Mendele: Yiddish literature and language
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Contents of Vol. 5.115
September 19, 1995

1) Goylems (Allan Nadler)
2) Honik-lekhn (Andrew Cassel)
3) A matone tzum nayem yor (Shoshana Balaban-Wolkowicz)
4) Zalbander etc. (Anno Siegel)
5) Yiddish tutor needed (Jeremy Stolow)
6) Yidishkayt festival in Los Angeles (Miki Safadi)
7) Henry James (Dovid Yosef Hershkoviz)
8) Klor vays tsigele (Barry Walfish)

1)----------------------------------------------------
Date: Sun, 17 Sep 1995 13:21:47 EDT
From: wmxe31a@prodigy.com
Subject: Goylems

Regarding Binyomin Weiner's recent request for material on the Golem, a
good place to start is source and bibliography in the recent book on the
Golem by Moshe Idel.For some traditional Golem stories in Yiddish, there
are the books of Yudel Rosenberg, z'l, especially the one on the Maharal
of Prague.

Allan Nadler

2)----------------------------------------------------
Date: Sun, 17 Sep 1995 16:21:30 -0400
From: cassel@libertynet.org
Subject: Honik-lekhn

I was translating an old newsletter article from the 1930s about
factional quarrels in mayn zeyde's heymshtot of Keidan. Seems the annual
"moes-khitim" -- the Passover fund, sent by the Amerikaner landslayt
caused no end of bickering between Keidan's two charitable groups --
called "Knesses Yisroel" and "Ezra" respectively. In his article
discussing (and deploring) this, zeyde quoted from a letter from a member
of the Knesses Yisroel faction disparaging the other side, then
commented:

fun di eynige verter fun zeyer briv ken men klor zen az di "ezraniks'
hobn shoyn keyn honik nit gelekt fun di farteyler, un grad zaynen di
greste kabtsonim in der khevre "ezra" ...

Can anyone explain or suggest an English equivalent of the "lekn honik.."
idiom as it's used here?

Andrew Cassel

3)----------------------------------------------------
Date: Sun, 17 Sep 1995 14:02:44 -0700
From: shoti@eworld.com
Subject: A matone tzum nayem yor

Ot iz a nay yor  matone far ale Mendelianers, velkhe viln nashn a
tzukerke fun undzer literatur.

A himen tzum erev yom-tev  "Pompadur"

Talmidim! ir hot avade lib dem yom-tev, Pompadur ober hot lyb dem erev
yom-tev.
Erev Yom-tev - dos iz ersht dge emezer yom-tev.
Erev yom-tev - dos meynt a troym vos shvebt in der luftn, a heylikayt vos
tzitert in hartzn, a shterbn tzu epes groys.
Yom-tev meynt: farputzte vokhedikayt, a troym vos iz gevorn a
virklekhkayt, a glik vos men tzeylt zayne gsise shoen.
Erev yom-tev - dos iz khozn-kale-peryod, dos zaynen kushn nokh nit
fargetzlekhte, gezangen nokh nisht gezungene.
Yom-tev -- dos batayt a yor noch der khasene gut tzeknakter vayn
oysgetrunkener, a tishtekh a farflekter.
Erev yom-tev -- dos batayt: malbushym baym shnayder, fish in top, a libebriv
nit kayn geleyenter.
Yom-tev -- dos meynt: der genetz nokhn shlof, der grebtz nokhn zatn moltzayt.
Erev yom-tev -- dos heyst : reynkayt un zoyberkayt, glik, freyd un
dervartung.
Un dervartung --- iz der puls fun lebn.
Erev yom-tev -- iz der taytsh: hofenung, shpanung.
Erev yom-tev -- batayt: dos shurshen fun a zaydn kleyd fun ayer
onkumnediker gelibter.
Erev yom-tev -- meynt: hartz-klapenish.
Erev yom-tev -- iz a nesye ergetz in a vaytn land. Di ban klapt un dos
hartz mit ir. Epes umbakant trogt zikh antkegn. Epes umdervarts vet aykh
bagegenen.
Yom-tev -- meynt: shoyn gekumen, gezen un es iz gor nisht...
Yom-tev - iz : Dos lebn fun dem raykhn, pusthartzikn, un derfar azoy
orem.
Erev yom-tev iz: dos lebn funem troymer, un derfar azoy raykh.
Un Pompadur iz shtil gevorn oyf a vayle un dernokh vayter geredt:
Pompadur hot lib dem ere yom-tev fun alem, dem erev  yom-tev fun libe, vi
dem erev yom-tev fun frilyng, vi dem erev yom-tev fun bafrayung.
Oh! ven mentshn voltn gekent eybik onhaltn dem erev yom-tev, volt dos
geven mer glik un mer freyd oyf der erd.
Talmydym! shtrebt tzum eybikn erev yom-tev un es vet aykh zayn gut.
Azoy hot gezogt Pompadur.

(fun bukh "Pompadur", NY 1918)

Hot ale Mendelisaners (fun dorem, tzofn, mizrakh un mayrev) a ziz
yor.

Shoshana Balaban-Wolkowicz

4)----------------------------------------------------
Date: Mon, 18 Sep 95 11:45:48 +0200
From: anno4000@w172zrz.zrz.tu-berlin.de
Subject: Zalbander etc.

