Mendele: Yiddish literature and language
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Contents of Vol. 5.168
November 14, 1995

1) Yiddishkayt (Shirley Kumove)
2) Morris Rosenfeld in English translation (Kenneth Wishnia)
3) Shir Hashirim music (Larry Rosenwald)
4) Male impersonation in Yiddish theater (Larry Rosenwald)
5) "Varf im a shtroy" (Mendy Fliegler)
6) Yiddish-English bilingual programs (Suzanne Lasser)
7) Khanuke (Keyle Goodman)
8) Yo (Harold L. Orbach)
9) Weinreich's _History of the Yiddish Language_ (Harold L. Orbach)

1)----------------------------------------------------
Date: Sun, 12 Nov 1995 10:53:29 -0500
From: comact@interlog.com
Subject: Yiddishkayt

I want to thank Eliyahu Juni for his contributions to Mendele and in
particular his comments of November 6th and November 9th, 1995.

I have always been uncomfortable with the label "Yiddishist" even though
I am not a chareidi myself. For me, Yiddishkayt means something much
broader than simply the Yiddish language itself.

As a translator from Yiddish, I consider my work to be an effort to
convey the richness of Jewish life in Eastern Europe and immigrant North
America through one medium — Yiddish language and literature.

I had the benefit of a secular Yiddish education at the Borochov Shule in
Toronto but this was supplemented with a family background which held
Yiddishkayt in great respect.

A hartsikn dank aykh, Eliyahu Juni, for helping me clarify my position.

Shirley Kumove

2)----------------------------------------------------
Date: Thu, 09 Nov 1995 14:57:47 -0500 (EST)
From: kwishnia@ccmail.sunysb.edu
Subject: Morris Rosenfeld in English translation

I have been working on my research project which includes a translation
of Morris Rosenfeld's short play, "Rent Strike," and I have come upon
three vocabulary questions that cannot be answered locally.  I am sure
that the Mendele community will be able to help.  (All citations are from
_Gevelte Shriftn_ [NY: Forverts, 1912]; the transliterations reflect the
Germanic spelling of this edition.)

1. In the character description, Gaitz is said to be wearing "a kind of
comically-long _shlus-rok_".  Does anyone know what kind of coat is a
"shlus-rok"?  (shin-lamed-vov-samekh) (p. 204)

2. A landlord warns his friends to watch out for the "tzantzalitzen,"
which is certainly referring to "socialists," but I would like to know if
anyone has a greater familiarity with this term, or is it Rosenfeld's
invention?  Is it derogatory, does it have secondary meanings related to
a different root word, what other overtones may it have?  (p. 207)

3. A typecast superstitious old woman refers to "der kh'tor nit heren un
gedenken," which in context seems to be saying, "the you-know-who,"
although presumably it refers to a divine (or sinister) figure.  Can
anyone shed more light on the meaning of this expression? (ibid.)

Kenneth Wishnia

3)----------------------------------------------------
Date: Fri, 10 Nov 1995 11:16:29 -0500 (EST)
From: lrosenwald@wellesley.edu
Subject: The Shir Hashirim music in the film of The Dybbuk

If you know the film of the The Dybbuk, you may remember the really
haunting setting of the first verses of shir hashirim. A group I perform
with would like to do this music, so I thought I'd ask here for help.  If
necessary, I could probably transcribe the music from the film. But if
it's not necessary, I'd rather not.  Does anyone know what steps I might
take to find the sheet music of the setting?  I'd be grateful for any
help.

Larry Rosenwald

4)----------------------------------------------------
Date: Fri, 10 Nov 1995 11:25:32 -0500 (EST)
From: lrosenwald@wellesley.edu
Subject: a query about male impersonation in Yiddish theater

A student of mine showed me a passage in Evelyn Torton Beck's book
on Kafka and the Yiddish theater where Kafka refers to a male impersonator
named Mrs. Klug.  Of this person the Jewish weekly _Selbstwehr_ says, "then
Mrs. Klug, the male impersonator, a vivacious lady, appeared.  Although her
art tended towards a not-too-tasteful cabaret, she visibly amused the
audience."

My student wondered whether I could tell her anything about the
tradition of male impersonation in Yiddish theater;  alas, I could not.
But I promised her I'd post a query here.  I'd be grateful for any
information about this matter, or any bibliographical citations.

