh hob
geshikt mit Estern tfilin un gribis," or "Ester, shrayb mir vos iz mit
gribis, tsi du host zey gebrengt keyn Amerike, dos heyst tsi men hot zey
aribergelozt."

3. Can anyone translate the phrases "un vos far a glikn zayt er af im,"
"volt geven barin gang" (as in, "nu yetst ven Yisroel Hersh kroyvim shikn
ir nokh efsher hundert doler, az zol konen adurkhfirn ales vos zey darfn
volt shoyn geven barin gang.").

4. Several times it is mentioned that one young man "lernt zikh bay
festign". Is this a trade, or is he studying with someone named Festig?

5. What is a "mentshile" when it is a gift to a child? A doll? Was this
an appropriate gift for a small boy?

6. Finally, various dictionaries define "stanikes" as bras, bodices, or
waists. Does any one know what they were in interwar Poland? How about
"kreniver"?

I would greatly appreciate any suggestions. Thanks,

Daniel Soyer

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End of Mendele Vol. 5.088