Mendele: Yiddish literature and language ______________________________________________________ Contents of Vol. 5.184 December 6, 1995 1) Yitshak Rabin (z"l) shloyshim (Meyer David) 2) Yugntruf activities, Dec. 1995 (Ruvn Millman) 3) Meaning of yidishkayt (Hershl Hartman) 4) Australian Yiddishe Nayes closes (Michael Zylberman) 5) Bawdy Yiddish (Nussin Kohn) 1)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 5 Dec 1995 23:36:31 -0500 From: mhd@world.std.com Subject: Yitshak Rabin (z"l) shloyshim on The Yiddish Voice On behalf of the all-volunteer staff of the Yiddish Voice radio program, a Yiddish-language weekly radio program heard in Boston on WUNR 1600 AM, Wednesdays, 7:30 - 8:30 p.m., I'd like to respectfully convey our condolences to the Rabin family. We share in the sadness of Jews worldwide. On tomorrow's Wednesday, December 6, 1995, broadcast, we observe the Shloyshim with an entire program dedicated to the memory of Yitshak Rabin z"l. The program includes: (1) A eulogy (Hesped) by Mr.Simon Simons, Principle of Congregation Mishkan Tefilla's Hebrew School in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts; (2) three poems composed just for this occasion and read by Miriam Libenson, whose poetry has been published in periodicals in the US and Israel in both Hebrew and Yiddish; (3) an interview conducted on Dec. 5, 1995 with Zwi Davidovitz, resident of Givatayim, Israel, a Holocaust survivor and a veteran of every war in Israel since 1948, several times wounded, expressing one Israeli citizen's grief as well as hopes in the aftermath of the assassination; and (4) an interview conducted on Dec. 5, 1995 with Yosl Mlotek, managing editor of the _Forverts_, the world's leading Yiddish-language weekly newspaper, with his thoughts on the Rabin assassination. This program is hosted and produced by myself, Mark H. David, and Hasia Segal, who conducted the interviews with Mlotek and Davidovitz. Further information is available at http://world.std.com/~yv/ or via email at yv@world.std.com. Or call Mark David at (617) 738-1870. Meyer David 2)--------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 5 Dec 1995 16:36:59 -0500 From: ruvn@aol.com Subject: Yugntruf activities, Dec. 1995 Come and have a great time at the ****Yugntruf-Hanukkah-Party !!!!!!**** Eat latkes, play dreydl, Come, bokher un meydl, Come frum folk, come lib'rals, come kh'sidish; Come sing with us lider, Come, shvester un brider, Come celebrate Hanukkah af yidish!! Thursday, December 21, 7:00 pm at Beit Efrayim, 535 W. 112 St. (between Amsterdam Ave. & Broadway) in Manhattan. (Take the #1 train or the M4/M104 bus to 110 St. and B'way.). Delicious, home-made, kosher latkes and other refreshments will be served. Live accordionist: Michael Spudic. Admission: $6.00/$4.50 students. Those that would like to celebrate even longer can come an hour or two earlier to have fun making latkes together. RSVP by December 19: Beatrice "Brukhe" Lang, (212) 280-1168. * * * * Yugntruf's Yiddish Writers' Circle will meet Thurs., Dec. 28, 6:00 pm in our office (200 W. 72 St. #40). Come read your latest poem or short story, or just come listen in. * * * * For those of you who read about the Yugntruf-basketball-club in The New York Times a few weeks back, and would like more info, call Roland "Ruvn" Millman, (718) 237-0961. * * * * Sun., Dec. 10, 1995, 2:00 pm. We're going to the all-Yiddish Folksbiene Theatre (simultaneous English headphone translations), to see a new musical, an adaptation of Sholom Aleichem's "Shver tsu zayn a yid." The musical is called Double Identity, with lyrics/adaptation by Miriam Hoffman and music by Binyumen "Ben" Schaechter (15 new Yiddish songs). Call the Yugntruf office NOW at (212)787-6675, and ask for Nettie. Tickets: $22 young adults/$20 students, children. If you can't on the 10th, it runs thru January. Call the Folksbiene: (212) 755-2231. *************************************** **Yugntruf