In 5.110 Zellig Bach asks about the etymology of the zalbe- component in
'zalbander', 'zalbedrit' etc.

Similar constructs exist in recent German: 'selbander' and 'selbdritt'.
Only these two are usually lexicalized and are marked as obsolete.  I was
delighted to learn that in Yiddish the prefix zalbe- can actively form
words with higher numerals.  Is there a limit?

The 'selb-' prefix, and hence Yiddish 'zalbe-' is related to 'selbst',
self, the idea being for 'selbdritt' to mean 'so that I myself am the
third'.  This accounts nicely for the final tes the numeral takes in
Yiddish because the construct calls for an ordinal number, not a
cardinal.  'Selbander' ('zalbenand', two together) is a special case.
While Yiddish has the competing 'zalbetsveyt', '*selbzweit' doesn't exist
in German.  'Der zweite' for 'the second' has replaced the earlier 'der
andere' only during the 14th century and hasn't made its way into the
'selb-' construct.  Because 'ander' is already an ordinal, a final tes
isn't needed in this case.

In current German 'selbander' or 'selbdritt' would be only be used for
stylistic reasons (ironic quaintness).  'Selbdritt' has also survived in
a technical term:  A common motive in christian iconography is virgin
Mary with the infant Jesus and her mother Anna.  This motive is
traditionally  called 'Die hl. Anna selbdritt'.

Anno Siegel
Berlin (Germany)

5)----------------------------------------------------
Date: Mon, 18 Sep 1995 10:36:03 -0400
From: e.kellman@utoronto.ca
Subject: Yiddish tutor needed

Faran a yidish kener in der shtot Toronto vos vil lernen privat mit a
graduir student?  Zayt azoy gut, telefonirt oder shikt an e-mail.
(416) 534-2741   jeremy@yorku.ca

Jeremy Stolow

6)----------------------------------------------------
Date: Mon, 18 Sep 1995 09:34:20 -0700 (PDT)
From: msafadi@ucla.edu
Subject: Yidishkayt festival in Los Angeles

Yidish khai v'kayam in Los Angeles.  Die Yidishkayt festival 9/16-17 (mit
a 'logo' a flishlang) iz gevezn zeyer ayngegebn.  Etlekhe toyznt mentshn
zaynen gekumen k'n Sherman Oaks fun un arum Los Angeles un di Valley.
Der festival hot zikh ungehoybn Shabbos aufdernakht mit a sheynem konsert
fun muzik un humor. Zuntik, fun 10 in der frie biz 6 in ovnt hobn mir
farbrakht a vunderlekhn tog mit allerley vorshtatn far groyse un far
kleyne, mit muzik, essenvarg, filmen, lektsies, un bikher un ondenken
farkoyf.  Perzonlekhkaytn fun radio un televizie zaynen aroysgetretn, un
alle aktivitetn hobn ibergeflossn mit onteylnemers.  Alles iz takeh geven
zeyer gut-planirt un mir hobn a sakh hanoe gehat fun dem.  Mazel-tov tsu
die organizatorn, di patronen, un die frayvilike far zeyer shvere arbet.
Lomir hobn azelkhe festivalim yor nokh yor nokh yor nokh yor.  Un tsu
alle mendelniks: a zis un gebentshte yor.

Yiddish is alive and well in Los Angeles.  The Yiddishkayt festival
9/16-17 (with a kite for a logo) was a big success.  Several thousand
people came to Sherman Oaks from all over the greater Los Angeles area.
The festival began Saturday evening with a nice program of music and
humor. Sunday, from 10 in the morning until 6 in the evening, we spent a
wonderful day with all kinds of workshops for adults and children, music,
food, films, lectures, and sales of books and souvenirs.  Radio and
television personalities performed, and every activity overflowed with
participants.  Everything was really well planned and lots of fun.
Congratulations to the organizers, the sponsors, and the volunteers for
their hard work. Let's have such festivals year after year after year
after year.  And to all Mendelniks: a sweet and blessed year.

Miki Safadi

7)----------------------------------------------------
Date: 18 Sep 95 14:31:22 EDT
From: 100114.750@compuserve.com
Subject: Henry James

Az ikh bin gevoren a mitglider fin deym liste bloyz zu laynen dem briv
fin yizhok bashevis zi khaym yankel, Dayayni!

Dovid Yosef Hershkoviz

8)----------------------------------------------------
Date: Mon, 18 Sep 1995 23:01:43 EST
From: walfish@vax.library.utoronto.ca
Subject: Klor vays tsigele

I realize this topic was discussed a while ago, but for anyone
who wishes to pursue the motif of the white kid under the cradle
and can read Hebrew, I would recommend the article by Menashe Geffen
entitled "Mi-tahat la-'arisah 'omedet gediyah: ha-motivim shel shir-
'eres ba-shirah ha-ivrit veha-yidit" (Under the cradle stands a kid:
the motifs of a lullaby in Hebrew and Yiddish poetry) in the book
of the same title (but not sub-title),

 Tel-Aviv: Sifriyat Po'alim, 1986, pp. 12-86.

One thing Goldfaden did was strip the song of most of its religious
elements. In other versions, the wish is for the boy to grow up and
study Torah as well as prosper financially.

Barry Walfish
Toronto

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End of Mendele Vol. 5.115