Larry Rosenwald

5)----------------------------------------------------
Date: Fri, 10 Nov 1995 12:29:39 -0500 (EST)
From: efliegle@capaccess.org
Subject: "Varf im a shtroy"

Es volgert zikh mir in kop dus vertl:' Varf im a shtroy'. Ikh volt gevolt
visn fun vanen dus kimt.  Ikh veys nor az di Yidn fun di alte teyg fleygn
dus zugn ven men zeyt a galakh. (An expression rattles around in my head:
'throw him a straw'. I would like to know where this originates. I do
know that in the old days Jews used to say this upon seeing clergy.
Another hint is when I came across an old Lithuanian custom of hiding the
last harvested sheaf of grain as a remedy against the devil lurking and
rummaging the fields at harvest time. There was also an old heathen
ritual of sacrificing a black goat.)

Mendy Fliegler

6)----------------------------------------------------
Date: Fri, 10 Nov 1995 17:05:38 -0500 (EST)
From: sl0253%albnyvms.bitnet@yalevm.cis.yale.edu
Subject: Yiddish-English bilingual programs

I don't know if you can help me but I am doing a paper on the history of
Yiddish as well as the way the Lubavitch use Yiddish as a means of
instruction.  In the 70's in NYC some schools were given funds to start up
Yiddish-English bilingual programs; some were successful, others not.
Would you know where I could locate information on studies like this.
Also anything that has to do with this "revival" that has been taking
place.  If you are not able to assist me sorry to inconvenience you.

Suzanne Lasser

7)----------------------------------------------------
Date: Fri, 10 Nov 1995 15:25:10 -0800
From: ac939@lafn.org
Subject: Khanuke

A fraynt mayner zukht mayses, geshikhte ua"v vegn khanuke.  Er
vet gebn a rede vegn dem inyen.  Oyb s'iz nisht tsu fri, efsher
kenen mir onfangen diskusyes k'dey mayn fraynt un andere velkhe
zaynen interesirt zoln nutsn derfun.  A dank foroys.

Keyle (Kay) Goodman

8)----------------------------------------------------
Date: Mon, 13 Nov 95 18:33 CST
From: hlorbach@ksuvm
Subject: Yo

Having been away all summer and slowly getting back to catching up with
Mendele, bit by bit, I was amused by Zellig Bach's interview with Colin
Powell. ... a marvelous job!!  Had I read it at the time, I might have
noticed that CP was away signing books on the specified date...

But Paul Pascal's comment about Afro-American slang and Zellig Bach's
rejoinder reminded me of a discussion a few years ago in the NY Times (or
some other arcane source) about the "origins" of 'yo' which came up with
a variety of imputed sources, Philadelphia's market area being the most
favored one as I recall.  At the time I wondered about a Yiddish source
(after all Yiddish is a great provider of American English words) and
recalled that 'YO!' (and 'YO dere!') was the all but offical password of
my high school graduation class -- Bronx Science, January '46.  We always
greeted each other in the hallways with one of these and among the
inscriptions from class mates in my year book, I would estimate almost a
third of them begin with 'YO!' or 'YO there!' At that time Bronx Science
was 90 % Jewish, with a heavy dose of recent arrivals from Germany,
Austria and Central Europe, as well as second generation children such as
myself, including a healthy delegation from the Bronx "coops" who were
products of mittel schules.  There were probably no more than a dozen
blacks in the entire school (all boys in those days).

I'm sure there were some Litvaks among us and Zellig Bach has convinced
me that was the origin of our 'YO!'  How it got to be an Afro-American
term?  Well, some also think that 'ghetto' has black origins!

Perhaps Zellig Bach can come with a reason why our offical class cap was
a fez?  Green and gold with a gold tassel yet!!`

Harold L. Orbach
Manhattan, Kansas

9)----------------------------------------------------
Date: Mon, 13 Nov 95 18:27 CST
From: hlorbach@ksuvm
Subject: Weinreich's _History of the Yiddish Language_

I noted the discussion of plans to translate the last two volumes of
Weinreich into English.  Perhaps at the same time something could be done
to get the existing volume back into print.  At a recent scholarly
meeting I asked about a copy, the University of Chicago Press "owing" me
books for a review I had done for them, only to be informed that it was
not in their current catalog and thus was technically "out of print."

I say "technically" because sometimes a book is not listed and treated as
out of print because there are only a few copies remaining in stock. I
did not pursue this further because only the Press in Chicago could
answer this question.

Harold L. Orbach
Manhattan, Kansas

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End of Mendele Vol. 5.168