Aktivitetn --- Detsember 1995 Kumt un farbrengt af undzer Khanuke-Simkhe!!!! Es latkes, spilt dreydl, Kumt, bokher un meydl, Tsi frume, tsi fraye, tsi khasidish; Kumt zingt mit undz lider, Kumt, shvester un brider, Kumt pravet dem yom-tef af Yidish!! Donershtik, dem 21stn Dec., 7:00 in ovnt in Beys-Efrayim, 535 vest 112te gas (tsvishn Amsterdam evenyu un Broadway) Manhattan. (Nemt di unterban #1 oder di oytobusn M104/M4 biz 110ter gas un Broadway.) Geshmake, kushere latkes veln servirt vern. Mikhl Spudic vet shpiln gramoshke. Arayngang: $6.00/$4.50 studentn. Di vos viln shmuzn nokh lenger kenen kumen a sho-tsvey frier un mitmakhn di latkes! Entert, zayt moykhl, biz 19tn Dec., Brukhe Lang (212) 280-1168 oder bl67@columbia.edu * * * * * * * * Der Yugntruf-shraybkrayz treft zikh donershtik, dem 28stn Dec., 6:00 n"m in undzer byuro (200 vest 72ste gas). Kumt leynt fir ayers a lid, tsi an esey, tsi a dertseylung. Oder hert zikh nor tsu vi andere leyenen. * * * * * * * * Vegn dem Yugntruf-koyshbol-klub letstns dermont in der _Nyu York Tayms_ klingt Ruvn (718) 237-0961 oder ruvn@aol.com. * * * * * * * * Zuntik, dem 10tn Dec., 2:00 n"m geyen mir zen di naye muzikalishe pyese adaptirt fun Sholem Aleykhems, _Sver Tsu Zayn a Yid_. Baarbet mit lidtekstn fun Miriam Hoffman, muzik fun Benyumin Schaechter (15 naye Yidishe lider). Klingt _Tykef_ in Yugntruf-byuro un bet nokh nekhen: (212) 787-6675. Az ir kent nisht kumen dem 10tn, klingt direkt in der Folksbiene vegn vayterdike dates: (212) 755-2231. Biletn: $22 Yunge-layt/$20 studentn, kinder. Ruvn Millman 3)--------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 5 Dec 1995 20:39:17 -0500 From: hershl@aol.com Subject: Meaning of yidishkayt In connection with the recent discussion that involved the "correct" use of the word, yidishkayt, following is a footnote I just encountered in the late Irving Howe's "World of Our Fathers" (p. 16): "Like other important terms in cultural discourse, _Yiddishkeit_(sic) has no single, agreed-upon meaning. No one has a monopoly on the term and, naturally enough, different groupings of opinion within the Jewish world have used it in different ways. Yet there may be the possibility of some common, minimal usage. "As I use the term here, _Yiddishkeit_ refers to that phase of Jewish history during the past two centuries which is marked by the prevalence of Yiddish as the language of the east European Jews and by the growth among them of a culkture resting mainly on that language. The culture of _Yiddishkeit_ is no longer strictly that of traditional Orthodoxy, yet it retains strong ties to the religious past. It takes on an increasingly secular character yet is by no means confined to the secularist elements among Yiddish-speaking Jews. It refers to a way of life, a shared experience, which goes beyond opinion or ideology." I found alongside those paragraphs my marginal note, reading: "yidishkayt=Jewishness, reflecting the emergence of an ethnic, national identity." Hershl Hartman 4)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 06 Dec 95 20:17:06 1000 From: mzylberm@ozemail.com.au Subject: Australian Yiddishe Nayes closes The Board of Directors of the Australian Jewish News announced today the closure of the Oystralishe Yiddishe Nayes after over 60 years of continuous weekly publication. The final issue will come out at the end of December 1995. Michael Zylberman 5)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 06 Dec 1995 11:20:48 -0500 From: nathan@wb.cst.titan.com Subject: Bawdy Yiddish The recent request for Bawdy Yiddish troubles me a bit. I enjoy mendele enormously, as do others. Yiddish profanity and vulgar usage does not appeal to me. My parents would say (grammar and transcription errors aside) "past nish tsu zayn a proster yid". nussin (nathan) m kohn ______________________________________________________ End of Mendele Vol. 5.184